Fish compatibility rams and electric yellows

Great info here.
True...I ask questions on here before researching, it narrows it down alot for me. I used to look it up first but spent hours getting nowhere. Often times I read the info then come here for confirmation.
Then I look up the fish that are recommended in more detail.

I tend to get a bit overwhelmed at the start, or if theres a problem I know I dont have time to research, sure I come here first for a quick reply.
But I do research, and to help me remember I print the info sheet and take it to bed to read then stick it on the tank with those fish in it for quick referencing.
I guess its like anything new to learn, I have not grasped the scientific names nor where they come from as making much sense, but I am certainly getting there. Its like learning php web code!

I have 3 tanks doing a fishless cycle.
I have one chipokae fish so he has a 300ltr to himself.
The second tank I bought at a garage sale so that was a learning curve in a hurry. I had only started fishkeeping in january.
I did not purchase these fish by choice they came with the tanks I purchased privately, and having known nothing about cichlids at the time, I am getting the grasp of it. All these fish were housed together, and have been nursing some of them back to health, bite marks, mouth bacteria etc. All the suggestions given has been invaluable, then looking them up.

I am extremely grateful for everyone sharing their experiences, it points me in the right direction. Details on fish on the net can vary so much from ph to temp for particular species, so a quick run down from you guys helps alot. Especially your compatibility experiences.

I would like to know how to catch a **** fast algae eater who is painful to catch...there must be an ideal time to catch fish. I did manage to catch 2 gouramis yesterday by putting food in the net. Not the ones I wanted though. I have a teatree oil tank and as the dwarfs have been dying, I am more than convinced it is intestinal parasites.Wont buy them again. Trying to separate them from my community fish (angels, rams, honeys).
I plan to put the angels in their own 300ltr tank when I offload the chipokae.


So yes placing fish in the right tank FIRST! saves so much trouble, and replanting of plants too. learning, learning!

Thanks platytudes for your info, it has kept me VERY busy.
I will dl the Can I keep it tool. Will read all the info you have sent should have some time this arvo.
I could not remember the names of the fish I bought and looking them up trying to match was fruitless, this forum has been a godsend for that.
Having acquired the poor battered electric yellow and viewing it made me decide I wanted more of them. Learning acai go with them is good. The zebra blues are very happy in there with the electrics and if they are not in the future I will move them, hopefully will have another tank big enough by then.
I will get my water hardness tested by the shop today to make sure that is spot on for all my fish. I learnt that the hard way by losing guppies.
My first post was "Is my platy pregnant?" and now I have 4 week old healthy platy fry 30+ growing well due to suggestions and especially signs to know when she was due.

I now give water changes on all the tanks then test everything, cos everything basically boils down to WC anyway to correct ammonia, etc. I test daily anyway.
So I have decided try and sell the fish acquired(chipokae, 2 silver saums, and (please id this fish below)...He is in with pr goldsaums, 2 juv silversaums, featherfin CF. Think it has suedo in its name.

Keeping pair of goldsaums and featherfin catfish, they get on no problems at all in 310 ltr tank.
Keeping and expanding angelfish, rams, honey gouramis.
and of course my first community tank of tetras, platys, guppies, rasboras,(will have to move the clown loach out).

Dont the fish LOVE new water!!!

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Nice tank! I bet you have a Synodontis eupterus, Featherfin catfish. Lovely catfish but gets big - I feel like mine is already too big for my 55 gallon tank.

I am glad you're fishless cycling, I thought I read some other post where you said the fish was cycling your tank for you...bah! No need to do this when you have established filter media, just take some of the used media and transfer it to the new tank. If you are careful about feeding and prepared to do water changes when necessary, you should not have too much trouble. But a test kit when you're cycling is a must - and liquid test kits are a much better value when you have multiple tanks. A master test kit is only about 25-30 US$ (not sure about AU)

One thing that I find makes it easier is to keep fish from the same geographic area together. It seems like that would be very limiting, but it's really not. For example gouramis, rasboras and danios are all from Asia - they work in a tank together. You can even add barbs to this mix, in spite of the terrible reputation tiger barbs have for being nippy...gouramis are pretty tough and if you keep a big school you have a better chance of it working. 6 or more tiger barbs behave themselves much better.

Angelfish and tetras can work together, but even just skimming some Google hits will tell you that angelfish eat little fish when they get big, so right away all the smaller tetras are out. But other South American fish can work, like Apistogramma dwarf cichlids or even rams, if you keep it warm - 80 degrees F or so. And then there's that kribensis I was talking about! Although they are from West Africa, they behave much like a S.A. cichlid...kind of an exception to the general rule of thumb here.

I like keeping common livebearers together because they all like hard water and green foods. So even though maybe you could keep a betta in with a tank full of swordtails and guppies, bettas like softer water and meatier foods. It could work, but better to add other hard water tolerant fish - like rainbowfish.

That's another thing that makes it easier...much, much easier! Figure out what your native tap water is like. Basically, is it soft or is it hard? Then keep fish that naturally like those water conditions. Most people have naturally hard water and it's a lot easier not to have to try to mess with pH and reverse osmosis systems. You can try diluting hard water with rain water (bearing in mind pollution in your area) but then it's best to only keep small tanks since you won't be able to collect too much rain water reliably. Killifish and bettas are great tanks for situations like these. Dwarf gouramis also do better in softer water.

