Hello everyone,
I wanted to start a thread on my new community 125 gallon. I will be documenting the growing pains of the grow out that will eventually go into a 240 gallon in approx 1-2 years. My urge to document is only fueled at the lack of info on the polleni cichlid. These guys are fantastic and tons of fun.
Filtration is as follows:
Sunsun 304b 525 gph canister filter
Eheim Ultra G 160 canister filter
Every other day 50% water changes, I used to do daily, however it seemed unnecessary.
The 125 originally housed 5 unsexed 2.5" Paratilapia polleni and (7) 2" clown loaches. Last week, Feb 3 to be exact I received an order from Jeff Rapps. Order was as follows:
0.0.1 3.5" andinoacara rivulatus
0.0.1 3" Heros efasciatus 'rotkeil'
0.0.1 2.5" hypselecara temporalis
0.0.1 2" amantitlania sajica
0.0.1 3.5" L137 Red fin Blue eye pleco
0.0.1 3.5" Hemichromis sp Bangui
I was super excited when these guys arrived. As expected, everyone was alive and gorgeous, barring a few torn fins here and there, but nothing clean water can't heal. After acclimating everyone, I shut the led's and was off to work.
The next day, I noticed a few behaviors that were note-worthy. First off, it was too crowded and I wasn't digging it. It also seems the rivulatus and the red jewel were in a dominance battle. They were clearly the 2 most dominant fish in the aquarium. I've never owned Jewels, and it took me by surprise as to how aggressive they are. I knew it was an aggressive fish, but I figured such a small fish couldn't cause much havoc. I was wrong. The jewel began nipping at my polleni's, as well as chasing everyone else around. I contacted a friend who I know has wanted polleni's for a while. He offered to take 4 off my hands and I'd keep the 1 I wanted. This would alleviate the crowded tank, as well as give these fish (that would mostly likely have to be rehoused anyway) a good home.
On Tuesday, I noticed that my polleni had a chunk of tail bit off and the chocolate seemed frightened in a top corner of the tank. I immediately set up a 40 gallon I had laying around and tossed the jewel and sajica in it with filtered media. I knew the jewel was the problem, however I wanted to try my luck at housing both of these guys together cuz in theory (at least my theory), it seemed appealing. Yesterday, I went out to my LFS and bought 9 Zebra Danios to go into the 40, just to give the tank some movement. About 2 hours later, 1 danio had a portion of its stomach bit off, 2 others floating around beat to death, and a portion of the sajica's tail bit off. I immediately pull the sajica out and toss it back in the 125, and tossed the dead danios away.
The 125 seems at peace now. Some chasing around, but nothing more than hierarchy establishment. The rivulatus is the clear boss and is a bit chasey at times. From the looks of it it should be ok, however if any problems arise, I can toss it into a 75. I really want this set up to work. The severum and chocolate are buddies and the sajica tends to hang around them a bit also. The polleni has began regenerating his tail and is getting along well with everyone. The pleco makes periodic appearances and the clown loaches are a blast to watch. Is it ok to add 3-5 more clown loaches? Or am I pushing my luck as it is.
All in all, I'm very happy with how this is turning out. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for tankmates for the jewel, I'd appreciate the feedback. I'm thinking Congo tetras and 3 pictus catfish. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Manny
I wanted to start a thread on my new community 125 gallon. I will be documenting the growing pains of the grow out that will eventually go into a 240 gallon in approx 1-2 years. My urge to document is only fueled at the lack of info on the polleni cichlid. These guys are fantastic and tons of fun.
Filtration is as follows:
Sunsun 304b 525 gph canister filter
Eheim Ultra G 160 canister filter
Every other day 50% water changes, I used to do daily, however it seemed unnecessary.
The 125 originally housed 5 unsexed 2.5" Paratilapia polleni and (7) 2" clown loaches. Last week, Feb 3 to be exact I received an order from Jeff Rapps. Order was as follows:
0.0.1 3.5" andinoacara rivulatus
0.0.1 3" Heros efasciatus 'rotkeil'
0.0.1 2.5" hypselecara temporalis
0.0.1 2" amantitlania sajica
0.0.1 3.5" L137 Red fin Blue eye pleco
0.0.1 3.5" Hemichromis sp Bangui
I was super excited when these guys arrived. As expected, everyone was alive and gorgeous, barring a few torn fins here and there, but nothing clean water can't heal. After acclimating everyone, I shut the led's and was off to work.
The next day, I noticed a few behaviors that were note-worthy. First off, it was too crowded and I wasn't digging it. It also seems the rivulatus and the red jewel were in a dominance battle. They were clearly the 2 most dominant fish in the aquarium. I've never owned Jewels, and it took me by surprise as to how aggressive they are. I knew it was an aggressive fish, but I figured such a small fish couldn't cause much havoc. I was wrong. The jewel began nipping at my polleni's, as well as chasing everyone else around. I contacted a friend who I know has wanted polleni's for a while. He offered to take 4 off my hands and I'd keep the 1 I wanted. This would alleviate the crowded tank, as well as give these fish (that would mostly likely have to be rehoused anyway) a good home.
On Tuesday, I noticed that my polleni had a chunk of tail bit off and the chocolate seemed frightened in a top corner of the tank. I immediately set up a 40 gallon I had laying around and tossed the jewel and sajica in it with filtered media. I knew the jewel was the problem, however I wanted to try my luck at housing both of these guys together cuz in theory (at least my theory), it seemed appealing. Yesterday, I went out to my LFS and bought 9 Zebra Danios to go into the 40, just to give the tank some movement. About 2 hours later, 1 danio had a portion of its stomach bit off, 2 others floating around beat to death, and a portion of the sajica's tail bit off. I immediately pull the sajica out and toss it back in the 125, and tossed the dead danios away.
The 125 seems at peace now. Some chasing around, but nothing more than hierarchy establishment. The rivulatus is the clear boss and is a bit chasey at times. From the looks of it it should be ok, however if any problems arise, I can toss it into a 75. I really want this set up to work. The severum and chocolate are buddies and the sajica tends to hang around them a bit also. The polleni has began regenerating his tail and is getting along well with everyone. The pleco makes periodic appearances and the clown loaches are a blast to watch. Is it ok to add 3-5 more clown loaches? Or am I pushing my luck as it is.
All in all, I'm very happy with how this is turning out. Also, if anyone has any suggestions for tankmates for the jewel, I'd appreciate the feedback. I'm thinking Congo tetras and 3 pictus catfish. Any and all feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you, Manny
