New 75 Gallon---I'm Pumped!!!!

[troygrey]

Well I just got back tonite with my new tank; 75 gallon.

It will be replacing my 20g and 10g.

The fish that will be going in are;
1-Pleco (Common)
1-Weatherloach
1-Peppered Cory
1-Bronze Cory
(For Clean-up Duty)

1-German Blue ram Cichlid
2-Firemouth Cichlid
1-Fairy Cichlid (Lyretail)
1-Blue Acara Cichlid
2-Angels

Any Ideas for additions? Removals?

How many fish can the 75 hold?

I am Shooting for an Peaceful (If that's Possible) American Cichlid Tank.
Thanx

[Flowerhorn916]

IME the firemouth will have to be removed sooner or later mine is very aggressive. You could probably add a krib or 2 if you wanted

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Is that Fairy Cichlid a brichardi? If so, its African and doesn't belong in that tank. ;)

-Diana

[MacFish]

And I'd watch the Blue Acara with your Ram and Cory's. I had a very "peaceful" Blue Acara that I thought I'd put in my ram tank. After living together for a few months, he ate 3 of them.

[cyberbeer65]

IME the firemouth will have to be removed sooner or later mine is very aggressive.


I agree,my Firemouth is always picking fights with fish that are twice his size.

[ghinksmon]

OK, assuming you follow the advice above, you have one ram, two angels, and some bottom dwellers. The bottom of your tank appears OK (maybe a companion for the Ram) I'd look for higher level fish. Unfortunately surface dwelling cichlids are pretty limited. Angelfish are one, and even with a pair a 75 gallon might give them room to allow other angels. I once had a festivum, with angels. It worked for me, but that's no guarantee it will always work.
Getting away from cichlids, gouramis are nice and often near the top.

[troygrey]

The Fairy is a Tang.
Any other Ideas????????

[carpediem]

The Fairy is a Tang.
Any other Ideas????????

Tang?

As in Tanginyikan? If so, that's an African and probably a brichardi as kribs suggested.

The firemouths and Acara will eventually wreak havoc on your other fish. I'd say you have to make up your mind between a large South American setup (firemouths/Acara), a peaceful South American cichlid setup (angel/ram) and an African setup (brichardi). Mixing all three will be disastrous in the long run.

[troygrey]

The Fairy is very peaceful, but if it has to go.

I want to go with the Blue Acara/Firemouth route.

What can I add?

What Should I get rid of?

Get Silver Dollars instead of the Angels?(I heard they do well in a Cichlid Tank)

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Oh the brichardi by itself in that tank would probebly be okay for a while temperment-wise, but it will never be okay because it needs a much different water chemistry than your other fish ;). Its also probebly behaving because it feels so out of place. :p:

-Diana

[Flowerhorn916]

Like I said before Kribs may be nice to add to your tank they are very colorful and not very aggressive

[ghinksmon]

Do you know if your firemouths are male and female? Pairs of any cichlid typical increases the aggression factor. Whenever suggesting cichlid tankmates you'll often find conflicting opinions based on the individual results of others. So if you move/get rid of the other cichlids (angel, ram, brichardi) you should look for other medium sized cichlids. Convicts are very common, the pink form would contrast well with the others.
or perhaps another large single, green terrors being popular. Of course with large cichlids you run the risk of getting a truely obnoxious one that turns your tank upside down and destroys everyone else.

The geophagus genus is gaining in popularity. They're generally peaceful but keep in mind geophagus translates to earth eater. They will move a lot of gravel, rearranging the tank as they please. But that's not unusual for cichlids.

The options are many, availability or your persistance to find a species may be the limiting factor. Get an idea of a few that appeal to you and then see what's available. Don't forget about those old things called books :) I find them easier when trying to view a broad spectrum of fish rather than searching one species at a time. Also note that when researching SA cichlids the genus names have been shuffled pretty recently so you will likely find synonyms for the same fish. Next you will need to trust your retailer because many species look very similar, when they're washed out juvenilles in a dealer's tank.

[ghinksmon]

Another note, be thoughtful of the adult sizes. The blue acara for instance may become questionable around loaches and cories when it begins to max out around 6-8", depending also on the relative size of the others.