Crowded? What to Part With? Leftover room?

[Batboi3000]

I am asking the question, "Am I over crowded?" I am guessing the answer is yes. But the harder question then is, "What to part with?" I am going to be headin out of town this next week and will be in the area of a few LFS's. I have been pondering parting with a couple fish in my 125 and would take these parted fish to one of the LFS I am visiting. I am relatively new in keeping a 125 gallon as I have only had this tank for 2 years and have yet to really grow any fish out very large as I had to move out of state and clean house. I am just unsure of what all I can really do with it and how much is too much. As far as bioload I am running 2 Fluval 404's on my 125 gallon. As of now there is peace in my tank but who knows how long that will last. Here's my stocklist.

1 - 6" Texas/Carpintis - Male
1 - 6" Hybrid Red Texas (I think) - Female
1 - 4" GT - Supposed Female
1 - 6" Midas - I think Male
1 - 4" Senegal Bicher
1 - 8" Common Pleco - Crap Factory
4 - 4-6" Salvini - All male
5 Giant Zebra Danio

I definitely want to find a smaller more interesting pleco and get rid of the one I have. As I said...> He's a crap factory. I would have to siphon a 5gal bucket of black licorice nasties every day just to keep the gravel looking decent. The pleco also eats a lot of pellets off the bottom and will often show signs of aggression toward some of the fish fighting em off from the pellets. So he is gone!

I know ditching the pleco isn't going to be enough. Like I said, I don't think this peace will last too long. My current game plan is getting rid of the hybrid texas, and 2 male salvini. The hybrid has dug several nests to try and breed with the texas but never saw eggs. I don't know that I want them breeding as it will cause drama and I don't want that. The male hasn't been very focused on eating and putting on size lately as he is too focused on making babies. Typical guy. I would love to see the male texas get big and I don't know if he'll do it with her there. So I think I need to part with the female. Unfortunately she's just so darned perdy and i can't tell if she's gonna peel soon. I would rather see 5 nice huge cichlids then see a bunch of slightly smaller ones. If parting with a few will help that, I am all for it.

In my last question, after parting with the texas hybrid, and 2 salvini, "What room would be left?" I would really like to pick up a flowerhorn or trimac. I know these are another big nasty cichlid and my instinct tells me, "Bad Idea". Would there be room for a flowerhorn? Otherwise, would another smaller bicher and/or 5 more danio be pushing it?

I know this is a novel and I apologize for all the info but I figured I would get you all the facts. Thanks for reading and please let me know your thoughts and recommendations on making this a better functioning tank. Thank you!

 

[Aqualoon]

You traveling over here to MN or going elsewhere? Can give you some good places to stop by.

And I've always heard that Flowerhorns with other stock would mean the rest of your stock would get killed.

Your grow out of Sal's is my exact opposite of my grow outs of GTs. - How's the coloration on them?

 

[blksubykid]

What are the dimensions of the tank? I personally would get rid of the common Pleco and all the Sals. Everything may work now but you might run into aggression problems later as your cichlids get bigger plus several 10" fish will make some tanks look small. I say play it by ear and if you were to add another fish, I would add the Trimac and maybe lose on of the Texas Hybrids. But every tank and stock are different so youll never know unless you try it.

 

[AcsFoolMike]

I'd say even removing the 2 salvini, red texas and pleco won't be enough. I don't know the temperament of that midas right now, but many of them can't be housed in community setups at all, let alone a 125 with a couple other large cichlids and two salvini (who are P4P also some of the more aggressive cichlids). I definitely wouldn't add anything else, especially a FH or trimac, also some big bruisers known for killing tank mates. If it were me, I'd get rid of what you said PLUS the midas. A 125 with a full grown GT, carpintis, 2 salvini, and senegal bichir would be enough for me......ok, so it's never really ENOUGH in this hobby, but you get my point

 

[Aqualoon]

Here's what I would do...as I noticed in my original response I didn't really offer much of advise.

1 - 6" Texas/Carpintis - Male - Keep/Remove (see below)
1 - 6" Hybrid Red Texas (I think) - Female - Keep/Remove (see below)
1 - 4" GT - Supposed Female - Keep, unless you really want a male GT then remove
1 - 6" Midas - I think Male - Remove
1 - 4" Senegal Bicher - Keep
1 - 8" Common Pleco - Crap Factory - Remove
4 - 4-6" Salvini - All male - Keep 1, Remove 3
5 Giant Zebra Danio - Keep, Add 2-4

I would keep the better looking Texas then fill in the stock with some color - Red or Gold Sev, JD, Nic, etc. and then get a BN Pleco. Oh and get a Vieja - forgot to add that, love my Regani.

 

[Batboi3000]

You traveling over here to MN or going elsewhere? Can give you some good places to stop by.

And I've always heard that Flowerhorns with other stock would mean the rest of your stock would get killed.

Your grow out of Sal's is my exact opposite of my grow outs of GTs. - How's the coloration on them?

I am just heading to Sioux Falls this next week. I live in middle of nowhere South Dakota so we don't have luxury of LFS around here. Gotta drive bout 2 hours to get anywhere decent. Far as my salvini the color on em is pretty awesome. One thing interesting is the one is missing a pectoral fin. It's just not there! Weird, but he does just fine. The big dominant male of the 4 is definitely the most colorful. He's about 6".

Thanks for the input so far everyone. Far as the midas, right now, he's fairly chill. I think he knows he can fend for himself though. The big sal and the male texas try to step up to him and the midas doesn't really get fazed by it. Hopefully he keeps the chill attitude. He's starting to develop a nice hump and his dorsal is starting to shoot out pretty sharp so I am guess it's a male. Just a nice looking fish!

 

[MonteSS]

I would Remove the pleco, RD and 3 Sals.

....Bill

 

[Batboi3000]

What are the dimensions of the tank?

The Footprint is 72" x 18". Then it is some 20 some inches tall.

A 125 with a full grown GT, carpintis, 2 salvini, and senegal bichir would be enough for me......ok, so it's never really ENOUGH in this hobby, but you get my point

I do get your point and you're right. It is never really enough and that is how these overcrowded tanks happen from impulsive purchases and insatiable fish appetites. I think I have to leave the midas in for now. He's really not a problem. I have self diagnosed OCD. This makes for a really annoying, obsessive, and anal retentive hobbiest. I like multiples of 5 and then I like even numbers. So things like having 5 larger ca/sa cichlids with the GT, Tex, Midas, and 2 salvini, within that having the pair/even number thing going on with the salvini, in addition to a pair of bichers, and 10 danios. It just sounds fun.... I know..... I am crazy.....

I plan on replacing the big pleco with 2 smaller plecos of somekind that don't act out in aggression toward my other fish and don't make as much waste for now. I have too much driftwood in my tank to not have at least one pleco to keep it clean. I'm hoping to find a couple out of the ordinary common pleco, but for a reasonable price. We'll see what I can find.