C. Pleuro comm. tank 6.6ft 180gal

[steenmillinder]

Is the tank big enough for a group? If yes what would the limit be if they were to be there for life with the tank set up best possible for them?

Could they live with oscars? potential problem if a pair of oscars decide to spawn?

If a spawning pair of cichlids take up to much space, would a single oscar be possible in the long run? with a single oscar would there be space for a single red devil to?

Another possibility, 2 or 3 trios of african malawi predators? they only take up space for a short period when beeding, rest of the time they do their own thing when not overly bothered..

Or all of them

If i held the day-night temperature at approx. 19-22 C in the winter and 27-31C in the summer, and with the most suitable set up, could i keep the a pluro pack with a aurantimaculata or other Channa pair or individual?

Other suggestions? datioes? I'm a great fan of personable owner responsive fish

 

[tlindsey]

Is the tank big enough for a group? If yes what would the limit be if they were to be there for life with the tank set up best possible for them?

Could they live with oscars? potential problem if a pair of oscars decide to spawn?

If a spawning pair of cichlids take up to much space, would a single oscar be possible in the long run? with a single oscar would there be space for a single red devil to?

Another possibility, 2 or 3 trios of african malawi predators? they only take up space for a short period when beeding, rest of the time they do their own thing when not overly bothered..

Or all of them

If i held the day-night temperature at approx. 19-22 C in the winter and 27-31C in the summer, and with the most suitable set up, could i keep the a pluro pack with a aurantimaculata or other Channa pair or individual?

Other suggestions? datioes? I'm a great fan of personable owner responsive fish

Madou

 

[tlindsey]

Is the tank big enough for a group? If yes what would the limit be if they were to be there for life with the tank set up best possible for them?

Could they live with oscars? potential problem if a pair of oscars decide to spawn?

If a spawning pair of cichlids take up to much space, would a single oscar be possible in the long run? with a single oscar would there be space for a single red devil to?

Another possibility, 2 or 3 trios of african malawi predators? they only take up space for a short period when beeding, rest of the time they do their own thing when not overly bothered..

Or all of them

If i held the day-night temperature at approx. 19-22 C in the winter and 27-31C in the summer, and with the most suitable set up, could i keep the a pluro pack with a aurantimaculata or other Channa pair or individual?

Other suggestions? datioes? I'm a great fan of personable owner responsive fish

Madou

 

[Red Aimara]

A paired up Pleuro will probably kill everything in the tank.

Having said that, you could keep a single one with other dominant fishes. It works better than most other Channas.



Mine lives with a combo of wolf fishes, dorado, aro, Oscar etc.

 

[Madou]

Pleuros are the only ones with Maruloides you can "hope" to comm.
With that being said, it's a gamble, every_single_time.

I think Oscars would be able to hold their own, and I wouldn't be worried about a pair attacking a Pleuro, chances are the pleuro would kill them if they tried to start harassing it.

As for keeping a group of pleuros, as DC is currently attempting, you'll always have the Damocles sword over your head that one day, once mature, a pair forms, and kills everything. Not only that, any of the tropical channas tend to become killers once mature, which always happens too fast in those cases.

Red has it working, as have multiple people, but as you can see, the tank mates are also fishes most people wouldn't comm. They're true killers, all of them, and he sure has the volume to make it work.

180 gal could house 4-6 of them if I remember correctly, but if you want to lower the risks, bigger is always better.

As for comming Pleuros with any other channa, you can forget about it. Channas are very intolerant of other channa species. On top of that, pleuros are tropical, aurantis are sub-tropical. Pleuros won't do well in your winter temps, and aurantis are going to absolutely HATE 31°C (bear in mind sub-tropical channas tend to develop a whole lot of diseases if temps get too high for too long, and some of those cannot be cured).

In 180gal, I would absolutely avoid anything with 4-6 pleuros. Your best bet if you really want different fish would be like Red did. A single one of them, with other fishes than can hold their own. Datnioides are one of those, though bear in mind they are likely to grow slower than Pleuros, so either get them bigger than the pleuros, or get both at adult size.

 

[steenmillinder]

So pleuro and auranti are not for the same tank due to temperature(i do like the way the auranti looks and moves).
Of the two only plauro is suitable with tropical cichlids, due to temp..
Pleuroes hunt in packs but spawn i private, and will need their room to do so.

Kinda narrows it down to a singe pleuro, maybe some oscars, a male jag, a male red devil, maybe a male green terror, and perhaps 2-3 trioes of malawi predators(N.fusco, T.macrostoma, A.christi, C.spilor, D.compress)...

 

[Madou]

You would need a truly humongous tank to breed pleuros. From my understanding, they stay in packs, then go hide in the high plants, under banks, breed there and go back to the shoal. I don't think this is easily achievable in the hobby.

I don't know most of those africans, but of all the africans I have had, only a few reached past 10cm. T.Macrostoma reaches 9.5ish, he would get gulped down like a feeder, and so would any other fish that size.

Americans may work, though, it's risky in my opinion. So don't get too attached to them.

 

[steenmillinder]

You would need a truly humongous tank to breed pleuros. From my understanding, they stay in packs, then go hide in the high plants, under banks, breed there and go back to the shoal. I don't think this is easily achievable in the hobby.

I don't know most of those africans, but of all the africans I have had, only a few reached past 10cm. T.Macrostoma reaches 9.5ish, he would get gulped down like a feeder, and so would any other fish that size.

Americans may work, though, it's risky in my opinion. So don't get too attached to them.

So pleuroes are so bad ass that even grown oscars, jags and devils arent safe!?! (the africans T.macrostoma, A.chirsti and C.spilorhychus grow to 14'', and are more a thought for me to investigate then anything else), i have no data on the likelyhood of a pair of pluroes from the shoal suddenly wanting to breed, doesnt seem worth the risk.

 

[FishNCash]

I've seen pleuros in Asia. They definitely considered semi aggressive. They are very calm to keep in a community with enough space. A pleuro will get bully by pikes and oscar.

 

[steenmillinder]

pleuroes dont seek refuge between rocks but rather try to dart of if threatened?
Seems like a shame to keep this fish alone acording to what i read on the interwebs of how they chill back home, it seems the best way is to have space enough for a pack, but still somehow not trigger a mating response... and due to temp. and size the pleuro is still the best bet at a snakehead?