The eternal stocking question

[Bobthefish]

I am redoing my 150 gal. It's 5foot x 2 foot by 2 foot. Definitely all cichlids this time, but no Africans, as I have really soft water (straight from a mountain stream!) and it's a pain to try and harden it THAT much. What do you all think- what would you put in there? My total filtration is 2500 litres an hour (4x turnover) with a fluidized bed attached.

I have thought: 2-3 sevs, firemouths and rainbows.

OR

Veija Synspilum, firemouths and maybe some nicaraguans

OR

1 Jaguar

OR

Nicaraguans, firemouths and rainbows.

Opinions, other ideas? Please!

Thanks! Bob the Fish

 

[kevinfishboy]

If i had that tank I would do some dempseys, firemouths convicts, or u could put a couple green terrors in their to

 

[peifc]

I don't think FM will go very well with Sysnpilum.

Depends on what kind of aggresion and size you are looking for.

It looks like you really like FMs. You can house FMs, Sev, and Nicaraguense together.

 

[delmore]

If you are willing to keep your temps at 82 degrees or so, Uarus get along great with Severums, and are very cool fish.

 

[Harry Tolen]

Central American cichlids (Nics, synspila, firemouths) like harder water (although crushed coral would probably do a lot to "correct" your water conditions).

However, since you are blessed with such soft water, why not take advantage of it? South Americans do much better in those conditions. Uarus and discus, or angels and rams, or Severums and Chocolate cichlids (I'm suggesting pairs here).

Rainbows are excellent dither/target fish for such a tank, although you could also get away with some of the larger tetras.

 

[daveedka]

I like the Jag idea, but There are plenty of options. I would watch mating pairs as they will greatly limit the amount of fish you can have. Not to say a mating pair of FM's or any other would be bad, just that when they breed, they will want most of that tank for their own, (this would really apply to most cichlids) and be really hard on anything else in there big or small.
I really like Fm's, and of course Oscars. I have had some nice Dempseys in the past, and the one I just got is really awesome, Good color bad attitude the whole nine yards.
If you're thinking Severums, your options are really open, because as a rule a severum will hold it's own, but not bother others.
As far as the water, most fish especially those Tank raised will adapt easily. I would use Baking Soda (change water) and crushed coral to get Your KH high enough for stability, and not worry about much more.

You could also plant it and do rams, angels etc. I've always liked the look of a big tank with a docile community and good plants.