My Community Tank

This is my Community tank. 6 x 2 x 2 foot. they said they won't get along, but so far all is well. it is a bit of a mix but as with any new fish hobbyist, one tend to put together fish you like then as you get more into it, you start to realize what it is you like most and lean towards that. for me it Central and South-American cichlids.

 

Hi @Gavin the Babrabrian , Welcome to the Forum

Tank looks great, well done

Mistakes, we have all made somewhere along the line, we learn from them

I am an avid lover of SA and CA Chiclids and have tried a combination of many over my 40 years of fishkeeping..
I eventually lost my sense of humour with Central American cichlids, only had one which was fairly peaceful and loved him to pieces and lost him to a power failure before i invested in a geni and that was a Genuine Red Terror.

It all starts well but eventually as they mature all hell breaks lose
I have seen Oscars and parrots together sometimes if the oscar is strong enough to stand up to the parrots, i now you dont have oscars, just mentioning out of interest sake
So you going to have to just watch them all carefully and see how it goes

The one fish that you have there that kills its tank mates 99% of the time is the Flowerhorn so watch him very carefully....

As I said, looks great but you must be vigilant to any changes in behaviour as they get older and establish their
territories so you can take action straight away

 

Hi Maria

Thanks a mill. Yeah, I Realize it the flowerhorn was strangely my first fish. then i added and added...lol. I most probably will build him his own tank. I do have baby Oscars in a 4ft tank with baby jags, trying to see if I can get a pair going. I do have another 2m tank with baby mayan cichlids in that was sold to me as ted terrors ( imagine my disappointment... lol). and I also have a 3m tank that I'm busy fixing up. I love my dempsey's and will do something with them. but at the end, I'm looking for Red devils, Midas, Red terror and if ever the stars align Amarillo and umbee.

 

@MariaS love your Aro!!!! did not know we could keep them in our country. i might also be looking at vieja's like the argentea, synspilum and and.... but yeah been new i want to keep them all..lol

 

@Gavin the Babrabrian ..

Thanks.... yes... love my Aro.. thats my baby..she is now 60cm

Wow.. you are very brave!!!
From what you said in your first post, I am assuming you are a beginner and you have never kept adults of all the fish on your "want list"... if im wrong please forgive me

If Im right, please dont take offense but please.... take a step back and do some serious homework on each and every fish on your want list..... some of those fish are highly aggressive and not community fish, some will even kill their partner

I know you say you have more tanks but to keep all those fish you will need a fish room..
I cant tell you how many Jags i have tried as i love their colour, once adulthood sets in...
All our tanks are 3.4 x 1m.. so space has never been a problem
Anyway... just do some homework.... you really diving into the deep end of terrors

@top dog,
can give you more advice regarding Vieja and Umbee... wont be pretty...

As I said, no offense meant just some thumbs up cause its sad when it doesnt work out

 

@MariaS, no offense taken, and thanks for the heads up.

I've been searching around to find these fish but to no avail. Yeah, I definitely know they are not community fish and that is why I have the 2m and 3m kinda empty and waiting. Don't think I'll ever get every fish on the list as it is not available, or extremely hard to find in our country. Persons i follow quite closely is Mel Guapote King 7 Queen Cichlids and Any Woods( quite the character) who have kept or keep these fish so I learn a lot from them.

But any and all advice is always welcome, hence I joined the community here. it's a lonely place out there...lol

 

@Gavin the Babrabrian will pm you my details.

 

Oh o agree 100% it's awesome to be able to chat, share and learn from others and if I may say so.. I think TASA members are absolutely fantastic.. pretty much like a family

Wazeer aquariums in Boksburg can get you all if not, then most of those fish if you order them
Nothing wrong with following these people, you always learn something
There is only one thing you need pay attention to
Often the post a tank with a certain combination of fish and all is good and they convince you that it works
Make sure that they post regular follow ups on the same tank or that you dont miss any follow ups of the same tank so you can see how long it lasted as a combination
For example I think most of us follow Joey, king of DIY
Some time ago he posted a stingray and discus tank which then everyone believed was a perfect combo
I have had several "arguments " I say it does not work
Long term, joey had to remove all the discus but many people missed the video where he admitted it was a failure so they still believe it works
That's the little things that make the internet a bit dangerous sometimes
Obviously over and above the rule you get exceptions and you might find one fish with a bit of a more mellow character than others of the same species just like humans I guess
It will certainly be a road full of excitement!

 

@MariaS yeah I sent Wazeer my list of fish. he then told me he had the trimacs, went there, and showed me the 3 spot cichlid which looks nothing like a trimac im used at seeing. So I a was a little disappointed. I will keep popping in and see if he comes up with anything. and COVID is not helping either....lol.

I was even considering doing an import myself from Cichlids of Americas. Looked at getting the veterinary Certificate that is needed to do imports. but COVID!!!

 

it all comes down to size of tank size of fish and temperament of each fish.
huge difference between young fish and large adults, this needs to be remembered as fish take 2-3 years to get a size then stay therefor 10 years.
adult male dovii and umbee are never going to be kept in a standard tank with other fish, once they are above 30cm they need 1000-1500ltr per fish and double that for anything else besides a pair. All tank mates become expendable.
amphs midas, red devil, trimac need a 6 foot min for a pair 8 foot min for community. Have found high concentrations of male only work well, but males need to be similar in size with a definite tank boss to keep the peace

 

[mention]MariaS [/mention] [mention]top dog [/mention] look what i found!!!





Two red devils


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nice find good looking fish
Mi-devil is term used to describe fish like that, as they are more than likely hybrids between the midas and red devil
i would not add those to your tank
that is a lot of trouble looking for a place to happen

 

Thx [mention]top dog [/mention]

Yeah im very excited to get them. They have their own 2m tank already cycled and waiting


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Safely home and settling in their new home





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She laid eggs in the pot!!! Don’t think they are fertilised as the other guy “hopefully male” don’t seem very interested. Not protecting the pot or anything..... i need another male


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