130 Gallon Stocking

[Fishy Smell]

Looking for some advice on my setup, whether experienced cichlid keepers think i'm overstocked and with regard to my ditherfish etc.

I have a 130 US Gallon tank with the following fish
1 Rivalatus (2 inch)
1 Jewel (3 inch)
1 Spotted Severum (4.1/2 inch)
1 Male Sajica (4 inch)
1 EBJD (5.1/2 inch)
1 Geophagus Surinamensis (4.1/2 inch)
1 Texas Cichlid (2 inch)
8 Giant Danio
6 Bleeding Hearts
5 Rosy barbs
1 RTBS
1 Green Phantom Pleco
2 Clown Loach
1 Featherfin Squeaker

Filtration - 4 internal Eheim pickup 2012 each good to 50 Gallons

I don't beleive in the inch per gallon rule personally if you have a good spread of swimming levels and over filtration (as i do), but i am curious to see what people think of potential aggression and if any fish are in danger long term.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Or,

How about if the cichlid list became;

1 Texas
1 Rivulatus
1 Normal Jack Dempsey
1 Jewel
1 Female Convict
1 Elioti
1 Severum

By moving around with other tanks / offloading a couple?

 

[bettaowner]

Assuming the RTBS is a red tailed black shark I would remove it. That is a very territorial species that may bother other fish.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Assuming the RTBS is a red tailed black shark I would remove it. That is a very territorial species that may bother other fish.

Its always touch and go with red tailed black sharks but in a big tank it should be ok. It chases the gt and texas around a bit but nothing else. I think its because they were added last and are smaller. When they get bigger though if it chases them it'll probably get its face bitten off, so i think if i did remove it, it would be more for its own safety.

 

[Cichlid.Keeper]

You have an interesting species mix. If they are dithers, there are a lot of them! Otherwise majority of the fish are small as adults. Doesn't seem to overstocked.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Thanks for the reply.

I suppose its (realistically) about 45 inches of cichlid, about 60 inches of dither and 35 inches of bottom dweller, so about 140 inches in a 130 gallon, with overfilter and varied levels. I could reduce the giant danios to 5 maybe to free up a little more space. Am i correct in thinking though that a lot of dither fish will distract the cichlids and keep them calmer?
The main concern for me is the GT (Rivulatus) and Texas getting massive and trying to take the tank, but although they are supposed to get up to 10 inches i reckon 7 is more likely and realistic, and obviously more manageable.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

IMO your dither fish will be mutilated at an alarming rate when the cichlids grow. An unsustainable rate. IMO it sounds good in theory but the jack or the Texas will probably shred all the non aggressive species

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[Fishy Smell]

IMO your dither fish will be mutilated at an alarming rate when the cichlids grow. An unsustainable rate. IMO it sounds good in theory but the jack or the Texas will probably shred all the non aggressive species

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Yes, its a bit of a concern. To be fair, the Electric Blue Jack is already 5 1/2 inches and doesn't really go for anything. It did go for the giant danios and rosy barbs when they first went in but soon gave up when it found they were too fast. As i say, i'm a bit concerned about the Texas and GT when they get bigger, but i guess they might also give up after failing to catch anything! (certainly in the case of the giant danios).

 

[Cichlid.Keeper]

Anything can work at first but I'm not sure how successful your tank will be in the future. IMO the Texas will be super aggressive. Because at first they are all similar in size and then the Texas and jack realize that they could get some more territory by decreasing the population of your dithers.

 

[Fishy Smell]

Anything can work at first but I'm not sure how successful your tank will be in the future. IMO the Texas will be super aggressive. Because at first they are all similar in size and then the Texas and jack realize that they could get some more territory by decreasing the population of your dithers.

Are Texas that bad? How would you compare with the Terror (i must admit the terror already has 'off' days where it looks like it wants to smash the tank up, but then goes back to peacefully swimming around with no issues).

I guess its down to the individual fish. In actual fact i have 2 texas at the moment and am planning to keep the easier going of the 2. My tank list was in view of selling one of them fairly soon!

 

[Macdaddydaze]

Texas are extremely aggressive I have a four inch one in my 300 gallon tank with an Oscar Two jaguar Cichlid two red devils and a jack all ten inches plus and he attacks all of them

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[Cichlid.Keeper]

You could make a Texas work. It just gonna be VERY tough and may not work at the end of the day.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

IMO do away with the idea of dither fish (aka lunch) and form a suitable tank of like minded aggressive cichlids from similar regions.

