Yeah I currently have the pictus, Geos, and barbs, in a 75 until the 150 is cycled. I have the Peruvian pictus which is smaller than the Colombian (Wont eat the barbs but will happily snack on fry/Eggs) my main goal isn't to breed the geos since I've done it in the past, the group I had (6) wasn't very aggressive with each other but the dominant male did a lot of bossing and chasing (reason for a large group size in this tank to spread aggression) but I'm planning that if I ever want to raise the young ill separate them and parents either with an egg crate divider or separate tank. In terms of temperature, the Geos, Loaches, and eel prefer the water to be around 82-84, the only ones that would have a problem would be the Phantom Plec and somewhat the pictus although they can both be found in the orinocco which can have some pretty high temps for quite some time. Ive also read that the tiger barbs are fine in a bit of warmer temps unlike Odessas and rosies. The only reason id upgrade to a 210 is because that's the largest tank I can find readily available around me, although if i can find a larger tank id definitely go for it. I wanted to see how the Geos raised together and if need be i could rehome as they grow.
Yeah the Pictus are the same species but going off what planetcatfish states depending on the collection site (Peru or Colombia) one will get bigger which Ive found to be the case one does get bigger than the other. Yeah fire eels do get big it takes 2ish years to get sizeable, there are smaller species such as peacocks and half banded but I've been wanting to try a fire for a while now (I will be upgrading as the eel and other fish grow in about 2 years) I'm a sucker for bottom fish I love catfish. I'm not too big of a fan of most "middle" swimming fish like rasboras, tetras, and barbs (I like rummynose but those swim at the bottom LOL), I love bottom dwellers and then the complete opposite as the top dwellers I like are African butterflyfish and hatchetfish. Also for filtration ill have an Eheim Classic 600, Tidal 75 HOB, and im planning to turn an unused 55 into a sump system.I don't know the "other" pictus, I'll have to look them up! It's good you have a plan if things don't work out. Unless there are other "fire eels" they get, like jake said, huge! I think there is a smaller 8-12 inch eel commonly available (not nearly as pretty) but even that is a heck of a lot of bottom/low level fish. I'd much rather have the loaches
Your tank is so tall at 30 inches you might want a species that swims higher a lot of the time. Most of your fish won't swim much more than 8-12 inches above the substrate most of the time. Or maybe just add some plants like java fern or anubias (that are attached to wood or rocks) & boost them up closer to the surface, or floating plants to encourage more exploring up high more often. Just a thought...
& since you already have some of the fish maybe post some pics? We love to see! (nagging, lol)
