7ft CENTRAL TANK Question....

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Cyberman

Cyberman

Aimara
MFK Member
Aug 14, 2011
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Durham, UK
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Hey guys,

Just wanted to see your thoughts on this idea of mine... I want to consolidate all my main fish into one reasonable harmonious Central/South American set-up.

The Tank would be 7ft long by 2ft front to back by 2.5ft high... Plenty of hiding places and areas for territory. Now the fish I'd like to mix together are a pair of WC Labiatus, a male and two female WC Festae, a male Menanurus, male Green Terror and possibly a pair of Istlanum... All the fish are approx. the same size (4 - 6" body length) with the exception of the male Menanurus that is 10".
 
Full grown that will be an aggressive tank, add breeding to that and it could be full scale war. Might work for now, but I doubt down the road.
 
You are setting your sights too high. A male festae can claim a 2-300 gallon to himself. Sometimes you get lucky and get a more passive cichlid, but once paired up, they will tear all rivals apart. I don't see a point in having so many pairs of such aggressive cichlids. At best you might be able to get away with a single pair with a few others of your choosing.

I personally only have a 6ft by 18" tank, but having the additional foot and extra inches is not going to make DRAMATIC changes. Its the difference of adding an additional 2-4 large/aggressive Cichlids.

If you want a pair, choose one species and work around them by getting fish that can hold their ground, but won't get in their way.
 
Well thats interesting as in a 90g tank my spawning Festae don't seem to be troubling the other fish that much ;)

[video=youtube;VxWfxi1H7JU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxWfxi1H7JU[/video]
 
You see, I keep hearing people say Festae are very aggressive.. I don't really see that in the examples of these fish I've kept. I got a young male in a tank full of Sajica and Neets... no serious issues there.

My theory is if you understand your fishes individual temperaments and keep the terrain appropriate to their needs, it is possible mix just about anything... lots of cover and space combined. My guess is (and it probably would happen) if I mixed the above cichlids I'd get lots of spawning, face offs (nothing to serious) and lots of baby fish :D

Some of them probably won't even spawn because they'd prefer their own tank - which isn't an issue. I just want to see these fish at their best which is why having males and females should encourage them to display their breeding colours.
 
If you don't mind possibly loosing any of your fish then go for it. Like already stated, once a pair decides to spawn you may need to move some things around.
 
but if they are now 4-6 inch size,thier true behavior has not been seen.i agree that many/all fish have variable personalities/aggression.i would say have a good back-up tank and plan ready use to separate fish
 
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