Thoughts on stock list for a 120.

[Bking903]

First time poster but live the site! Wondering everyone’s thoughts on my stock list in a 120 running a 20 gal sump and an fx6 with weekly 40% water changes.


120 South American

5 red head tapajos

Red spot gold sevrum

1 ornate bichir

1 tiger moray eel

1 firemouth cichlid

1 tiger sevrum

1 threadfin acara

3 electric blue acaras

1 bristlenose pleco

1 rainbow shark

nitrates haven’t broke 30ppm and I feed heavy, essentially all juveniles aside from red spot sev and rainbow shark (inherited from a friend).

let me know what you think, everyone seems happy and healthy so far ?

 

[tlindsey]

120 South American

Not a SA setup with a Ornate Bichir, Tiger Moray, Firemouth Cichlid, Giant Danios and the Black Shark.
Also the the Ornate Bichir may outgrow the other fish and eat them.

 

[Bking903]

Not a SA setup with a Ornate Bichir, Tiger Moray, Firemouth Cichlid, Giant Danios and the Black Shark.
Also the the Ornate Bichir may outgrow the other fish and eat them.

Aware of that with the bichir, my lfs has no worries bringing him back if that becomes an issue. He’s all of 2 inches now so we will see.

 

[tlindsey]

Aware of that with the bichir, my lfs has no worries bringing him back if that becomes an issue. He’s all of 2 inches now so we will see.

?

 

[mattybecks]

Glad to see you have some proper sand for your geos to sift through. I always feel so sorry when I see geos in gravel tanks.

 

[TwoHedWlf]

That looks like it will be super cramped in a few months.

 

[duanes]

That looks like it will be super cramped in a few months.

Agree
If nitrate are almost 30ppm with these as juvies, you can imagine what they'll be as adults.
Some of these species (Severum, Acarichthys, Geophagus) are prone to chronic diseases like HLLE (hole in the head) when nitrates exceed 15 ppm.
If it were me, I'd plan on reducing stock by about half, and even then plan on large, every other day water changes, when they put on real size.
.
At about 8-10" I could only keep these Acaraichthys and a few other fish in a 150 gal tank.

 

[Aqua Anteater]

Lots of WC will help with a few of the issues you will face. This setup will work for the time being but after one year or so.. if every fish makes it to that point, a larger tank would be recommended.

 

[eon aquatics]

you should get a fire mouth cichlid, they seem to be very hardy and playful, mine exhibits hiding behavior as well
does anyone know how much a fire mouth cichlid should grow in a year?

 

[xenacanth9]

Will work for now but might need adjustments as the fish grow. I'd say upgrade to at least a 180 by the time everything is full-grown. The eel alone could grow to be like 3 feet long. Will probably grow cramped-- but it looks and sounds pretty good for the time being.