• You liked BFD7 now you should join this forum and of course become a club member to see what CCA is all about.
  • Thank you to everyone who registered and showed up for the BIG Fish Deal #7.

Looking for suggestions

Daltharang

Members
Just looking for a few suggestions from all of you more experienced keepers. Currently i am keeping a small (3.5 inch) Andinoacara rivulatus (Green terror), a small school of 5 silver dollars, albino BN pleco, 1 spotted raphael, 1 striped raphael in my 75 gallon tank. I run 2 AC110 HoB filters on it and do 2 30% water changes religiously per week. I have a couple caves built from grey slate on the bottom of the tank with 2 large pieces of mopani (17" and 13").
I've had a couple of ideas in mind of some additions and would like to hear of any experience. I really want to upgrade to a 6 foot tank, but also cant be guaranteed that this would happen before the fish hit maturity. So i would like to make sure anything i do, that it is good for the long term with what i currently have until i have a larger tank in my possession

1st idea: Add and EBJD, Electric Blue Acara or possibly even a Green Texas. Don't know if this would be too much green/blue in the tank and not enough contrasting colors, and also unsure if they could be safely housed together in such a small tank.

2nd idea: Get 3 or 4 more Andinoacara rivulatus and once paired off either try to rehome 3 or take to lfs. Try my hand at breeding. Only issue here is with them so readily available i'm unsure how easy it will be to sell/give away the fry, and also guessing i would need at least another 55g (which is much easier to get) as a grow out tank, just don't know if i currently have the room to add a second tank. Also don't know how well it will work with the catfish in the tank, at night, eating eggs.


3rd idea: I would like another larger cichlid with a lot of contrasting color to the Andinoacara rivulatus like reds or yellows. ( for this ive been looking into Salvini, Red Sevrum, Chocolate Cichlid, or some form of Oscar) My concerns here are the obvious, is there enough room to house 2 of them in a 75g safely? I don't want to get attached and have to rehome, or worse yet lose one due to aggression.


4th idea: Don't push my luck and just stick with what i have until i have a larger aquarium in hand.

Of all the choices, i think in order my preference would be 3,1,2,4. Any suggestions are appreciated. If i am able to go with any of these options, i would really love to get these fish from a local hobbyist if anyone does breed, or knows someone who breeds whichever type ultimately becomes the final decision. If i am unable to find someone, i plan on ordering from Imperial Tropicals.
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
I would go the route of trying to get a breeding pair. Cichlid parenting behavior is one of my favorite things about keeping them.

If you go the route of adding another fish, I'd keep it on the less aggressive side (severum, chocolate) instead of another angry fish (salvini, carpintis). I would not add the EBJD or EB acara. You never know what kind of temperament you will get with the EBJDs and they are too expensive to get killed by a bully tank mate. I don't think the GT would appreciate another similar shaped acara, so that EB acara would be risky.

Good luck.
 

rich_one

Members
I agree with Jon completely. Either breed, or take your option 3 with either the chocolate or the severum. Good luck!

-Rich
 

Daltharang

Members
If i went with attempting to breed, would a grow out tank be a necessity and if so what size? Also would i have to get rid of my catfish because i have heard they will eat all the eggs in the middle of the night. Is this a species where it will be fairly easy to find a home for once the fry are ready?
 

Andrewtfw

Global Moderators
If i went with attempting to breed, would a grow out tank be a necessity and if so what size? Also would i have to get rid of my catfish because i have heard they will eat all the eggs in the middle of the night. Is this a species where it will be fairly easy to find a home for once the fry are ready?

My acaras breed with bushynose present. I have not lost a clutch due to bushynose eating the eggs. As for a grow out tank, it is a good idea. You can ensure the fry get adequate food. Plus, the male will likely want to breed again and if the fry are still present, he may go after them. There is little demand in our area for green terrors. My suggestion would be to grow out a dozen rather than the entire batch.

Sent from my VS985 4G using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

Daltharang

Members
Definitely looking to upgrade as soon as possible, i think i look at craigslist 50 times a day literally. About a week ago i decided to check it at 1:30 a.m. before bed and there was actually a 210g in herndon with stand, canopy, and 2 FX5. They were going into closing on the house and just needed it removed for free. I sent the email to him/her not 10 minutes after it was posted and it was already pending pick-up the next day. :( Just barely missed out. All that has done now though is make me watch it even more
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
Definitely looking to upgrade as soon as possible, i think i look at craigslist 50 times a day literally. About a week ago i decided to check it at 1:30 a.m. before bed and there was actually a 210g in herndon with stand, canopy, and 2 FX5. They were going into closing on the house and just needed it removed for free. I sent the email to him/her not 10 minutes after it was posted and it was already pending pick-up the next day. :( Just barely missed out. All that has done now though is make me watch it even more

Pretty sure it was another CCA member that picked up the tank...
 

blkmjk

Members
Dang heck of a deal...

Well personally I would add the severums and not breed the terror. I would breed the severums if you want to breed.

Drew
 

neut

Members
I've kept single green terrors with severums and for me they got along well. Both species can vary in temperament, tank circumstances can vary ( tank size, other fish in the tank, etc.), so you can't 100% guarantee it, but ime it was no problem. Tank raised green terrors have always been mellow for me, though I've seen it be otherwise-- I've also had wild GTs, and they're a completely different beast.

If it was me and I wanted to breed GTs I'd figure on only saving or selling limited numbers of fry, unless you wanted to get into shipping and try to aquabid or ebay them. They can produce a lot of fry, a few hundred per spawn, and they're already readily available.
 
