BadOscar;3658797; said:
I got enough Ick Guard to treat with that several times also if needed. I'm a little worried about using it with my two plecos in there though.
You have alot of fish there now. The primary concern for infection is always the same for me: clean, fresh water. I have had ick on fish from retailers, wholesalers, and hobbyists. I think every time I got my water clean enough it went away. I used to salt/heat and ick-cure, either/both, and both worked, but so did just very clean water over time (a week?).
I could probably help you "work" your animals to some extent as the majority of them (I recall) I'm currently breeding, tho my regani are wild
Rio Nachatal. There should be no problems IDing the fish over time, none whatsoever. I think you've ID'd them all correctly so far.
I'm going from memory, but if I recall, you plan on some sort of huge (400+ gallons?) community tank eventually? If that's so, you will need that much space (or more) to bring that many animals to maturity. Judging by the quantities in the bags, you will probably be eliminating several specimens over time in only 400 gallons. Bocourti males, for instance, can easily reach 16". To keep 1 male at 16" and 2 females (say 12") bocourti in a 180 gallon is about right. More might be possible but difficult. Of almost all the vieja/paratheraps (for instance) more than 6 animals at maturity in a 6' 180 is very difficult if not impossible.
2-3 Central American conspecific males (at 12"+ which is what almost all vieja/paratheraps males reach minimum if memory serves) at muturity is probably all a 6' tank will ever handle. A 7' tank will handle 3, and an 8' 4 (MAYBE). To do more than one species of 12"+ fish in a 6' tank requires fairly prudent selection, especially if breeding! To do more than 2 species of 12"+ is almost unheard of (for breeding I mean - and with BAGS of mixed-sex fish, breeding (or deaths) is inevitable with large CA's (which almost all yours are?) I'd bet you have no problem for a year or more, but sooner or later you'll need more big tanks and lots of 'em. Keeping (mid-sized) altifrons and/or rhytisma (for breeding) with other species of vieja may be extremely undesirable. They are too "sensitive" to keep with regani or argentia but I could be wrong. My (nine) 4" altifrons will go into a 6' tank by themselves come spring time, for instance. I have 8 wild regani at about 8-9" in a 210 and they will get a bigger unit by themselves in a few months...
Like I said, everything is fine for now but as the years go by you've got plans to double or quadruple or quintuple your tank spaces, right? I can't be sure about that "question." Extremely large CA community tanks are beyond my expertise (I have eight 6' glass units and 8 200+ gallon plastic units up to 1000 gallons but they are all species). SoCal (I think he goes by that?) does all the 265 community CA tanks I think? But are there more than 10 big animals in any tank?
