Firemouth, Convict, and Sajica in 55 Gallon Tank for Life?

chronocal

Feeder Fish
Nov 25, 2008
3
0
0
San Diego
So I sold off all my fish I had in my 55 gallon tank and started brand new with new fish and new decorations.

Luckily, since I had filter media from the established tank I didn't have to worry about re-cycling the tank. I have two marineland penguin 350 HOB filters and a Fluval 405 canister filter - I know I know, a little overkill on filtering but I figured there's no such thing as overfiltering and at some point I want a bigger tank so I just bought the biggest filters I could get when I bought them a couple years ago.


Anyways, this is my first cichlid tank - I put in a couple of gnarly driftwoods, hardy plants, and rocks to make a bunch of caves for the fish.

I put in a 1 inch convict, 1.5 inch Sajica, and a 2 inch Firemouth.

Right now the Firemouth is the boss of the tank. It chases the Sajica every once in a while and in turn the Sajica chases the convict every once in a while. I checked all their fins and I don't see any nipped fins so I'm not too worried yet...

Anyways, my question is... Do you guys think the 55 gallon will be too small for them when their full grown? (Each of these fish should get to about 5-6 inches when full grown)

I'm most likely going to move to a new house about 2-3 years from now and planning to get a 100 gallon tank for the new house but it's not 100%.

I just want to make sure that if worse comes to worse, if all I have is a 55 gallon tank - would these three fish be OK in the tank?

Thanks in advance for the help! I'll post some pictures up when I get back home from work.
 

importracer

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Dec 22, 2005
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SOunds good.....If I were you, I would just keep the convict and pair him up with another...Trust me on this, it WILL be way more entertaining in the long run...........:naughty::mwave::popcorn::cheers::woot::clap:headbang2
 

chronocal

Feeder Fish
Nov 25, 2008
3
0
0
San Diego
importracer;2463207; said:
SOunds good.....If I were you, I would just keep the convict and pair him up with another...Trust me on this, it WILL be way more entertaining in the long run...........:naughty::mwave::popcorn::cheers::woot::clap:headbang2

Yea I was first thinking about doing that but I don't know what I would do with all the babies. So I figured a mixed tank would be easier in the long run.

I also added 10 Harlequin Rasboras as dither fish and it's the weirdest thing - the cichlids don't even know that they are there. They don't chase them let alone even acknowledge their existence.

Is that normal? Or will these dithers be lunch when the three cichlids get full grown...
 

barley pop

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 14, 2006
1,082
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38
IL
you should have got a pair of Sajica !!!!!

and yes you will need to watch that con with the sajica they will do the nasty.
 

scratanut

Candiru
MFK Member
Feb 9, 2007
270
3
48
India
www.flickr.com
They should be fine, but I can never trust convicts. Moreover your con can be the future boss in there.

importracer;2463207; said:
SOunds good.....If I were you, I would just keep the convict and pair him up with another...Trust me on this, it WILL be way more entertaining in the long run...........:naughty::mwave::popcorn::cheers::woot::clap:headbang2
ENTERTAINING....not at all, its really boring to see cons breeding like rats for a couple of months.
 

dogofwar

Potamotrygon
MFK Member
Jan 3, 2006
5,081
953
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Maryland
www.capitalcichlids.org
55 is plenty for those three fish.

I'd probably add some schooling type fish (med barbs, characins, etc.) for a little movement.

I keep some of the more robust goodeids (Ilyodon, Ameca) with med sized central americans: they're from Mexico, they're a good food source, and they can more than hold their own.
 
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