I would stick with the stock you have as you are a bit over stocked bit with lots of wc it should be fine. How about you do live bearers instead of the barbs as the FM would live with them in the wild and they are lighter on the bio load. Also imo a lot more interesting to watch
Stocking my 52/47 Gallon Fluval Roma 200.
- Thread starter Justepic
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i like the look of the barbs more. And the only livebearers i like are endlers and guppies which I think are too small.
If I add one jewel and reduce 1 firemouth will that be ok? Also I don't think I will find Odessa Barb's at my lfs so I might have to go with Cherry's as they are smaller but retain the same beauty as Odessas. That would equate to 10*2=20 5*5=25 so all in all 45
You don't want to reduce the Firemouth numbers. They are much like Tetras as in they prefer to be in groups of thier own kind.
You could do a single pair of fire mouths that might work, but they prefer to be in groups
I think I am going to ditch the jewels in this tank and get a separate breeder for them . That would be cool and I could devote more attention to them than just stuff em in my 200 litre. I posted a new thread on the breeder forum.
Thnx for all the help.
If you don't care about being geographically correct, then don't read on.
I however am a bit anal about it, and always see tanks of mixed continent fish to appear articial, and at times even goofy.
Firemouths are from Mexico, and share waters with livebearers, and Astyanax tetras.
Barbs are either Asian or African (Odessas come from Myanmar (Burma), and to me would never be found with fire mouths.
Same with jewels being African, beside being uber aggressive compared to FMs.
Even Apistogramma seem out of place with FMs being from no where near Mexico, and are generally considered to be a soft water genus, unlike the Thorichthys which are generally hard water fish.
If you are dead set on barbs, the Asian cichlids Etroplus canaraensus or maculatus would be more apropos, at least coming from the same continent, and these cichlids would actually fit in your size tank.
I believe a proper size group of FMs will quickly out grow your tank. I have seen 10-12" males.
canarensus below.
I however am a bit anal about it, and always see tanks of mixed continent fish to appear articial, and at times even goofy.
Firemouths are from Mexico, and share waters with livebearers, and Astyanax tetras.
Barbs are either Asian or African (Odessas come from Myanmar (Burma), and to me would never be found with fire mouths.
Same with jewels being African, beside being uber aggressive compared to FMs.
Even Apistogramma seem out of place with FMs being from no where near Mexico, and are generally considered to be a soft water genus, unlike the Thorichthys which are generally hard water fish.
If you are dead set on barbs, the Asian cichlids Etroplus canaraensus or maculatus would be more apropos, at least coming from the same continent, and these cichlids would actually fit in your size tank.
I believe a proper size group of FMs will quickly out grow your tank. I have seen 10-12" males.
canarensus below.
Personally, if you wanted to do the firemouths, I would do a group of 4, with 4 swordtails. The tank is not all that big for them. Though I have not seen any larger than 6". I have a group of 5 of their cousins (thoricthys pasionis) growing out in a 55 with 5 other cichlids and 3 swordtails. The thoricthys are lots of fun to watch, they constantly squabble but never really hurt each other. I will have to thin the stock in this tank into other tanks, even at 2" they all make a lot of waste. I would be comfortable keeping the firemouths in a 4' 55 for quite a long time, perhaps life. I just looked up your fluval roma, and see that it is 39" long. This will probably be too small for the firemouth group after a couple years.
Might be better to do smaller cichlids which could live in it for life. It's just not that big of a tank. Apistogramma or rams come to mind.
Might be better to do smaller cichlids which could live in it for life. It's just not that big of a tank. Apistogramma or rams come to mind.
