Advice for South American tank

[Demonknight]

Talked the roomies into rearranging the kitchen/dinning rooms so I can set my 125 back up going with a flowing stream/south american theme, granted no fish are going into the tank for roughly 6 weeks but they wish to buy some for it as well.

I have a pair of red dwarf gourami's, both male it seems as they dislike each other (a lot) so i figure to try and pick up a pair of females..one would hope they can work things out in a 125 gallons of water..but outside of my love of whiptail cats what other fish beyond the tetras are easy to deal with?..Discus would be sweet, but me thinks to temperamental for me at this time.

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

Discus are good and also try this website 1. Hardy Fish
2. South American Fish and
3. South American Aquarium Fish

 

[Marconis]

Why not go for some SA cichlids? There are a lot and there is a good variety to choose from. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with cichlids if you do your research. You can house less aggressive species.

CichlidForum has some of the best cichlid fish profiles on the net, check it out and see if anything interests you:

Species Profiles -- Cichlid-Forum

 

[mfdrookie516]

Yes, I would also suggest some cichlids... maybe angels, discus, rams, apistos... those are all beautiful fish. Might I ask why you're doing a SA theme and including Asian fish?

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

Yes, I would also suggest some cichlids... maybe angels, discus, rams, apistos... those are all beautiful fish. Might I ask why you're doing a SA theme and including Asian fish?

they are all great fish but in my experience angel's are hard to take care of.

Did u look at the links?

 

[Demonknight]

*LOL* cause I already have the gourami's, my son fell in love with them.

I'll dig through the links this evening

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

*LOL* cause I already have the gourami's, my son fell in love with them.

I'll dig through the links this evening

alright no problem

 

[Demonknight]

just got back from my lfs (well sorta its a 50mile round trip) and he informed me it would be hard/next to impossible to get me a pair of female dwarf honeys as no one wants to sell them being ugly...makes it kinda hard to breed them that way though.

Did pick up a bristlenose though, and he said getting the whiptails when i'm ready shouldn't be a problem so thats a go... now to dig through the links above

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

just got back from my lfs (well sorta its a 50mile round trip) and he informed me it would be hard/next to impossible to get me a pair of female dwarf honeys as no one wants to sell them being ugly...makes it kinda hard to breed them that way though.

Did pick up a bristlenose though, and he said getting the whiptails when i'm ready shouldn't be a problem so thats a go... now to dig through the links above

have fun with the links. lol

 

[toddnbecka]

I have some pretty mellow mid-size SA and CA cichlids that you won't find at your lfs. Australoheros oblongum and Cryptoheros cutteri, males of both species max out around 6", females a bit smaller. They only claim small (~18") territories when spawning, and even then aren't any real threat to other species. I have loads of oblongum juvies ready to pair off, and several proven pairs of cutteri available.

 

[Demonknight]

did a search to check them out and ran into the thread on fishlore you posted on..I do like the looks of them though, would a 6 foot long 125 gallon tank be able to hold 4 or them, or just keep it at a pair? well plus a few others as tank mates?

 

[EndlersEatGuppies]

did a search to check them out and ran into the thread on fishlore you posted on..I do like the looks of them though, would a 6 foot long 125 gallon tank be able to hold 4 or them, or just keep it at a pair? well plus a few others as tank mates?

I would say Yes

 

[toddnbecka]

The group of 50 oblongum juvies I grew out early last year were housed in a 75. There were 3 pairs spawning at one time, though eggs didn't last more than a day or two with so many others constantly going after them. You could easily keep a couple pairs in a 125, I spawned them in a 29 last time around. Their general disposition is about the same as keyholes, I've never seen any conflict with other species.
Same with the cutteri, I actually have 4-5 pairs of those spawning quite often in a 40 breeder. There's also a pair of HRP's (or so I was told when I got them, they are a bit blue but act more like convicts) in that same tank. Their fry tend to last longer than the cutteri fry simply because they defend them more aggressively. However, the little zebra knife prowls after dark, so none of the fry last long enough to grow out. Good thing, or I'd have hundreds of the buggers by now.

 

[Demonknight]

once my tanks set back up and does a cycle I'll def be interested in them...should be setting it up this weekend..good thing I can seed it as well from my 10g tank

 

[toddnbecka]

Seeding the tank means you won't have to wait for it to cycle, just feed the bacteria some ammonia to get their numbers high enough to stock the tank. I never have that problem, with 13 tanks running I just swap some filter media and a hydrosponge from established tanks and add fish.
They do like hard, alkaline water. I use coral to buffer all my tanks to around 7.4-7.6, actually the same as my tap water. I also have loads of BN pleco's, regular brown and super red available.
One other great thing about the oblongums, you won't have a pond or ramshorn snail infestation. They're about as effective as loaches for eating snails, though mts are generally below their radar.