120 Stocking advise

[Jonco]

Hello everyone,

This week I am picking up a 120 gallon tank ( 60"L x 18"W x 27"H ) after gifting my 60 gallon to my dad and a 55 as a going away present to my buddy who is off to med school.

That being said I am having an issue trying to commit to what I want to do with it. I want to stay freshwater.

The tanks I gave away were semi aggressive communities with all kinds of rainbows/ cories, gouramis etc. so this time i think I may want to go predators. The tank will have a black painted background and black moon sand so I would really want something to "pop" as it is going to be in my living room. A few of the fish i have considered are:

Female Red Terror (Cichlasoma festae) *may get too big
Bucktooth tetras (exodon Paradoxus) *would do a large school keeping the best
Blue Phantom pleco (L128)
Sunshine Pleco (L014) *Love these guys if I could source one around here
Clown loach * would do a group and possibly add in some tiger barbs to keep w/ theme
Black ghost Knife * have a very large one for a while, while cool it may blend in too much.

I know these species cant all live together in harmony, I guess i am thinking out-loud and wondering what you guys would do.

Thanks in advance

 

[Jonco]

Also an option that I've been considering is a type of Bichir, possible a delhizi?

 

[Rocksor]

Female red terror, l128, l014, and delhezi may work, depending on the disposition of the female RT towards the other inhabitants. As nearly full grown adults (3-4 years), I would be mindful of an increase in water changes required to keep nitrates below 20ppm.

 

[Jonco]

Female red terror, l128, l014, and delhezi may work, depending on the disposition of the female RT towards the other inhabitants. As nearly full grown adults (3-4 years), I would be mindful of an increase in water changes required to keep nitrates below 20ppm.

the only thing that I am worried about is the RT destroying my plecs, at over $100 an L014 would be an expensive chew toy

 

[Rocksor]

the only thing that I am worried about is the RT destroying my plecs, at over $100 an L014 would be an expensive chew toy

That's always a possibility with really aggressive cichlids. A male green terror would be a better fit considering they are considerably less aggressive than the RT. My male GT was close to 9" TL at about 5+ years of age, so it would fit nicely into that 120g.

 

[troublesum]

The bucktooth tetras will kill everything in there the female RT should leave the plecs alone cichlids don't care to mess with bottoms dwellers to much unless its stone cold pyscho.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Yeah a school of exodons need their own tank. If they dont kill the tankmates they will at least maim and harass them endlessly.

 

[Jonco]

while I love the aggression of the RT and find the female colors to be stunning (especially in a blacked out tank) do you guys think it would be better to go with some geos? Im open to any options as Im just picking up the tank today and it will still need to seed/ cycle it.

 

[Backfromthedead]

while I love the aggression of the RT and find the female colors to be stunning (especially in a blacked out tank) do you guys think it would be better to go with some geos? Im open to any options as Im just picking up the tank today and it will still need to seed/ cycle it.

In lieu of the rt i think a geo brasiliensis would be worth considering.

 

[Gourami Swami]

I think Geo's would be a better fit. Brasiliensis I actually find to be the most aggressive by far, If your goal is a large impressive fish that won't kill anything else, I would go for a small group of one of the more peaceful varieties.
Or rocksor's idea of a green terror would probably work out nicely as well.