Black Umbee Tankmates

[Fish Dad]

Hi all,
New to the group.
I have a Black Umbee pair in a 230 Gallon and am just wondering if anyone has any experience with bottom dwellers that would be compatible with them. I currently have two blood parrots in the tank with them that are getting moved out this weekend to a different tank to open it up more . They have not shown any aggression towards them or anything. The guy I bought them from had them with other fish with no issues.
I was wondering about a single stingray as I’m planning on moving everyone to a larger tank in time. Could be daydreaming there about the compatibility and size though. Any advice or personal experiences would be great! Happy to be a part of this group finally!

 

[tlindsey]

Hi all,
New to the group.
I have a Black Umbee pair in a 230 Gallon and am just wondering if anyone has any experience with bottom dwellers that would be compatible with them. I currently have two blood parrots in the tank with them that are getting moved out this weekend to a different tank to open it up more . They have not shown any aggression towards them or anything. The guy I bought them from had them with other fish with no issues.
I was wondering about a single stingray as I’m planning on moving everyone to a larger tank in time. Could be daydreaming there about the compatibility and size though. Any advice or personal experiences would be great! Happy to be a part of this group finally!View attachment 1571986

Welcome aboard.
If the Umbee spawn they may kill whatever is in the aquarium.

 

[Fish Dad]

Welcome aboard.
If the Umbee spawn they may kill whatever is in the aquarium.

Ok, thank you for the reply!
Just best to keep them solo then eh? I was kinda thinking that just based on their size potential but thought maybe someone had some sort of success story! Haha

 

[danotaylor]

Welcome to MFK mate.
Beautiful Umbee! Never kept them but a guy I knew in Perth Australia had a pair in a 10' tank solo. They can be temperamental & very territorial, especially when breeding. Are they bonded? Have they spawned before?
Watching this space

 

[Fish Dad]

Welcome to MFK mate.
Beautiful Umbee! Never kept them but a guy I knew in Perth Australia had a pair in a 10' tank solo. They can be temperamental & very territorial, especially when breeding. Are they bonded? Have they spawned before?
Watching this space

Hi, thanks for the reply!
Yes they are bonded and yes they have spawned before. I think I’m going to go the solo route with them as well. I’m hoping they will spawn and the more I’m thinking about it I just don’t think it would be worth it having anything else in there with them to potentially be injured or to add stress to the tank!

 

[Toby_H]

Something I've done with big Cichlids...
I have a large colony of Endlers and I commonly throw a few in each tank as feeders. I've found anything over 8-10" really don't show interest in the Endlers and big fish often end up with a small colony forming in their tanks. If I go out of town and miss a couple of days feeding, the colony dwindles to a few individuals. Or if it gets to big, I skip a day or two feeding and they get targeted.
Endlers are by no means a "tankmate" but they add movement to the tank.

And then there are the common suggestions of other dithers. Giant Danios, which I like. And Silver Dollars, which I've never been a fan of but many others like.

It's a tough call to make. When we have a big tank and want more fish, but we have a big pair who don't want to share.

Another thing I've done, though this comes with a fair bit of risk and takes a lot of planning... Install a complect cave & tunnel network and add a few male Convicts. It takes more caves than you have Convicts, and 2+ tunnels leading out of each cave. The Convicts can learn to duck in one tunnel and out another. It's not worked for me more times than it has, but when it worked it was very interesting while it lasted. Just always have a fall back plan for when it doesn't work or stops working.