Keyhole biotope

[cmsbthebest]

It's heros rotkeil that I was looking into as I believe this is the smallest species, maxing out at 8" and I assume females would be slightly smaller? Do you think a lone (female?) rotkeil would be too large for my tank?

I wouldn't recommend any Severum species in a tank that large. I also wouldn't include H. sp rotkeil as a species as of Severum that is both widespread and has been domestically raised for generations in fish farms, so I don't think it would be as adaptable to harder water.

 

[aussieman57]

Have Oscars in the canal behind my house. They put up a pretty good fight on light tackle.

 

[cmsbthebest]

Have Oscars in the canal behind my house. They put up a pretty good fight on light tackle.

I think I’ve seen you say your area has hard water, right?

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

I wouldn't recommend any Severum species in a tank that large. I also wouldn't include H. sp rotkeil as a species as of Severum that is both widespread and has been domestically raised for generations in fish farms, so I don't think it would be as adaptable to harder water.
[/for that I appreciate everyone's knowledge and info

ok thanks for dashing my dreams ? only joking I appreciate everyone's input and all important knowledge, I'll cross sevs of the list until I have a larger tank.

 

[ryansmith83]

I have kept wild-caught groups of every described (and several undescribed) Heros species except H. spurius which have not been available in the US, and all of them have been bred and raised in Florida tap water which is hard and alkaline. The fry of H. severus don’t survive in hard water but the adults do spawn in it. The blackwater species (H. severus, H. sp. Inirida) are much more prone to HITH but given clean water and frequent water changes, I have maintained wild groups of all Heros for multiple years with no issues.

Having said that, I would never keep a group of Heros in less than a 6’ tank because there will be quite a bit of conspecific aggression and spawning pairs will easily take over 1/2 to 3/4 of a 6’ tank depending on the species. I wouldn’t recommend them as singles, either. It’s possible but they may have the tendency to be shy if kept this way.

I don’t think keyholes are a bad option. If you keep their water very clean with frequent water changes it will help to mitigate the levels of bacteria that are more prevalent in harder, more alkaline water and that often spell disaster for the soft water fish. This will also reduce the amount of dissolved organics in the tank which a lot of SA cichlids are intolerant of. A UV filter would also help with bacterial loads for added insurance.

Keyholes wouldn’t have been so popular for 50+ years in the hobby if they weren’t somewhat adaptable.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

I have kept wild-caught groups of every described (and several undescribed) Heros species except H. spurius which have not been available in the US, and all of them have been bred and raised in Florida tap water which is hard and alkaline. The fry of H. severus don’t survive in hard water but the adults do spawn in it. The blackwater species (H. severus, H. sp. Inirida) are much more prone to HITH but given clean water and frequent water changes, I have maintained wild groups of all Heros for multiple years with no issues.

Having said that, I would never keep a group of Heros in less than a 6’ tank because there will be quite a bit of conspecific aggression and spawning pairs will easily take over 1/2 to 3/4 of a 6’ tank depending on the species. I wouldn’t recommend them as singles, either. It’s possible but they may have the tendency to be shy if kept this way.

I don’t think keyholes are a bad option. If you keep their water very clean with frequent water changes it will help to mitigate the levels of bacteria that are more prevalent in harder, more alkaline water and that often spell disaster for the soft water fish. This will also reduce the amount of dissolved organics in the tank which a lot of SA cichlids are intolerant of. A UV filter would also help with bacterial loads for added insurance.

Keyholes wouldn’t have been so popular for 50+ years in the hobby if they weren’t somewhat adaptable.

Thanks, the severum are definitely off the list for this tank, hopefully one day I'll be able to accommodate a tank large enough to house a group of sevs.

