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Any suggestions??? Tank Talk

BubbaJay

Members
Thought I would post my Cichlid tank and see what everyone thought. I am open for suggestions since I am fairly new to Cichlids. Love the fish though!!! Just a little info on the tank. It's a 110 Gallon Tall (60x23x18) with a corner overflow and 55 gallon sump. I am running a 1000 GPH lift pump with an inline UV sterilizer (35 watt) and a 1300GPH circulation pump. Lighting is done by a homemade Florescent hood running 2 low watt 48" bulbs (for now, till I can get some HO 110w) and a Icecap 660 Ballast. I have 1 Red Bellied Piranha, 1 Red Bellied Pacu, 3 Venustus, 1 Demasoni, 1 unknown as of yet and two crayfish. What do you guys think??? Maybe compatibility issues?? I know the piranha may cause issues later down the road, but for now he does just fine... And the crayfish, although true fish hunters, (lost my fair share of smaller fish to them) don't even bother with these bigger guys... Tank, Lighting, Flow, Decor suggestions are welcome!!! Thanks!!!!

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dogofwar

CCA Members
The tank looks good. I'm a little worried about the stocking, though.

The pirahna and pacu aren't gonna work out (one will tear chunks out of the other fish...the other will get giant).

The venustus are predatory and will eat the crayfish and probably demasoni.

The demasoni prefer to be in groups.

Matt
 

BubbaJay

Members
I know the Pacific is going to get big, but didn't really think that would be a problem, other than needing a bigger tank. Crayfish, I don't really care about..... they were cool until they started eating all the fish.... I plan on getting more demasoni, but wanted to see how this one worked out with the others.... I have had problems with fish dying from the LPS.... and the pirahna..... yeah. Not sure what to do with him yet..... :confused:

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hotwingz

Members
Ive had piranhas before. If you keep them fed and the other fish are of equal size it should be ok. But they like to be in schools. Theyre pack hunters, plus alone theyre not as aggressive as most people think. Its the pacu i might worry about when they bigger. They get about twice the size of the piranha and theyl probably gang up on everyone. Everything is great though! Nice tank!

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jonclark96

Past CCA President
I agree that you have a pretty wide variety of fish that most likely won't thrive together in the same tank. I'd personally get rid of the pacu and the piranha and build around the africans that you already have.
 

rich_one

Members
Thought I would post my Cichlid tank and see what everyone thought. I am open for suggestions since I am fairly new to Cichlids. Love the fish though!!! Just a little info on the tank. It's a 110 Gallon Tall (60x23x18) with a corner overflow and 55 gallon sump. I am running a 1000 GPH lift pump with an inline UV sterilizer (35 watt) and a 1300GPH circulation pump. Lighting is done by a homemade Florescent hood running 2 low watt 48" bulbs (for now, till I can get some HO 110w) and a Icecap 660 Ballast. I have 1 Red Bellied Piranha, 1 Red Bellied Pacu, 3 Venustus, 1 Demasoni, 1 unknown as of yet and two crayfish. What do you guys think??? Maybe compatibility issues?? I know the piranha may cause issues later down the road, but for now he does just fine... And the crayfish, although true fish hunters, (lost my fair share of smaller fish to them) don't even bother with these bigger guys... Tank, Lighting, Flow, Decor suggestions are welcome!!! Thanks!!!!
As mentioned previously, good chance the crayfish will eventually be doomed. And yes... the pacu gets big. No, wait... not a good enough word. The pacu will get large. Eh... still not quite right... here it is... the pacu will become ENORMOUS. Best get rid of it now, because if you wait, you will have an extremely difficult time getting rid of it once it outgrows that tank, and about any other tank that would seem reasonable (unless, of course, you have totally unlimited funds and space). This sounds like an exaggeration, but I promise you, it's not.

Nice looking setup, all that said!

-Rich
 

BubbaJay

Members
Hmmmm. That's a shame.... I really like that guy....:-( but I suppose you're right.... its a shame they sell them in pet stores..... seems no one would really have a tank big enough to house them....

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rich_one

Members
Hmmmm. That's a shame.... I really like that guy....:-( but I suppose you're right.... its a shame they sell them in pet stores..... seems no one would really have a tank big enough to house them....

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That is correct. Pacus are a fish that certainly should not be sold in pet stores. Most probably have no idea about the true size of this fish. It was once featured on the show River Monsters, if that helps to give you an idea. The ones featured on that episode had teeth... big ones... and were attacking people.

-Rich
 

BubbaJay

Members
Dang! Well if I wasn't an impulse buyer, and had done some research prior, I wouldn't have bought it... it had them listed to get 13" which I figured meant after forever and maybe....... but seeing how fast he is growing, now know that it won't be that long till he outgrows the tank. Bought him at about 1 1/2" and he is double that now after only a month.....:eek:

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hotwingz

Members
Ya pacus really do get too big too keep. And you have to keep them in groups which makes it harder. But your piranha isnt going to be easy to get rid of either. Another fish not many are equiped ro have plus they cant just be introduced to a school! They grow up together like a family and are very territorial and protective!

