Any specific recommendations?
Are gymnogeophagus out of my skill level/care requirements?
55g South American Tank
- Thread starter Sanderguy777
- Start date
Are gymnogeophagus out of my skill level/care requirements?
Duanes already gave both suggestions I was going to give. Rainbow cichlids are wonderful, and angelfish will eat their fry if you keep both. My rainbow cichlid fry never make it more than two weeks unless I pull them and raise them separately. Amatitlania nanolutea are beautiful as well and are a species I'd really like to get when I have tank space. Got my rainbow cichlids from Tangled Up In Cichlids.
Those are beautiful, but I would rather have these, unless my water is too hard etc.
1x Acara
1x Angel
1x-2x Pair of apisto
1x BN pleco
10x medium sized tetra (lemon, red serpae, black phantom etc.)
That could certainly be done. Not sure on acara with apistos long term but it might be ok. My tank is larger but I have Angels, rainbow cichlids, swordtails, a couple types of small tetras, SAE's, and bushynose plecos. All mix very well together, and I'd imagine any mix of these would work in a 55 without going overboard with the stocking.
Ok, so I heard you. Definitely going to go with YOUR recommendation of 20 of each in my 55g LOL
Seriously, I think I'll TRY that setup with the acara (again, ill try to get them all pretty small) and just let them grow up together, then swap out if it goes badly.
Is 2 pairs of apistogramma (id love nijsseni and agassizii...) too much for a 55g? Should I do 1 male and 2 or 3 females of one species instead?
I consider Gymnogeophagus some of the easiest cichlids to care for, as long as you realize they are not tropical.
If temps are constantly kept too warm, they develop fungal and bacterial disease, but by keeping them in a unheated (room temp) tank, this eliminates that problem. My room temp tanks water temps ranged from the low 60s F in winter to high 70sF in summer
Varying water parameters of hardness, conductivity and pH are also non-issues
Gymnogeophagus. species Paso Pache above, Gymnogeophagus sp quilero (Rio Yerbalito) in my pond in Milwaukee.
Below Gymnogeophagus balzani
Wow! They sound great! So for tank mates, I'd need to look for temperate fish like white cloud mountain minnows or maybe goldfish? (I want something less common than goldfish, but those are the only ones I can think of of the top of my head...)
Yes there are plenty of temperate species available.
White clouds do best at room temps. (hate spell check)
High altitude Mexican live bearers like Xenatoca.
Buenos Aires tetras would be great, and are geographically correct.
There are also Cory's from that area of S America.
Below a cool water Cory, Corydorus erhardti, with Gymnogeophagus balzani in my room temp tank
Weather loaches and Denizen barbs also appreciate cooler temps.
There are too many more to list.
White clouds do best at room temps. (hate spell check)
High altitude Mexican live bearers like Xenatoca.
Buenos Aires tetras would be great, and are geographically correct.
There are also Cory's from that area of S America.
Below a cool water Cory, Corydorus erhardti, with Gymnogeophagus balzani in my room temp tank
Weather loaches and Denizen barbs also appreciate cooler temps.
There are too many more to list.
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For a schooling fish, zebra danios and Odessa barbs are both coldwater tolerant.
