stocking of my 125

[manakh]

i currently have

2 ebjd 4"
2 regular jd 5/5.5"
1 gt 4"

I got all the fish as juveniles over the last 8 months and 1 of the JD ended up being a female and paired with the other and she has gotten rather bossy and often tries to claim almost half the tank.
I am currently thinking about getting rid of the female because I don't want to deal with a pair claiming so much space or going super agro with fry around.

would replacing her with a female salvini be something a 125 could handle long term?
and would 2 emperor 400s and 1 marineland c360 be enough filtration?

 

[GamerChick5567]

Yes, that 125 should be just fine for a female salvini, provided it is a 6ft tank. A 4 ft should also be ok depending on if she is mean or not. Mine is ok, until she has babies, part of the reason I upgraded from my 4ft 90 gallon. Mine is about 7" long and she has plenty of space. I'm sure my male will too, he should hopefully get to be 10". He is sitting at 6" right now. Salvinis are awesome, don't let their reputation keep you from getting at least one. Also, you can tell if a female salvini is female, if she has a black spot on her gill plates and on the dorsal fin, and if she has a lot more red/looks plumper than the male. A male should have less of a splotch on the dorsal/none on the plate and should have more blue. If they are young or scared they will be grey though so it might be hard to tell.

If you want to keep the JD pair, I would make an egg crate divider, the commercial ones you get at the pet store probably won't fit unless you 125 is really narrow and short haha. You can get the materials at the hardware store in the lighting section, it's called recessed lighting grid. You should also try to get some driftwood or large plants in there to create some sight breaks if there are none already. You can also try to use sewing mesh with suction cups, usually it's dirt cheap at the craft store. I held it together with zip ties to make an emergency one.

You may also want to try some small dither fish, to keep the JD pair and the others distracted. Giant danios work very well, I have 3 and a baby tinfoil barb. I think even if you did add a few more fish that filtration would be just fine if you keep up on your water changes. You could always find a way to slap a bigger canister on there too.

 

[manakh]

I have a fair bit of structure breaking sight and plenty of hiding spots to claim.

funny you mentioned giant danios as I was already considering that. but was uncertain how 2ebjd, 1jd, 1gt, 1 salvini, and a school of giant danios would affect the bioload. i was thinking about either a c530 or fx4 if need be.

 

[cichlidfish]

I have a fair bit of structure breaking sight and plenty of hiding spots to claim.

funny you mentioned giant danios as I was already considering that. but was uncertain how 2ebjd, 1jd, 1gt, 1 salvini, and a school of giant danios would affect the bioload. i was thinking about either a c530 or fx4 if need be.

I think you'll be fine with the stock. More filtration is always better. Test you water before and after water changes. That way you can find what works best with the bioload.

 

[manakh]

I think you'll be fine with the stock. More filtration is always better. Test you water before and after water changes. That way you can find what works best with the bioload.

so you think that stock can somehow live in harmony within that much floor space given the correct lay out of structure and no fish is extra aggressive beyond the normal range?

 

[cichlidfish]

so you think that stock can somehow live in harmony within that much floor space given the correct lay out of structure and no fish is extra aggressive beyond the normal range?

Possibly, you never know with CA cichlids, but it's a 6' tank right? I've been keeping salvini with thorichthys like firemouths in a 150g. It's not that much different demention wise. Female salvini is much less aggressive than males IME. But there is no guarantee on aggression when it comes to American cichlids. Any of them can snap years from now. I had a male JD in the 150g who was very peaceful for 5 years, and one day just went psycho. I had to sell him.

 

[philipraposo1982]

My male gt would destroy everything in that tank, he would.claim it all.

It could work.and it may fail badly. Only time will tell. Just be ready to divide the tank or move fish if needed.

 

[manakh]

ya 72" tank

well the wife says as long as her ebjd's stay and hopefully (fingers crossed) the larger male jack then we can swap and do whatever after that.

we will be moving into a new place here when the sale closes in 40 days then I will have room for another tank! maybe just do the 2 ebjd in a 55 together and tinker with the 125 more. we'll see how the budget is after the move.

but I do know my female jack right now is agro being paired up so I think I will swap her out for sure.

 

[manakh]

removed the female JD
added a school of giant danios
added a 2" salvini that looks maybe female but cant say for sure
and now my larger ebjd within a couple hours had more color then I've seen on him ever.