having that dreaded thought of restocking... ugh

[HopefulHobbiest]

i'm not sure i like this feeling... i want to restock my whole tank with cichlids but with the exception of a few fish that i believe would be ok with cichlids...

this troubles me because i'm attached to my fish but i know that even the 125 i'm prepping will not be suitable for some of my current fish(Clown Loaches in particular) in say... 5 years...

i'm so lost and not sure what to do. to be honest i'm not sure why i'm writing this thread, this would best be described as a personal problem.

 

[Cynic]

I went through the process of having to give away a large amount of my fish I'd grown attached to as a result of poor stocking choices originally. It does suck.

My advice is decide what fish you want to keep first before considering restocking.

You're obviously fond of your clown loaches so the first question I'd ask is how many do you have and what other fish are on your 'Must Keep if Possible' list.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

i currently have 5 clown loaches, but.... before anyone jumps me for this... they're all under 3" lol


(Most of the fish listed below are also VERY small still, which is my only saving grace at the moment)
the others i'd like to keep if possible are:

2 Albino BNP
2 Angels
2 Albino Cory
3 Emerald Cory
2 Peppered Cory
1 Rainbow Shark

Edit - Eventually i will have 4 tanks up and running... a 55G which is the current, 125G fishless cycle going on now, 40G breeder still picking part for but i have the tank itself in the garage AND eventually a second 40G breeder.

now the two 40g breeders will be used pretty much for breeding. so my only real options as far as community tanks go are the 55 and 125... but i've been thinking of making them both cichlid tanks.

 

[Lardeelion]

Going through this too. I have 5 skirt tetras - two white and three black. I've had them for ages, but of course they don't have schools to make them feel comfortable (poor stocking choices ages ago). So I either have to rehome them or get more skirts to give them their respective schools. I don't find them to be interesting fish at all so I don't really want more, but I've grown them for years and I feel like they were loyal to me by living through my early idiot phase when I didn't get things like cycling and regular pwc's. And how do I know they'll go to a good home?

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

yea, i also feel horrible for even thinking about this... i feel like a bad "parent"

 

[Teakwood]

I know the feeling! I got my tank off Craigslist woth a few fish already in it, I rehomed the common pleco and lone silver dollar. It had 2 full grown lampeye tetras so I got a school of 6 younger tetras to add because I've seen lamp eyes school really pretty... But the 2 adults are big bullies and now none of them really school. The 2 big ones just herd the littles. I also have 7 young angels that I didn't know would pick on my snails. Poor snails are all beat up now. I've had really good luck listing fish free to good homes on Craigslist, and its ok to ask potential adopters what fish they already have and tank size, and pass if you don't feel they have a suitable environment.

 

[Cynic]

And how do I know they'll go to a good home?

If you're giving them away like I did ask for a heap of information. Tank size, tank mates, parameteres, experience etc.

May seem nosy but it's your right if they want the fish.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

i agree with the above post

though i don't know anyone in my area that is looking for fish so i may have to contact my LFS and see if they could take them.

but i'm still not sure what i want to do

 

[Cynic]

i agree with the above post

though i don't know anyone in my area that is looking for fish so i may have to contact my LFS and see if they could take them.

but i'm still not sure what i want to do

I think your Clown Loaches will be fine in a 125G for a considerable amount of time. The important thing will be to not heavily stock the bottom of your tank so your loaches have plenty of space to move and play.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

well here's the thing as mentioned above... i'd love to keep them, and the 7 corys BUT i also really want cichlids and i don't know if the fish listed on the "keep" list are all compatible

Edit - forgot something from the keep list... complete list of what i'd like to keep below but compatibility may very well be an issue...

5 Clown loaches
2 Albino BNP
2 Angels
2 Albino Cory
3 Emerald Cory
2 Peppered Cory
1 Rainbow Shark
3 Bamboo Shrimp***

 

[jmay33]

I had some cory cats with my very small cichlids and they destroyed them! Just a heads up. I actually just went through this today when I decided to switch from cichlids to a new community tank. It made me feel guilty.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

what made you switch from cichlid to community if you don't mind my asking??

 

[Laser]

I'm going through something like this myself. I really want some discus but I have no room for another tank.

 

[Cynic]

well here's the thing as mentioned above... i'd love to keep them, and the 7 corys BUT i also really want cichlids and i don't know if the fish listed on the "keep" list are all compatible

Edit - forgot something from the keep list... complete list of what i'd like to keep below but compatibility may very well be an issue...

5 Clown loaches
2 Albino BNP
2 Angels
2 Albino Cory
3 Emerald Cory
2 Peppered Cory
1 Rainbow Shark
3 Bamboo Shrimp***

Depends on the cichlids you're looking at but I'd be dubious that anything other than the bristlenoses will be safe. Your clowns should be fine aggression wise but I don't think they like high PH...

 

[jmay33]

what made you switch from cichlid to community if you don't mind my asking??

The cichlids were so aggressive. They could clean anything down to only a skeleton over night, and mine were relatively small. I will post a picture. I have a 30 gallon community tank that I absolutely love and I already have a blue crawfish that is very aggressive and requires an entire aquarium to himself. He isn't going anywhere. He is the one who got me hooked on this aquarium craze. While i did enjoy my cichlids, I just thought I would switch to something with less aggressive fish because I love how the fish in a community tank interact with each other. Cichlids are beautiful fish, they just aren't for me!

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

I like the rock setup in your tank, looks pretty amazing.

So after readimg your post about the agression and the previous post about ph, I guess I'll ask everyone this question...

Would it be better to just move the inhabitants of the 55 into the 125 when its ready and just convert the 55 to a cichlid??

 

[Kat767]

The cichlids were so aggressive. They could clean anything down to only a skeleton over night, and mine were relatively small. I will post a picture. I have a 30 gallon community tank that I absolutely love and I already have a blue crawfish that is very aggressive and requires an entire aquarium to himself. He isn't going anywhere. He is the one who got me hooked on this aquarium craze. While i did enjoy my cichlids, I just thought I would switch to something with less aggressive fish because I love how the fish in a community tank interact with each other. Cichlids are beautiful fish, they just aren't for me!

I had the same issue I loved my cichlids but got tired of not being able to add more fish so I sold mine to an amazing home and a lot bigger tank( from my 75 to a 200) so it made it a lot easier.

 

[Cynic]

I like the rock setup in your tank, looks pretty amazing.

So after readimg your post about the agression and the previous post about ph, I guess I'll ask everyone this question...

Would it be better to just move the inhabitants of the 55 into the 125 when its ready and just convert the 55 to a cichlid??

If you intend to keep the Clown Loaches I'd say that is the safest bet. You'll need the large tank for your clowns and they're unlikely to work with cichlids I would believe.

 

[HopefulHobbiest]

How much larger do you think?

Edit - Disregard this... i just read the above post again for the 5th time and now noticed it says "you'll need THE larger tank" and not "you'll need A larger tank".

english apparently isn't my strong point today. lol

 

[Freshwater fish guy]

same felling that i have