Central cichlids with nitrate

[Tripping Willow 91]

Hi, first post here and new to cichlids. I'm a experienced fish keeper but I've only ever kept small community fish. I currently have a heavily planted high tech 30gallon tank which I'm about to shut down, my time with plants and small fish has come to an end and I would like to move on to larger fish and a simple hardscape dominated tank with minimal plants I was thinking tiger lotus would look good.

My plan is to upgrade to a larger 48" tank 65-80 US gallons (250-300litre, ) and have it lightly stocked with a couple 4-8" central cichlids and a few other small fish. My water is very hard 20dgh, 10dkh and pH 8, I'm hoping central American cichlids would appreciate this?

I've done a lot of googling and I love the look of male sajica cichlids so I was thinking of having this as the centre piece, then maybe a thorichthys aureus and a rainbow cichlid with something like a school of tetra, barbs or rainbowfish and a small pleco. Does this sound like a good stocking idea? I'm open to other suggestions

Another thing to note is my tap water is fairly high in nitrates 20-40ppm using API master kit, with my current high tech tank this isn't an issue as my plants eat these up no trouble but would these levels be an issue for my suggested stock? I want minimal plants probably just some red tiger lotus (if possible with cichlids) and pothos coming out the top

 

[Rocksor]

Ever think about using your current 30g tank as a refugium/sump for your new 4 foot tank? Just keep the plants in the 30g, no need for the small community fish, unless you want to use them as dithers for your sajica in the larger 48" tank.

duanes has a great example of using easy plants to keep for reduction of nitrates.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Unfortunately most freshwater fish don't appreciate nitrate at those levels. You can keep plants with sajicas though with no major problem. But if you want to move away from having the plants, different source water may be the best option. An RO system can be had for about 100$.
I've currently got a male sajica in a heavily planted 65 gallon. He doesn't really mess with the plants. I use RO water in the tank, and only a small bag of crushed coral in the filter to give the water a little calcium. Sajica have been bred in the hobby for a long time, and I have found they can tolerate a wide variety of water conditions, so the hardness and pH is not that critical for them.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Ever think about using your current 30g tank as a refugium/sump for your new 4 foot tank? Just keep the plants in the 30g, no need for the small community fish, unless you want to use them as dithers for your sajica in the larger 48" tank.

duanes has a great example of using easy plants to keep for reduction of nitrates.

Thanks for the reply, the tanks I'm looking at are not drilled for a sump and I'd rather move away from plants now. I've enjoyed having planted tanks but I'd like something that's hopefully gonna be less maintenance. I have a fluval 407 and also a terta ex 800 if needed. I would like the smaller fish as well as being dithers I think they'll be aesthetically pleasing

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Unfortunately most freshwater fish don't appreciate nitrate at those levels. You can keep plants with sajicas though with no major problem. But if you want to move away from having the plants, different source water may be the best option. An RO system can be had for about 100$.
I've currently got a male sajica in a heavily planted 65 gallon. He doesn't really mess with the plants. I use RO water in the tank, and only a small bag of crushed coral in the filter to give the water a little calcium. Sajica have been bred in the hobby for a long time, and I have found they can tolerate a wide variety of water conditions, so the hardness and pH is not that critical for them.

Yep I wasn't too sure how tolerant of nitrate cichlids or the cichlids I'm interested are. I mean I would quite like to have a big tiger lotus up one end if that's gonna work with my planned stock and I'll grow pothos out the back as well to help but I don't want anything more than that. I could cut my tap water with RO 50/50 but would I need to add anything back to it, I'd rather not be messing with my water too much. What sort of max nitrate level should I be aiming for with my planned stock?

 

[esoxlucius]

A change of scenery once a while in your tanks is great. But when you're given a bum deal with nitrate like that you have to adapt, and you've obviously done that with your original heavily planted tank. To move away from a heavily planted tank is going to be tough on your stock. Do you really want to go down that route?

Gourami Swami has given you a great get out of jail card regarding your preferred choice of the sajica cichlid. The fact his has been plant friendly is promising for you. You get to keep the fish you want, and the water quality will be ok for it, thanks to your plants.

I'd seriously consider it as a viable option.

Good luck.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

A change of scenery once a while in your tanks is great. But when you're given a bum deal with nitrate like that you have to adapt, and you've obviously done that with your original heavily planted tank. To move away from a heavily planted tank is going to be tough on your stock. Do you really want to go down that route?

Gourami Swami has given you a great get out of jail card regarding your preferred choice of the sajica cichlid. The fact his has been plant friendly is promising for you. You get to keep the fish you want, and the water quality will be ok for it, thanks to your plants.

I'd seriously consider it as a viable option.

Good luck.

My current planted tank is now fishless, I had glowlight danios and honey gourami but all that's in there now is a few nerite snails and cherry shrimp, plus all the plants. The tank looks stunning and it's been fun but I'm done with all the maintenance it requires and I fancy something completely different. Having a big bunch of tiger lotus is gonna be fine for me but having a tonne of plants is not happening. The pic of planted tank attached is mine and low light wood and rock tank is the kinda look I wanna go for this time

 

[tlindsey]

Hi, first post here and new to cichlids. I'm a experienced fish keeper but I've only ever kept small community fish. I currently have a heavily planted high tech 30gallon tank which I'm about to shut down, my time with plants and small fish has come to an end and I would like to move on to larger fish and a simple hardscape dominated tank with minimal plants I was thinking tiger lotus would look good.

My plan is to upgrade to a larger 48" tank 65-80 US gallons (250-300litre, ) and have it lightly stocked with a couple 4-8" central cichlids and a few other small fish. My water is very hard 20dgh, 10dkh and pH 8, I'm hoping central American cichlids would appreciate this?

I've done a lot of googling and I love the look of male sajica cichlids so I was thinking of having this as the centre piece, then maybe a thorichthys aureus and a rainbow cichlid with something like a school of tetra, barbs or rainbowfish and a small pleco. Does this sound like a good stocking idea? I'm open to other suggestions

Another thing to note is my tap water is fairly high in nitrates 20-40ppm using API master kit, with my current high tech tank this isn't an issue as my plants eat these up no trouble but would these levels be an issue for my suggested stock? I want minimal plants probably just some red tiger lotus (if possible with cichlids) and pothos coming out the top

Welcome aboard

 

[eon aquatics]

i really like your tanks some of the best i have seen on here very natural
i have like 18 tetras of 4 different kinds they are really pretty and school together
you could add like 20 neon tetras they would look good in one of those aquariums

 

[Deadeye]

Welcome to the forum!
No way to do it without plants unfortunately. If you don’t want the work of plants, I’d get hornwort, Anubias, and Java ferns. Very easy to keep alive.
I had an Anubias in a vase for probably a year, practically forgot about it and it still grew.