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[Fishy Smell]

IMO do away with the idea of dither fish (aka lunch) and form a suitable tank of like minded aggressive cichlids from similar regions.

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OK, may well do. What do you think of my stock level cichlid wise at the moment, and the theoretical one i posted as well. Too much, just right or maybe get away with a little more?

 

[TMRC Exotics]

I believe that the updated stock list would work with potential room for a few more. In the future when all are completely grown and aggressive you may have to adjust but that list would work for a while. But at the same time when dealing with gt and Texas cichlids you never know when you might just get a tank terrorist.

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[Freakgecko91]

The texas will more than likely prove to be too aggressive.

A andinoacara rivulatus is actually not a green terror. They are different species. A true green terror is andinoacara stalsbergii and those are quite aggressive, earning the 'terror' in the name. Rivulatus are often called 'false green terror'

Pull the g. surinamensis (actually probably altifrons or abalios, as true surinamensis are ONLY exported from Surinam, which does very little exportation of fish). These get large, and generally require trios at least, if not larger groups.

Your stock list, with all the fish you listed at full adult size, is pretty overstocked.

I'd also pull the red tailed shark, as they can be problematic.

In a few months, maybe less, your dithers will start disappearing, given the species in the tank.

EBJD are no where near as aggressive as regular roccio octofasciata. Some believe it's a trait linked to the one that codes for the electric blue, others believe it's due to hybridization (there's a debate whether the trait is genetic, or due to hybridization between roccio octofasciata and nandopsis hatiensis, aka the black nasty cichlid)

 

[Fishy Smell]

The texas will more than likely prove to be too aggressive.

A andinoacara rivulatus is actually not a green terror. They are different species. A true green terror is andinoacara stalsbergii and those are quite aggressive, earning the 'terror' in the name. Rivulatus are often called 'false green terror'

Pull the g. surinamensis (actually probably altifrons or abalios, as true surinamensis are ONLY exported from Surinam, which does very little exportation of fish). These get large, and generally require trios at least, if not larger groups.

Your stock list, with all the fish you listed at full adult size, is pretty overstocked.

I'd also pull the red tailed shark, as they can be problematic.

In a few months, maybe less, your dithers will start disappearing, given the species in the tank.

EBJD are no where near as aggressive as regular roccio octofasciata. Some believe it's a trait linked to the one that codes for the electric blue, others believe it's due to hybridization (there's a debate whether the trait is genetic, or due to hybridization between roccio octofasciata and nandopsis hatiensis, aka the black nasty cichlid)

I realised that about the GT, that's why i originally listed it as Rivulatus, i was just being lazy referring to it as a GT. It's definately a false GT as i have compared with the colour patterns for each.

You are also correct on the Geo, i think it is Altifrons. I only bought it recently and thought it was Surinamensis but am now sure its Altifrons. I know they're better in numbers but to be honest its quite outgoing and happy. I know longer term it might struggle with the bigger boys in the tank though.

The RTBS will be left to see how it goes, it'll only be pulled if there's serious bother.

I might in the long term pull all of the dither fish and put 6 Silver Dollars in instead. I think i'll move the L200 GPP as well because it cost me nearly £60 and i want to keep it alive at all costs.

 

[Fishy Smell]

What about this for the 130 Gallon;
1 Texas
1 Rivulatus
1 Regular Jack Dempsey
1 Severum
1 Female Convict
1 Female Sajica
1 Thorichtys Ellioti
1 Jewel
6 Silver Dollar
2 Clown Loach
1 Featherfin Squeaker
1 RTBS
1 Gibbiceps

I reckon about 50 inches cichlid, 36 inches SD and 40 inches for the rest.

And for my 55 Gallon;
1 EBJD
1 Male Sajica
1 Blue Acara
1 Rainbow Cichlid
5 Bleeding Hearts
5 Giant Danios
1 L200 GP Pleco
1 Leopard Bush fish
5 Synodontis Petricola

20 inches cichlid, 35 inches dither and 30 inches the rest (but swimming at very differnt levels and double filtration)

 

[Freakgecko91]

A inch rule means nothing with cichlids, especially south and central americans. You're mixing species that just won't do well with eachother in the long run due to differences in aggression, size, and other factors And several of the species listed are highly territorial. You can try whatever you like, just don't be surprised when you have a large amount of bullying/casualties. A 130 gallon may sound big, but when discussing many of the south/central american cichlids, it really isn't all that big

 

[TMRC Exotics]

+1 good reply

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