CA Stocking a 300 Gallon (Festae compatible)

[JK47]

Lets pretend I am a total noob to CA's (< completely true...) and need to scratch the festae itch and want a pair. Species I am in love with and have relitivly good access to (I am aware the Vieja genus is no longer valid but for ease of ref):
Vieja argentea, Vieja regani, Tomocichla sieboldii

Would I be able to keep any of the above species as a breeding pair along with the festae pair? The tank is 96"x24"x30" and the pics below are the actual tank. What else would be good stocking suggestions if the above are poor choices and why? Other suggestions?





Thanks guys!

 

[mofisher]

dang i wish i had that tank

 

[HrHagel]

Well, JK. Space wise you should be good for another pair of big cichlids. Personally i'd have a pair of Argentea with the festae, or possibly a pair of bocourti just cause i think theire colors go well together with the festae.

However, in order for it to work, i really think you need some sightbreakers in the tank. It looks like there is none at all. So that one pair claims one side, other pair claims the other side. This typically stops fish from killing eachother in my experience.
Also, when the two pairs can constantly see each other, they are constantly on edge, in my experience this can cause stress.

If however you decided to go with single-specimen display tank, sightbreakers are a bad idea, with multiple individuals in the tank.

My 2cents. Keep us updated, and good luck with it

 

[VRWC]

That would be a BIG negative from me...My festae pair spawned in my 265 with tons of hiding places in the wood, rock and plants. The night the eggs hatched, I went to bed then woke up to 13 fish dead in my tank the next morning and a pair of jags skinned and barely alive, hiding in some driftwood ( 7 cons, a grammodes pair, a pictus, an HRP, another female festae and a pleco if I remember correctly). All in a span of about 7 hours in the dark.

The male jag eventually died too.

I saved them for a friend in Marine Science class.

So personally, I wouldnt risk it unless you plan on dividing the tank when/ if the festae spawn.

 

[HrHagel]

That would be a BIG negative from me...My festae pair spawned in my 265 with tons of hiding places in the wood, rock and plants. The night the eggs hatched, I went to bed then woke up to 13 fish dead in my tank the next morning and a pair of jags skinned and barely alive, hiding in some driftwood ( 7 cons, a grammodes pair, a pictus, an HRP, another female festae and a pleco if I remember correctly). All in a span of about 7 hours in the dark.

The male jag eventually died too.

I saved them for a friend in Marine Science class.

So personally, I wouldnt risk it unless you plan on dividing the tank when/ if the festae spawn.

 

[JK47]

dang i wish i had that tank

Thank you. It looks great from that side of the screen but mixing RO for this tank is not fun. I have a 125 and 120 as well and will keep those SA with RO. I want this tank to expand my knowledge into CA's AND have a tap drip system.

However, in order for it to work, i really think you need some sightbreakers in the tank. It looks like there is none at all.

Thanks bro. I will redo the tank however best suits the stock's needs. Currently they are eartheaters so wide open swimming space is the idea. The 3D background stays but everything else I am wide open on changing.

That would be a BIG negative from me...My festae pair spawned in my 265 with tons of hiding places in the wood, rock and plants. The night the eggs hatched, I went to bed then woke up to 13 fish dead in my tank the next morning and a pair of jags skinned and barely alive, hiding in some driftwood ( 7 cons, a grammodes pair, a pictus, an HRP, another female festae and a pleco if I remember correctly). All in a span of about 7 hours in the dark.

The male jag eventually died too.

I saved them for a friend in Marine Science class.

So personally, I wouldnt risk it unless you plan on dividing the tank when/ if the festae spawn.

That's terrible... I am not concerned with breeding as much as happy fish and good husbandry so would it help to just keep females? Dumb question I know but I am an SA guy so male female ratio's are completely different.

 

[yodaLBC]

nice tank!

 

[HrHagel]

Thank you. It looks great from that side of the screen but mixing RO for this tank is not fun. I have a 125 and 120 asd well and will keep those SA with RO. I want this tank to expand my knowledge into CA's with tap water.



Thanks bro. I will redo the tank however best suits the stock's needs. Currently they are eartheaters so wide open swimming space is the idea. The 3D background stays but everything else I am wide open on changing.



That's terrible... I am not concerned with breeding as much as happy fish and good husbandry so would it help to just keep females? Dumb question I know but I am an SA guy so male female ratio's are completely different.

Well, the one thing to keep in mind really, what VRCW described pretty darn good lol, is that these big CA's can turn 180 and go on a killing spree, just like that. Especially pairs.
Kinda thought you knew that, but i understand it's a big leap from peaceful SA's to these brutes, hehe.

Honestly though, in my experience all of these brutes have different personalities, and it's really a coin toss what's gonna happen when keeping them together with other individuals.

Personally, i have only once experienced a fish of mine killing another fish.
But i think the reason why it really hasn't happened for me, is because i tend to overstock a bit, and thereby spreading out the agression.

Maybe just keeping the one pair of festae (or any other pair for that matter) is the way to go at first. Then when you get comfortable and have done a bit of trial & error, you can go move on to the more "advanced" stuff.

Edit: Oh, and to the only keeping females part, i advise against it, as you'll really be missing out on ALOT -Size, looks, Interaction, breeding dresses and so on.

 

[JK47]

Well, the one thing to keep in mind really, what VRCW described pretty darn good lol, is that these big CA's can turn 180 and go on a killing spree, just like that. Especially pairs.
Kinda thought you knew that, but i understand it's a big leap from peaceful SA's to these brutes, hehe.

Honestly though, in my experience all of these brutes have different personalities, and it's really a coin toss what's gonna happen when keeping them together with other individuals.

Personally, i have only once experienced a fish of mine killing another fish.
But i think the reason why it really hasn't happened for me, is because i tend to overstock a bit, and thereby spreading out the agression.

Maybe just keeping the one pair of festae (or any other pair for that matter) is the way to go at first. Then when you get comfortable and have done a bit of trial & error, you can go move on to the more "advanced" stuff.

Edit: Oh, and to the only keeping females part, i advise against it, as you'll really be missing out on ALOT -Size, looks, Interaction, breeding dresses and so on.

That makes sense. And thanks for the note on the females only idea. I do not own any of the fish so I have plenty of time to do homework first. I've been reading that keeping a festae pair alone may result in the male killing female after female. I was under the impression I need another large pair of a different species or dithers. Lots of conflicting info around the net.

 

[VRWC]

yea, I was bummed. The grammodes pair were my favorites at the time.

That's terrible... I am not concerned with breeding as much as happy fish and good husbandry so would it help to just keep females? Dumb question I know but I am an SA guy so male female ratio's are completely different.

Yea, it was. Female festae can be pretty hard on each other and usually once one establishes the dominance, will try and eliminate all other that look like her, in my experience.

HrHagel has a good point that they are all different and you might be able to get it to work for you...Id just have a divider ready and probably divide them from the other population once you notice eggs, if you go with a pair.

My male went through 6 females since 2007. Everything would be fine and Id come home to dead females every so often. I tried the 2 females thing and it worked for a little while, but the first time I tried, he killed both females. Spent too much $ in shipping trying to get a compatible pair to be honest. If I did it all over again, Id just put a divider up permanently and make it so that only she could get on one side of it. They kill FAST. One time he did it in about 30 minutes when I ran to get something to eat.

Also, the only dumb questions are those not asked!