Last edited:

Daltharang

Members
I don't think at this time i'm ready to start trying to breed. That will be something that i definitely want to get into later down the road though. With my current stock my nitrates seem to get up to somewhere between 40 and 80 ppm every 3-4 days. That's why i have been doing 25-30% water changes twice a week so they don't get out of hand. Nitrites and ammonia always read 0. So for now i have decided to not add anymore bio load with another large cichlid.
I'm going to continue to look for a big upgrade to my tank. Would of loved to have had the "new tank funds" to get one of the large tanks that were posted in the marketplace here over the past week lol. With the space i have available i should be able to fit any of the 6 ft tanks, so from what I've been looking up 220 is the max 6 ft long tank without a custom foot print. I could probably fit an 8 ft tank but it would take some living room rearranging, which would take some convincing of housemates, which could in turn bring out bring out their own cichlid aggression towards me lol.
As for what I've decided to do at this point, i went a completely different direction ( and don't really know why) for more color. I rehomed the green terror to a good friend of mine and replaced it with a single 3" Flowerhorn and a synodontis. I'm unsure of exactly which synodontis it is, as that was the only description at the lfs "synodontis catfish", but appears to be synodontis nigrita. Good thing is, it is out a lot more than the raphaels, so i don't have to sit in the living room by myself with a flashlight at 3 am to see him. So current stock now is 1 flowerhorn, 5 silver dollars, 1 spotted raphael, 1 striped raphael, 1 albino BN pleco, and 1 synodontis.
 

rich_one

Members
John,

I'm not an expert on flowerhorns, so I may be incorrect here... but as far as what I think I know about them, they tend to become awfully aggressive. I say this because based on what I think I know about them, the other fish you have listed there may be on borrowed time. But hopefully someone who is a bit more experienced in flowerhorns can chime in. Either way, good luck with them!

-Rich
 

Daltharang

Members
I have read the same thing, that they become quite aggressive, it is already darting around after the silver dollars. The only good thing is the silver dollars are quite a bit faster, and also don't allow the flowerhorn to get near them before moving quickly to another part of the tank. Granted everything is still pretty small in comparison to their max sizes, which may in turn make it so they don't have enough room to relocate or dart out of the way. I've had the flowerhorn now for about 4 days, when i did the water change just now i noticed it also had a black spot come through on the dorsal fin, which apparently is about an 80% indicator that it is a female. With your advice on top of that may very well mean that i will be returning it and going a different direction yet again lol. Such turmoil comes with so many beautiful fish and not enough room to house them all lol
 

Daltharang

Members
So turns out it was just as Rich said, i noticed this morning that a couple of my silver dollars had some nipped fins and quickly returned the flowerhorn. I apologize for what seems like i'm exhausting this topic now, but i greatly appreciate all the input from you more experienced fish keepers. I think what i have decided on (unless i hear different here) is to go with an EBJD and a red or gold sevrum. From the research I've done, both seem to be very mellow and i get the contrasting colors I'm looking for. I plan on getting both in the 2-3" mark so i can watch them grow out. They will currently be in the 75g with the other fish i mentioned previously. I know for sure that if i am unable to find a larger tank prior to, i will be upgrading to somewhere between a 180-220g by late February at the very latest.


Does anyone breed the ebjd's, red, or gold sevrums?
 

rich_one

Members
You should have better luck with those. One warning on the ebjds... I don't view them as a beginner fish. At that size, they are pretty sensitive to water conditions. Not saying you cannot succeed. Just saying be prepared to stay on top of your water changes. EBJDs that size can be very susceptible to unstable water parameters. Usually, if you can find one at 5 inches or larger, in my opinion, its way more stable (and costly). Just my opinion from my experience dealing with that fish. Good luck!

-Rich
 

Tony

Alligator Snapping Turtle/Past Pres
Haven't checked this thread since your first posted it up, John. Wow, a lot has transpired since then, lol.

My original vote would have been to pair the GTs and get some chocolate cichlids. Have only recently diversified my cichlid portfolio in the last year or so (used to have 25 tanks with Africans in them), so I have not kept GTs yet. I want to though. They're big flashy south Americans that aren't completely psychotic.

I will chime in on chocolate cichlids though... went to Peru last fall and we caught a bunch. They were beautiful (and delicious in soup with cilantro, but I digress). Ended up getting a group of 6 from one of the Glovers and I absolutely love them. They are in my 6' 150 with acaras and eartheaters. Not as flashy as some of the others you mentioned, but they are subtle beauties and though not aggressive, can stand up for themselves.

Glad you are getting rid of the flowerhorn btw... hybrid-discussion drama aside, they are best kept as a single monster wet pet imo.

Post some pics already. Sheesh. ;)

Cheers.
 

jonclark96

Past CCA President
+1 on Rich's comments on the EBJD. When they are small, they are very delicate in my experience. They stress easily and are not very aggressive at feeding time. Finding a large one is the way to go, but they are expensive and hard to come by.

Good luck.
 

Daltharang

Members
Seems to be almost impossible to find lol. Assuming it wont be something i would find in an afternoon. I've spent the last 2 hours looking around to find one larger then 2" but it seems like that is the standard. I would love to find one larger but i don't know if i will be able to. One good thing is since this is i do test my water parameters daily and also do a 30% water change every thursday and monday. So hopefully keeping it in the best conditions possible will help it stay healthy until it grows into some hardiness
 
Top