Kewpie's Pewpie err Fish

[kewpiefishypewpie]

It boils down to personal taste and experimentation of what will work and what won't.
For me,keeping all the heterospilus together would be a definite. (as long as they all keep getting on)
I would also want a decent sized shoal of swordtails just to add more activity and another dynamic to the tank.They will also provide more action higher up the water column.
If you want swordtails you may need drop the JD as it may eat them.
Personally I would do the heterospilus, swordtails and add a group of meeki and leave it at that.
If you do stock it this way I for one would be quite jealous. I love hetros and really miss keeping thorichthys.
Regarding synspilum /melanura, once fully grown they are big and I felt my 7x2x2 was a little small for my full grown male. I think with the heterospilus it would be a little cramped.
Good luck.

The thought of my JD eating the live bearers did cross my mind. He's very wimpy for a JD but even still. I was also thinking Meeki as I think their reds would contrast the heterospilus nicely.

Say I were to keep all six heterospilus, what size group of Meeki do you reckon would be good?

 

[Toiletcar]

The thought of my JD eating the live bearers did cross my mind. He's very wimpy for a JD but even still. I was also thinking Meeki as I think their reds would contrast the heterospilus nicely.

Say I were to keep all six heterospilus, what size group of Meeki do you reckon would be good?

Depends on the livebarer. You would be fine with something 4-6". Bigger wild type species like x. Helleri Rio Otapa, x. Mayae, p. Velifera and p. petenensis full grown would be too large for a JD to eat. But you would have to order them online as they are nearly impossible to find wild type livebarers in a LFS. The hybrid versions don't get as big. I really want some myself.
For cichlids you know I'm going to say a group of thorichthys lol. A group of any species would work, just depends what you like.

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

I've actually never kept thorichthys at all but the way you guys talk about them I've slowly started to want some. I have kept Ptychochromis Oligacanthus though and they are remarkably similar both physically and behavior, based on what I've heard anyway.

Do you know of a good website for wild live bearers?

 

[Toiletcar]

I've actually never kept thorichthys at all but the way you guys talk about them I've slowly started to want some. I have kept Ptychochromis Oligacanthus though and they are remarkably similar both physically and behavior, based on what I've heard anyway.

Do you know of a good website for wild live bearers?

You'll love a group of thorichthys. Very interesting when kept in groups. Do you have a species in mind?

You can find a lot of cool livebarers on aquabid.com under "wild type".

Also try Select Aquatics:

http://selectaquatics.com/

 

[Stanzzzz7]

The thought of my JD eating the live bearers did cross my mind. He's very wimpy for a JD but even still. I was also thinking Meeki as I think their reds would contrast the heterospilus nicely.

Say I were to keep all six heterospilus, what size group of Meeki do you reckon would be good?

I would try a group of around 8 meeki and see how things work out.
The less males you have the better.
You won't be able to sex them until they get older so you will just have to get a group and alter as required.

I love all thorichthys and some for different reasons. Personally I find helleri and aureaus the most attractive. Meeki I find have the most character.
If i was in your shoes I would choose meeki.They would contrast nicely against your hetros and they are more easily obtained if you need to add and take away from your group.

You can't beat the sight of a pair of duelling thorichthys.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

 

[Toiletcar]

I would try a group of around 8 meeki and see how things work out.
The less males you have the better.
You won't be able to sex them until they get older so you will just have to get a group and alter as required.

I love all thorichthys and some for different reasons. Personally I find helleri and aureaus the most attractive. Meeki I find have the most character.
If i was in your shoes I would choose meeki.They would contrast nicely against your hetros and they are more easily obtained if you need to add and take away from your group.

You can't beat the sight of a pair of duelling thorichthys.

Agree everything here. Meeki hands down has the most personality. Second choices for personality would be maculipinnis and mixteco. My mixteco blue Rio Almoloya have a lot of personality without the aggression of meeki. Probably my favorite thorichthys species I've owned.
Pasionis look really nice, but don't have personality like meeki. But as a group they seem much easier on each other and never fight w/ one another. That may change if they pair off. Pasionis are the second biggest thorichthys getting 7" full grown.
I would love to get helleri, but they are rare in the U.S. The mixteco are close as I can get, but now officially classified as their own species panchovillai.

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

Thanks very much for all the info everyone. I consider you three guys Stanzzzz7 Toiletcar and Gourami Swami to be the top cichlid guys on this site so thank you. dan518 too I forgot to tag him.

I was just reading the recent Oscura Heterospilus thread Lee Nuttal started and he said the heteros would jive well with cichlids from Rio Candelaria. It so happens that Salvini can be found in that river, I wonder if they would be compatible?

 

[Toiletcar]

Thanks very much for all the info everyone. I consider you three guys Stanzzzz7 Toiletcar and Gourami Swami to be the top cichlid guys on this site so thank you. dan518 too I forgot to tag him.

I was just reading the recent Oscura Heterospilus thread Lee Nuttal started and he said the heteros would jive well with cichlids from Rio Candelaria. It so happens that Salvini can be found in that river, I wonder if they would be compatible?

Thanks for the kind words.

Rio Candelaria salvini are gorgeous. I've been wanting them too. I think it's worth a try.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Thanks for the kind words.

+1 thank you.

Rio Candelaria salvini are gorgeous. I've been wanting them too. I think it's worth a try.

Agree with Steve,they are gorgeous fish.
I know Steve has had good luck with salvini,as his has played nice in his tank.
They can also wreak havoc.
Fish like your hetros or thorichthys could easily be intimidated by a salvini. They are also predatory fish so any livebearers would need to be added fully grown.
It may be worth a shot if you really want one, but remember, a region specific fish with catch location will be a wild or very close to wild fish. These are normally more aggressive than a fish that have been many generations in the hobby.
It may work out but half expect trouble.