Fish Selection, Views Welcome

C

csmaster

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Oct 26, 2001
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Derbyshire, UK
Hi, i'm lookin into what fish to stock my Rio 300 liter tank (48x20x24") Heres what i've come up with :

MELANOTAENIA BOESMANNI x4
Otocinclus Affinis x5
CLOWN LOACHES x2
ALBINO CORRYS x5
ANCISTRUS SP x1
CLOWN PLECS x1
ANGELFISH x2
LAETACARA DORSIGER - Redbreast Acara x2 M+F
ANOMOLACHROMIS THOMASI - African Butterfly Cichlid x2 M+F
MICROGEOPHAGUS RAMIREZI - German Ram x2 M+F
APISTO. CACATUOIDES SUNBURST - Crested Dwarf Cichlid x? m-f ratio?
Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor - Egyptian Mouthbrooder x? m-f ratio?

Not too sure on how many of the last 2 on the list to get, i may need to leave one of them out?

Are there any obvious problems with this selection ?

I've heard Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor - Egyptian Mouthbrooder can be aggressive, is that true? as I would like to keep it as peacefull as possible.

Cheers

Dave :)
 
Sounds like the makings of an incredible tank. My only thought to the otherwise would be that it seems a little bottom heavy. Don't the rams and the apistos also tend towards the bottom reaches of the tank?
 
Dave,
I like the idea of a large tank, and about 75g fits the bill. However, some of these choices concern me, more because of aggressiveness than because of size.

You have three different types of algae eaters:
Ancistrus, Clown Plecs, and Ottos.

While this might be do-able, Plecs are notorious for their aggressiveness, and the ramifications of the two large ones turning their anger upon each other may not be worth chancing. I would suggest reducing the number of large ones and possibly adding some more Ottos to keep algae down. Just remember, though, that until their is established algae in the tank, you will have to feed the Ottos, and they may become too accustomed to the supplementary feed to do their "work". Also, they have a tendency to be fragile, so make sure you keep that water clean!!!

I think that the cichlids listed here might cause the most problems, though. Unfortunately, if they begin to breed, you will have basically a partitioned 50g/25g tank, since those fish will want to protect their young. I read once that Angels are less than angelic when breeding. That having been said, the Apistos, Rams, L. dorsigera and Angels are oft-recommended as community fish, so you may be able to get by with having them in there. Just have a separate tank ready for the quarantine of new fish, or the removal of aggressive ones.

I just read that the Egyptian mouthbrooder is moderately peaceful as well.

Clown loaches like to live in "schools", so you may wish to purchase three or more. I am not sure, though, how they would handle the intrusion of Cories as I have never mixed the two.

Since I am not too familiar with many of the fish in terms of size, I could not tell you if the tank would be overstocked. I can assure you, though, that with a little diligence in watching the behavior of the animals within, this would be a very pleasant diversion to whatever room in which it is stored.

Best of luck,

Matthew
 
Thanks for the replys guys :)

I never heard that the plecs are aggressive before...wasnt expecting to have any problems with them :eek:

The reason for the albino corrys is I have black gravel, so i thort it would look quite nice to have that contrast of colours.

Is there a way of stopping cichlids breeding? not that I want to, but just wondering, maybe its possible to keep all males ? or is that asking for trouble?

The reason I only put 2 clown loaches is because of their potential to get a foot in lenth! but its more common to get to 6"

Matt - All the cichlids get 3-4" in size, and the angels get 6" as do the clowns. and the plecs 4-5" a piece.

Probably a dumb question, but would a large school of neons (10-12) survive with those fish? I've heard that its good to keep them with sslightly aggressive fish to make them school tightly together? probably not, but just wondering(i know the angels will also eat them when full grown)

Thanks again

Dave
 
I wouldn't keep dwarf cichlids with medium or large ones - they're going to be stressed out if they can't carve out and defend territories.
 
From my readings in the 2002 Aquarium USA annual, angels eat neons like crazy, so that school of 12 you mentioned would not survive for long.
 
Sorry, didn't see that you had that (Angels eat neons) in your post, but another thought...while fish may school better in hostile environments, the constant stress of that may quickly wear down their immune system and cause them to succumb to disease.
 
ok, hows these :

Siamese Algae Eaters x 4
Otocinclus Affinis x5
CLOWN LOACHES x2
ANCISTRUS SP x2
CLOWN PLECS x1
ANGELFISH x2
LAETACARA DORSIGER - Redbreast Acara x2 M+F
ANOMOLACHROMIS THOMASI - African Butterfly Cichlid x2 M+F
MICROGEOPHAGUS RAMIREZI - German Ram x2 M+F
Apistogramma CACATUOIDES SUNBURST - Crested Dwarf Cichlid x3 1m 2f
Pseudocrenilabrus Multicolor - Egyptian Mouthbrooder x2 1m 1f
CICH.SPILURUM - Blue-Eye Cichlid x1 m

Questions :

1 will any of those cichlids eat my plants and/or uproot them?
2 will any of them move the gravel around ?
3 will it be ok to keep just one male blue eye ?
4 are the male-female ratios listed all ok?
5 are any of those fish particulally aggressive?
6 are there any other problams that u can see ?

Thanks all :)
 
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As mentioned I'd rather keep 4 clown loaches than just 2. In my 75G I have 4 clowns and 5 cories. You might want to stick with maybe one type of algae eater as mentioned. A pair of bristlenose isporbably best as they tend to stay smaller. I have a breeding pair, which every now and then try to bulldoze a cory but no harm is done. As for angels I think most assumptions are made on wild behaviour. However, twice I have raised small juvenile angels with schools of neons. In both cases when my angels reach adult size they have never even attempted to eat a neon, despite the fact one could easily fit into their mouths! Might be something to do with being raised with them, and the fact they may be too well fed to bother eating a neon? If you are still worried you may choose cardinals instead of neons (but they will cost more). You may have slight problems with the number of cichlids, but this can be avoided with plenty of driftwood, cave structures and plants. Introducing them all at once will help, so they cannot claim large territories before the others are introduced. Best of luck.
 
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