Help required stocking new 240l tank.

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fungicidalman

Small Fish
#1
Jan 27, 2013
11
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#1
Hello all this is my first post. I'm in need of some advice for my new tank. I currently have a 120l with 3aurulius barbs, 2spanner barbs, 2port acara( aequidens portalegrensis) about 5 inches and a rogue emporer tetra which nothing messes with. I plan on putting all of these in my new tank but would also like to keep another type of medium sized cichlid in there with them, maybe 2. I'm toying with the idea of taking one spanner barb and one acara( bullied by other) back to my LFS. Then introducing two individuals of different species medium size cichlid. Types I'm interested in are:-
Salvini
Severum
T-bar
Convict female
Flowerhorn
Oscar?
Firemouth not really wanted as very similar in colour to acaras. Im also concern a convict might be a bit much for my dithers to handle.Tank will be well decorated with lots of plants,bogwood a few rocks and hidey places. Lots of filtration and sand substrate. Any old hands who think this idea is feasible? If not what else might work? I also like the idea of a school of torpedo barbs instead of additional cichlids but I can only get youngsters up to two inches and due to their body shape worry theyl be a tasty snack for my acaras. Any good advice would be very much appreciated.thanks
 

FishDad

FishDad

Superstar Fish
#2
Mar 4, 2012
1,218
1
38
Cleveland
#2
If I am correct that is about 30 gallons for us imperialist right? What size is your new tank going to be? If similar it will be far to small for most of those cichlids. Not familiar with a "t-bar" but you may be able to put one or two convicts in there. However they would have to be by themselves as they will happily kill any other tank mate. I don't think I would consider the severum, flowerhorn or oscar medium size by any means. But it depends on your tank size and just note that those tropicals you listed will likely be eaten by your south american cichlids.... especially the oscars.
 

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fungicidalman

Small Fish
#3
Jan 27, 2013
11
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#3
Thanks for the input fishdad. My new tank will be a 240litre/55gal,48inch long. My barbs are all 2.5 to 4 inches long so I figure they can look after themselves with medium sized cichlids. My emporer tetra is a psychopath and chases anything that comes into his domain. Even the cichlids give him a wide birth. I like the convicts but I'm concerned about aggression. Would it be better to get one or a pair them? t-bar cichlids are also known as sajica. Any other ideas of what might work? I think the salvini is a very pretty fish
 

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fungicidalman

Small Fish
#4
Jan 27, 2013
11
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0
#4
How about this as a final setup?
3arulius barbs
1spanner barb
1 port ascara
1female convict
1salvini
I'm probably going to put my emperor tetra in my 15gal with my dwarf gurami.
Is this overstocked?I'm a relative novice to american cichlids and I don't want to get it wrong as I've heard read too many horror stories about community setups. The welfare of my fish is paramount and I don't wanna throw a bunch of randoms in there an see them get torn to bits.
 

FishDad

FishDad

Superstar Fish
#5
Mar 4, 2012
1,218
1
38
Cleveland
#5
Oh I'm sorry I didn't notice you did say how big it was. Convicts will be the most aggressive fish in you tank with out a doubt. I Just looked up Sajicas, nice looking fish and they stay about 6 inches. I would personally avoid the convicts, they'll torture everything. If you feel confident that your tropicals can hold there own then stick to cichlids that stay about 6 inches like the Sajicas. You might consider some less aggressive africans too. Maybe some peakocks, they aren't too aggressive. You should be aware however that mixing cichlids with other types of fish always comes with an astersisk denoting caution, and most people will advise you not to do it. Let us know what you decide.
 

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fungicidalman

Small Fish
#6
Jan 27, 2013
11
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#6
Hmm. Food for thought. I'm not keen to mix american/African and I'm attached to my male acara as he's quite a character so I don't want to trade him in. My choice of barbs with cichlids was more through ignorance than anything but they tend to ignore each other. If I could start from scratch I would go with the Africans but ive gota work with what I've got. I'm dropping the convict idea maybe for a sajika. And I've read salvini's rarely get bigger than 6-7 inches in a home aquarium so I think it could be a good mix. I'm also told that for a community setup single specimens work better than pairs in terms of reducing aggression. There does seem to be limited choice of mid sized commonly available american cichlids in the uk though.I'm going to do a lot more homework before I finally decide. All ideas welcome. Thanks again fish dad.
 

metsrangersfan15

metsrangersfan15

Medium Fish
#10
Sep 5, 2011
89
0
0
New Jersey
#10
convicts arent nearly as aggressive as their name would suggest. you could easily do anywhere from 1-3 severums in a 55, but definitely not an oscar. once he's dinner-plate-sized and can't turn around, a 55 is going to seem a little bit tight. A salvini is also a poor choice as they're pretty nasty and would probably destroy your acaras.

I say final setup:
3 spanner
3 aurulius
2 acara
1 severum
1 female convict

thats a solid semi aggressive tank
 

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fungicidalman

Small Fish
#11
Jan 27, 2013
11
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#11
A spanner has just been thrown in the works! During my research I have established that my port acara cichlids which were sold to me as such are in fact saddle cichlids(aequidens tetramerus). These are aggressive cichlids which can reach 250mm in length. Now what?
 

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