135 Gallon mixed cichlids and bichirs new stock

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Potamotrygon
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I think it's great! ? those fish should all get along great and when full grown it will be quite an impressive tank imo. I like how you've kept out catfish of other active benthic species since you have the bichirs, I think they will benefit from less competition.
 
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duanes

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The only fly in the ointment might be that balzani more temperate species, come from cooler areas of southern Brazil and northern Uruguay are over 3000 miles south and have lower temp preferences than the tropical species like northern Geophagines, and Heros.
Depending on the ancestral source, balzani may like temp drop in July, Aug Sept, that wouldn't be appreciated by th equatorial species.
I have found that more temperate area cichlids become prone to fungal and bacterial infections if kept at constant warm temps.
I kept my balzani in room temp, unheated tanks, due to these geographic differences.
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Gourami Swami

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I think your tank looks great and it is a nice stock list! When they are all fully grown you may find it is a bit packed, may be hard to keep parameters in check, so may want to thin out a bit down the line. But you would have at least a year IMO before that becomes apparent.
 
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geobalzaniibro

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My original plan was to just let the other fish have a temperature drop as I read a lot of places that all those fish could handle a bit lower of a temp for a few months. I was planning on upgrading to a bigger tank soon and putting some other fish in this one. I figured I had a year or two in this one if anything. I actually was unprepared for the fish and I didn’t realize it at the time. I had not set up a fish tank in years all fresh with no bacteria and I didn’t comprehend the length of time it takes for it to grow. Maybe waited two weeks. Lost basically all the fish :/ but it’s a learning experience for sure. Expensive and sad one also
 
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