Dwarf gouramis tend to be iffy anyway, Google "dwarf gourami disease" and you'll see what I mean. I wouldn't recommend Colisa lalia to anyone these days, there are other kinds of dwarf gouramis that aren't apparently affected by DGD. If you're looking for a gourami like fish, try a paradisefish...but don't keep it with shy tankmates. And never mix Anabantoids (paradisefish, gouramis, bettas) in a tank, a recipe for trouble. They're feisty! Bettas and paradisefish must be kept singly.

You probably knew lots of that stuff already! But just giving you some ideas so you can stock your tanks in a less random way :)
 
Thanks platytudes,
I have soft tap water(but the lfs dont know why), and a rainwater tank. The tetras are in with platys etc. Had a betta in there but died with the guppies I got a bad stock of- or water was too soft. I added a small rock salt to the tank to harden water.But dont have a test kit yet for DH etc.

So I have the community tank #1- 150ltr with 8 tetras, few guppies,6 platys, 1 swordtail, 1 algae eater, 1 clown loach, 5 Harlequin rasboras, my 3 new baby angels are in there momentarily (as the ph on tank# 2 is too high- 8.0). I have 2 blue rams in there too, am putting them in the angels tank, but trying to get the gouramis and algae eater out first-any hints on catching them?
Here is pic of tank #1. It's at 28C,PH 6.8, showing slight ammonia atm, maybe .1

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No real hints on catching them, just have to keep trying! Using one large net to catch the fish, and one small net to scare it into the large net, sometimes helps.
http://www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_catching_fish.php

Lowering the water level and moving some of the decor out of the tank is going to help. Be sure you have a plan for them...again, not sure if you have plecostomus or Chinese algae eater ("algae eater" could be a few different fish) but big plecos can be vicious with each other, literally killing each other. And CAEs are pretty mean as they get big. It would be better not to have any of these fish...you don't need "scavengers" or "cleaners" in aquariums, that's a myth from a long time ago. A healthy aquarium keeps itself balanced and clean - just gravel vacuum now and then. Those plants in your tank are "cleaning" much better than a bunch of big fish, which have to eliminate wastes. If you feel you have to get algae eaters, otocinclus, dwarf plecos like bristlenose and clown plecos, and nerite snails are much, much better and less problematic than full sized plecos or CAEs.

Tank #1 with the platies and guppies needs to be buffered up. Get on a schedule of weekly water changes, if you aren't already - 25-30% or so. To the new water, add some buffering salts. You can use this homemade recipe for Malawi salt mix:
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080121123900AAqP9ZL
Don't skimp on using marine salt - one bucket will last you a long, long time! The other ingredients are cheap and readily available.

Be sure and get an alkalinity test. It's hard sometimes to find that test by itself. I just use these 5-in-1 strip kits...they are "ok" and do the job:
http://www.petco.com/product/7710/Jungle-Quick-Dip-Aquarium-Test-Strips.aspx

Please, please, please never use those "pH up" or "pH down" drops - these are not the right way to change aquarium water chemistry. To make water harder, you add minerals. To make water softer, you cut mineral rich (hard) water with water with fewer or no minerals (rainwater, reverse osmosis filtered water).

Your beneficial bacteria in your filter don't work very well in soft, acid water. That may be why you are having trouble with ammonia. Don't use rainwater in a tank for hard water loving fish like platies and guppies, of course. But it's fine with your angels, honey gouramis and rams - who may even breed in such conditions.

I like your big moss ball, is that real or artificial? :)
 
Unless you don't mind keeping him by himself I think you should try to rehome the chipokae. You are right they are mean. I consider them the most aggressive african cichlid you can get!

The fish you needed IDed a couple images up looks like a Pseudotropheus Acei. The only thing that is a little odd is there is no yellow on the dorsal fin. But acei(tanzinian black) don't have as much yellow on their dorsal fin. He looks gorgeous and if you were closer I'd take him in a heart beat. :) But he should be happy with your yellow labs.
Acei are pretty easy going and really like company of their own kind. I have one lone female right now because the rest were lost to disease. She's been miserable since then. I have some more acei hopefully getting here soon to make her feel better.

Mbuna love hard water and high Ph so once you know where your water stands you can take steps to adjust it. Decorating with limestone is a great way to buffer your water and the fish love the rocks.



Your other tanks look very nice :)
 
I do very much love the rams. I have 2 rams in tank#1 with the platys. Very hard to catch to put them in with angels in tank#2. Will try again today, I do hate the trust that is lost when I start chasing fish around the tank, they are not so friendly and eating out of my hand then. I love the way they wait for me and show affection. I think fish are intuitive, like they are talking to me.

I really want to know more about hardening and softening water, will read that link in a sec. Want my fish to thrive not just survive.

I am so amazed to find out my black fish with yellow on tail is an acei!!!
When I found out they are compatible with labs and zebras I ordered 2 last week. Now I'm thinking he should not be in the tank with the catfish and saums cos their ph is lower. (Will look it up).
My catfish is huge by the way. ;) He is awesome! Not a bother in the tank.
The only problem is the chasing of the adult saums with the younger ones, but its not even aggressive, just bullying.
OH and the female is cruising around with her mouth open and not eating...
the acei is such a pig!!! steals all the food. Like his character, yep has no yellow anywhere except on tail, I thought they were blue fish...do they change colour?
**** I used ph down alot, will need to find out about adding minerals instead.
the moss ball is plastic, made by aqua one in aus. I tried to find one for another ac member maybe they can be found from their website. (aquaone.com.au)
Heres my catfish.

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