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Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
I agree that you have a pretty wide variety of fish that most likely won't thrive together in the same tank. I'd personally get rid of the pacu and the piranha and build around the africans that you already have.

+1

I would also add a large plant (real or fake) to the right rear corner area.
 

BubbaJay

Members
+1

I would also add a large plant (real or fake) to the right rear corner area.

Right rear corner is the overflow.... right front corner is the discharge. Cant put plants there... I've tried... they either break (real plants) or lay down... have to remember that I'm moving around 800 - 900 GPH..... even as high as the discharge is, it still enough to push the gravel out of that corner.....

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Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Cool-sized tank with some pretty nice filtration you got there. :happy0144:

I'd also go towards Africans. Like Matt said though, the problem is that Pseudotropheus demasoni and Nimbochromis venustus are about as far apart on the scale when it comes to Malawi tank mates. demasoni are pretty tough/mean/rotten little fish, but will almost certainly become lunch once your venustus reach 8" (they will get much bigger than that, btw).

Personally, I'd ditch the pacu and piranha as well as the demasoni. Pick up a 2-3 more groups of haps, peacocks or larger, more aggressive mbuna. Get 6 of each kind as juveniles to ensure a nice ratio down the road.

Alternatively, if you want more color, you can fill it in with single male Malawi cichlds.

Either one would be a winner, imo.
 

BubbaJay

Members
Cool-sized tank with some pretty nice filtration you got there. :happy0144:

I'd also go towards Africans. Like Matt said though, the problem is that Pseudotropheus demasoni and Nimbochromis venustus are about as far apart on the scale when it comes to Malawi tank mates. demasoni are pretty tough/mean/rotten little fish, but will almost certainly become lunch once your venustus reach 8" (they will get much bigger than that, btw).

Personally, I'd ditch the pacu and piranha as well as the demasoni. Pick up a 2-3 more groups of haps, peacocks or larger, more aggressive mbuna. Get 6 of each kind as juveniles to ensure a nice ratio down the road.

Alternatively, if you want more color, you can fill it in with single male Malawi cichlds.

Either one would be a winner, imo.

The more everyone gives me tips, the more I feel I should have done my research... I really like the demasoni. Love the coloring.... he does seem to be all alone in the tank though.... everyone else hangs around each other except him... he stays to himself. :-( and knowing that he's not going to get much bigger, I would say he will be lunch before to long.

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rich_one

Members
You should have done your own research, but hey... at least your learning now. Many of us learned the hard way first. You don't even want to know what I stuffed into a 55 gallon tank when I first started this journey a little over 20 years ago.

Trust me... you don't want to know. LOL...

-Rich
 

BubbaJay

Members
You should have done your own research, but hey... at least your learning now. Many of us learned the hard way first. You don't even want to know what I stuffed into a 55 gallon tank when I first started this journey a little over 20 years ago.

Trust me... you don't want to know. LOL...

-Rich

Oh Rich..... how could I NOT want to know after all that!? Lol! So what was it????

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rich_one

Members
My very first 55 gallon tank, I got in 1990. In it, I had... and I'm talking adults... the following:

Green Terror
Aligator Gar
Clown Knife
Jack Dempsey
Shovelnose Catfish

Among this stock, I also briefly had a snakehead. It got killed though.

Yeah... that was bad. I cannot believe even now how ridiculous that was. LOL...

-Rich
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Not as bad as the 29 I had when I was 12. I had a betta, an Oscar, an arrowana, and a severum. Needless to say they didn't last very long. We all live and learn.


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Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
I know it's not FW but my first attempt with saltwater involved a ten gallon to which I added a dozen fish in two days time. Oops.

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BubbaJay

Members
My very first 55 gallon tank, I got in 1990. In it, I had... and I'm talking adults... the following:

Green Terror
Aligator Gar
Clown Knife
Jack Dempsey
Shovelnose Catfish

Among this stock, I also briefly had a snakehead. It got killed though.

Yeah... that was bad. I cannot believe even now how ridiculous that was. LOL...

-Rich

Wow.... that is a giant range of stuff! The aligator gars are bad a$$! They had one at the LFS that was about 8" and the teeth on him were scary! The jack dempsey is one of my fav... have had 2, but both died very quickly.... at least I dont feel quite so bad! Lol!


Not as bad as the 29 I had when I was 12. I had a betta, an Oscar, an arrowana, and a severum. Needless to say they didn't last very long. We all live and learn.


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I'll bet the Betta didn't last long! Tough little fish though! I have had one for about 3 months and he has had all of his fins eaten off, been sucked into the overflow countless times and is still kicking! Finally put him in a floating breeding container and he is growing everything back nicely! :-D Plus he is much happier out of the current!


I know it's not FW but my first attempt with saltwater involved a ten gallon to which I added a dozen fish in two days time. Oops.

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That's an easy one to do! Want to get that tank stocked quickly so you're not staring at an empty tank! Was very tempted, but restrained myself after doing much research on the tank cycle..... but still very tempting!:-D

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