The family has been infected...

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Kaiden

Kaiden

Gambusia
MFK Member
Mar 26, 2012
255
10
18
Long Island, NY
With MTS! :lol:

I'm not sure how it happened but for some reason everyone in the family seems to have suddenly developed an interest with fish keeping. My parents wanted to convert their community tank to an African cichlid tank and my brother has asked me for my 55 gallon.

In any case, I just wanted to ask for some opinions/advices on our 3 (proposed) tank setup. Aside from Oscars, I don't really have much experience with other fish so any input is greatly appreciated.


1st:
My Oscar's 150 gallon tank (72 x 20 x 24)
- Filters: 2x Sunsun 530 GPH canister, 2x Emperor 400
- Stock: 1 Oscar, 1 BGK, 1 Featherfin catfish(maybe?), 5 SDs

Is that overstocked or decent? Is the filtration good enough for it?

2nd:
Parents' 55 gallon tank
- Filters: Eheim 2215 canister, 2x Penguin 350
- Stock: Currently have 12 assorted African cichlids but my mom wants to add 3 more to make it 15. I just know them by color lol. There's 2 yellow ones, 3 orange ones, 3 dark blue with stripes, 2 light/cobalt blue, 2 silver with black stripe in the middle. Sorry I know that doesn't help much but I'm not sure what the species we got are so I'll post a vid to show them instead.

[video=youtube;QkL9D1Zv5NU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkL9D1Zv5NU&context=C4620665ADvjVQa1PpcFOr ppmnqkfY3PWQ4R9hwNuRcacZjWg7KBM=[/video]

Can you help me identify what kind of African cichlids we got? When we bought them, it was only labeled as assorted and the employee who assisted us wasn't really much of a help...I even had to catch them by myself. Is the filtration enough for that much fish though? Can we really add 3 more fish to that stock?

3rd:
Brother's 55 gallon
- Filters: Cascade 1200, 2x Penguin 350 (to be bought)
- Stock: Currently, he already bought an African Brown Knife fish and a Striped Raphael Catfish. He also wants to add a Firemouth and 2 other 'colorful' fish.

What can you suggest that he add (if any)? I'm not sure what would be compatible with a Firemouth. I heard they're pretty peaceful compared to other cichlids. Depending on what other fish he gets, do you think the filtration will be good enough for it?


I'm open to suggestions and I would try my best to pass them to the family. Whether or not they listen to me is another matter though...


Thanks in advance!
 
Kaiden said:
With MTS! :lol:

I'm not sure how it happened but for some reason everyone in the family seems to have suddenly developed an interest with fish keeping. My parents wanted to convert their community tank to an African cichlid tank and my brother has asked me for my 55 gallon.

In any case, I just wanted to ask for some opinions/advices on our 3 (proposed) tank setup. Aside from Oscars, I don't really have much experience with other fish so any input is greatly appreciated.


1st:
My Oscar's 150 gallon tank (72 x 20 x 24)
- Filters: 2x Sunsun 530 GPH canister, 2x Emperor 400
- Stock: 1 Oscar, 1 BGK, 1 Featherfin catfish(maybe?), 5 SDs

Is that overstocked or decent? Is the filtration good enough for it?

2nd:
Parents' 55 gallon tank
- Filters: Eheim 2215 canister, 2x Penguin 350
- Stock: Currently have 12 assorted African cichlids but my mom wants to add 3 more to make it 15. I just know them by color lol. There's 2 yellow ones, 3 orange ones, 3 dark blue with stripes, 2 light/cobalt blue, 2 silver with black stripe in the middle. Sorry I know that doesn't help much but I'm not sure what the species we got are so I'll post a vid to show them instead.

[video width=425 height=344 type=youtube]QkL9D1Zv5NU[/video]

Can you help me identify what kind of African cichlids we got? When we bought them, it was only labeled as assorted and the employee who assisted us wasn't really much of a help...I even had to catch them by myself. Is the filtration enough for that much fish though? Can we really add 3 more fish to that stock?

3rd:
Brother's 55 gallon
- Filters: Cascade 1200, 2x Penguin 350 (to be bought)
- Stock: Currently, he already bought an African Brown Knife fish and a Striped Raphael Catfish. He also wants to add a Firemouth and 2 other 'colorful' fish.

What can you suggest that he add (if any)? I'm not sure what would be compatible with a Firemouth. I heard they're pretty peaceful compared to other cichlids. Depending on what other fish he gets, do you think the filtration will be good enough for it?


I'm open to suggestions and I would try my best to pass them to the family. Whether or not they listen to me is another matter though...:pinch:

Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

For your brothers tank I'd say no with the fire mouth cichlid, they are pretty aggressive but if you looking for colorful somewhat peaceful fish then I would always suggest any species of geophagus. Also for the filtration if you haven't bought it yet then I would suggest the cascade 1500 alone. I have it on my 72 and it works like a charm. Also my friend has the 1500 on his 55 too and also works very well, he's actually the one that suggested the 1500 to me and I'm glad I listened.


Sent from my iPad using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Kribs are colorful and not to aggressive if they have enough space; rams also.
 
Unfortunately we already have the Cascade 1200. It came with the 125g tank I bought. Is the Cascade 1200 not sufficient enough for a 55 gallon even if I add 2 HOBs?

Aside from Geophagus and Kribs, are there any other tank mates you can recommend? We can't seem to fine either of those species at our LFS.


Thanks for your help!
 
Thank you! I'll tell me brother to check out the angels at our LFS.

One thing though...My brother bought a pink and black convict yesterday. I was against it but he believed the guy at the LFS that said it will be okay to add Convicts with Knife Fish. Do you think that will work out okay?
 
Kaiden said:
Thank you! I'll tell me brother to check out the angels at our LFS.

One thing though...My brother bought a pink and black convict yesterday. I was against it but he believed the guy at the LFS that said it will be okay to add Convicts with Knife Fish. Do you think that will work out okay?
Click to expand...

they mean as all heck so i would keep an eye on the convict...
 
I was afraid of that...I advised him against it but he didn't listen.

If I didn't love animals, I would just let my brother have his way with his tank. But I'll try to ask our LFS if I can get them exchanged before they do any harm to the other fish. Maybe I can find him some Geophagus, Kribs or Angels that can go with his ABK.

Thanks for your input!
 
Kaiden said:
Unfortunately we already have the Cascade 1200. It came with the 125g tank I bought. Is the Cascade 1200 not sufficient enough for a 55 gallon even if I add 2 HOBs?

Aside from Geophagus and Kribs, are there any other tank mates you can recommend? We can't seem to fine either of those species at our LFS.


Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

The 1200 will be fine but the 1500 will clean the tank twice as good


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
Kaiden said:
Unfortunately we already have the Cascade 1200. It came with the 125g tank I bought. Is the Cascade 1200 not sufficient enough for a 55 gallon even if I add 2 HOBs?

Aside from Geophagus and Kribs, are there any other tank mates you can recommend? We can't seem to fine either of those species at our LFS.


Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

Also some people might go against this but I think if you got the geos 2 inches or less you could put some large discus in there. Some people told me it wouldn't work and some people told me it would so I went with it and I'm having no problems at all, they go along nicely. I have 4 large discus (around 4-6 inches long) and 4 geos and the biggest ones are 3 inches and doing fine.


Sent from my iPod touch using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
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