55 stocking ideas

[Jexnell]

I have had both HRP's and Nanolutae. Both are very colorful little cichlids. HRP's are more boisterous of the two and get a bit bigger. I would not put Nanolutae with any other cichlids, they are quite tame as far as cichlids go and don't do well with other cichlids getting out competed for food and territory. Both have alot smaller batches of fry as compared to standard Convicts.
Here is a female Nanolutae
A male

And my breeding pair of HRP's, female on the left, male on the right

 

[Thalassa]

Wow beautiful

 

[Jexnell]

The HRP's were in a 55gal with Neon tetras and Roseline sharks. Would spawn about every three to four weeks.

Had the setup that way for about a 1.5years till the tank popped a seam.

My Nanolutae were in a 6ft 125gal tank. They had Bleeding Hearts tetras, PTC and Cory cats as tank mates. Didn't have them that long, they had two spawns while I had them.
Female guarding the fry cloud
And here you can see the one little fry that made it to adulthood, with the parents also in the pic.

 

[Thalassa]

Beautiful, how agressive did they get when spawning? Like the look of those bleeding hearts I thought they were clear.

 

[Jexnell]

Beautiful, how agressive did they get when spawning? Like the look of those bleeding hearts I thought they were clear.

Neither of them are that aggressive during breeding. Yes they will run interlopers close to the nest off. The others in both tanks would consume the fry shortly after the free swimming stage. I had about 5 HRP's make it to adulthood and the one Nanolutae

 

[Gourami Swami]

Most of the smaller convict-types (myrnae, HRP, Nano, etc) can be kept in a group in a 55 gallon, IMO. I would get a group of 8 or so. A few years down the road when they are fully grown, you may want to whittle it down to a pair and then a couple of extras (either 2 females or 2 males). I find this works better than removing all the extras and keeping only a pair- male tends to turn on the female with nothing else to distract him.
Good luck, this type of setup is one of my favorite. Currently trying something similar with two species - septemfasciata and chetumalensis. I've got 4 of each, will see how it goes. Probably end up with more like 5 or 6 total fish.

 

[Thalassa]

Most of the smaller convict-types (myrnae, HRP, Nano, etc) can be kept in a group in a 55 gallon, IMO. I would get a group of 8 or so. A few years down the road when they are fully grown, you may want to whittle it down to a pair and then a couple of extras (either 2 females or 2 males). I find this works better than removing all the extras and keeping only a pair- male tends to turn on the female with nothing else to distract him.
Good luck, this type of setup is one of my favorite. Currently trying something similar with two species - septemfasciata and chetumalensis. I've got 4 of each, will see how it goes. Probably end up with more like 5 or 6 total fish.

Thanks, Would this work with fire mouths?

 

[C. Breeze]

Here is an MFK thread about the Rio Guale “Coeru” just click the name. TUIC has fry currently or you can get them from me. Pair of these and dithers or possibly a male and 2-3 females would be good in a 55.

 

[Thalassa]

cool fish, they look just like Andinoacara pulcher.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Thanks, Would this work with fire mouths?

It should work with meeki, thorichtys are more of a shoaling fish than the convict-types. They also get a little bigger, so be aware that a 55 with 5 adult meeki would require lots of water changes. They take a while to get to a substantial size though.