With keyholes I don't mind doing big 50-80% weekly water changes but really I'd like to keep the maintenance and effort to a minimum. The main reason I shut down my previous co2 injected tank is because of the time I had to put in to keep it looking good, big weekly water changes, constant plant trimming/replanting, messing with co2, daily ferts etc it became more of a chore than an enjoyment. This time around I'm going to keep it simple ? and I think a big part of that will be selecting the right livestock. I have no issue doing weekly water changes but I don't wanna be keeping species where I'll be worried if I miss the odd week, I'd much rather be keep something hardy and alkaline loving that will appreciate my water ( I should really be looking at Africa cichlids ?).

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to my thread/s.

I think the general consensus is that there are softer water sa cichlids that will live long healthy lives in hard alkaline water but it's not always the case and in order to achieve this the effort put in needs to be increased, water changes need to be more frequent and the water should be very low in nitrates

For the reasons above I'm going to stick to central cichlids for now, hopefully this will keep the hassle and maintenance down a bit and I can have more time to sit back and enjoy my first cichlid tank ?

I'm now 90% sure I'm going to go with Stanzzzz7 suggestion from an earlier thread of a group of meeki ?. Still gotta cycle my tank though so plenty of time to change my mind again ?

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Thanks to everyone that has contributed to my thread/s.

I think the general consensus is that there are softer water sa cichlids that will live long healthy lives in hard alkaline water but it's not always the case and in order to achieve this the effort put in needs to be increased, water changes need to be more frequent and the water should be very low in nitrates

For the reasons above I'm going to stick to central cichlids for now, hopefully this will keep the hassle and maintenance down a bit and I can have more time to sit back and enjoy my first cichlid tank ?

I'm now 90% sure I'm going to go with Stanzzzz7 suggestion from an earlier thread of a group of meeki ?. Still gotta cycle my tank though so plenty of time to change my mind again ?

Wise choice mate.
Thorichthys are one of my favourite cichlid families, you won't be disappointed. As they mature and show their full colour they are a beautiful sight. Even more so in a group.
Meeki are full of character and pluck. The other members are well worth a look as well. Aureus and helleri are my personal favourites. Check those out also if you haven't already.
Add some wild colour livebeares to the mix and you will have a great set up that thrives in your water that will reward you for years if you want it to.
Good luck.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Wise choice mate.
Thorichthys are one of my favourite cichlid families, you won't be disappointed. As they mature and show their full colour they are a beautiful sight. Even more so in a group.
Meeki are full of character and pluck. The other members are well worth a look as well. Aureus and helleri are my personal favourites. Check those out also if you haven't already.
Add some wild colour livebeares to the mix and you will have a great set up that thrives in your water that will reward you for years if you want it to.
Good luck.

Thanks for commenting I was hoping you would ?

Yer you put me onto getting a group of thorichthys a while back on my first thread on here. The thread was about having higher tap nitrates 20ppm out the tap, if you recall?

Because of the nitrates you advise I go for a thorichthys from the meeki group and of the 3 meeki is the my favourite. I'll also be going with your suggestion of wild type swords, looking at people's meeki biotopes on Google the swords really complement them well.

What numbers of each would you suggest for my tank? I've started my scape now and started another thread on it, I'll tag you in it if you'd like to see what I've come up with?

 

[aussieman57]

I think I’ve seen you say your area has hard water, right?

City water & well water are hard. I've never tested the canal water but it holds a very healthy population of largemouth bass, various sunfish species, gar, channel catfish, gambusia, blue fin killifish and several exotics/invasive like oscars, jewel cichlids, mayan cichlids, sailfin mollies, walking catfish and lord knows what else. I live on part of a 9 mile canal system that runs like a slow river with various depths (deepest area @ 20 feet). All the runoff from streets and yards is funnelled into the canal through a myriad of pipe outflows. During the rainy season the water parameters change drastically which is evident by the decrease in fishing success for largemouth bass. I am assuming the canal water is also hard but I have never tested it. Either way the water is continually flushed from upstream sources and remains well oxygenated. I believe fluctuating pH levels is what kills the fishing during heavy rains.