Deciding on what fish to let go

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Sher_Khan

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Aug 13, 2020
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Firstly thanks to all the longstanding members who take there time to post replies it so useful to people like me starting off in the hobby to get as much real world perspective as possible.
I am coming to the crunch point we’re probably a lot of newbies come across when you start off by throwing lots off different fish into a tank and taking some out and putting New ones in until you finally stop buying new fish and take the time to look and realise you have created a bit of a mish mash of fish that probably shouldn’t be together, what I’m finding now is I don’t have any aggression problems yet but at the same time most of my fish are below the 8 inch mark so I guess it’s only a matter of time.
Below is my tank details and fish, can people see any glaring fish that have got absolutely no hope of this community setup so I can plan for the future:

Tank
250 Gallon in wall tank ( I add in wall as some people think having the constant distractions of both side helps aggression..... I have no idea on this)
3 filters in total, 2 fx6 and 1 ehim 800 with inbuilt heater.
All waste and fresh water is plumbed in so water changes are super easy and I do 20% twice a week with all canister cleaned every 4 weeks max.

Stock
1x Vieja Synspilum
1 x tiger oscar
1x True parrot (largest fish in tank at 10 inch plus)
1x Pearsi chiclid
1x Chocloate Chiclid
1x Royal Acara
1x Green Terror
1x Jack Dempsey
3x red spotted severum
3x Heros sp inridia severum
5 x wide bar Silver Dollar
2x electric blue acara
1x firemouth
1x pictus catfish

I know it’s quite overstocked but at some point I’d remove some and give to LFS as I decide which ones Of the multiple to keep and which ones of the bigger fish.

I won’t put a list of the ones I’ve bought and then given back a few months later as that’s huge ?

Any thoughts at what stands out straight away as a massive no no

I have a small hospital tank as back up and may also get a 65- 125 gallon spare tank in the future.
 
Sher_Khan said:
Firstly thanks to all the longstanding members who take there time to post replies it so useful to people like me starting off in the hobby to get as much real world perspective as possible.
I am coming to the crunch point we’re probably a lot of newbies come across when you start off by throwing lots off different fish into a tank and taking some out and putting New ones in until you finally stop buying new fish and take the time to look and realise you have created a bit of a mish mash of fish that probably shouldn’t be together, what I’m finding now is I don’t have any aggression problems yet but at the same time most of my fish are below the 8 inch mark so I guess it’s only a matter of time.
Below is my tank details and fish, can people see any glaring fish that have got absolutely no hope of this community setup so I can plan for the future:

Tank
250 Gallon in wall tank ( I add in wall as some people think having the constant distractions of both side helps aggression..... I have no idea on this)
3 filters in total, 2 fx6 and 1 ehim 800 with inbuilt heater.
All waste and fresh water is plumbed in so water changes are super easy and I do 20% twice a week with all canister cleaned every 4 weeks max.

Stock
1x Vieja Synspilum
1 x tiger oscar
1x True parrot (largest fish in tank at 10 inch plus)
1x Pearsi chiclid
1x Chocloate Chiclid
1x Royal Acara
1x Green Terror
1x Jack Dempsey
3x red spotted severum
3x Heros sp inridia severum
5 x wide bar Silver Dollar
2x electric blue acara
1x firemouth
1x pictus catfish

I know it’s quite overstocked but at some point I’d remove some and give to LFS as I decide which ones Of the multiple to keep and which ones of the bigger fish.

I won’t put a list of the ones I’ve bought and then given back a few months later as that’s huge ?

Any thoughts at what stands out straight away as a massive no no

I have a small hospital tank as back up and may also get a 65- 125 gallon spare tank in the future.
Click to expand...
Sher_Khan said:
Firstly thanks to all the longstanding members who take there time to post replies it so useful to people like me starting off in the hobby to get as much real world perspective as possible.
I am coming to the crunch point we’re probably a lot of newbies come across when you start off by throwing lots off different fish into a tank and taking some out and putting New ones in until you finally stop buying new fish and take the time to look and realise you have created a bit of a mish mash of fish that probably shouldn’t be together, what I’m finding now is I don’t have any aggression problems yet but at the same time most of my fish are below the 8 inch mark so I guess it’s only a matter of time.
Below is my tank details and fish, can people see any glaring fish that have got absolutely no hope of this community setup so I can plan for the future:

Tank
250 Gallon in wall tank ( I add in wall as some people think having the constant distractions of both side helps aggression..... I have no idea on this)
3 filters in total, 2 fx6 and 1 ehim 800 with inbuilt heater.
All waste and fresh water is plumbed in so water changes are super easy and I do 20% twice a week with all canister cleaned every 4 weeks max.

Stock
1x Vieja Synspilum
1 x tiger oscar
1x True parrot (largest fish in tank at 10 inch plus)
1x Pearsi chiclid
1x Chocloate Chiclid
1x Royal Acara
1x Green Terror
1x Jack Dempsey
3x red spotted severum
3x Heros sp inridia severum
5 x wide bar Silver Dollar
2x electric blue acara
1x firemouth
1x pictus catfish

I know it’s quite overstocked but at some point I’d remove some and give to LFS as I decide which ones Of the multiple to keep and which ones of the bigger fish.

I won’t put a list of the ones I’ve bought and then given back a few months later as that’s huge ?

Any thoughts at what stands out straight away as a massive no no

I have a small hospital tank as back up and may also get a 65- 125 gallon spare tank in the future.
Click to expand...


Just to add that’s 250 UK Gallons which I think is close to 300 US if my conversion is right.
 
To be honest none of those jump out at me as particularly aggressive "no-no"s. The Pictus cat I would get out of there as they don't get big enough to not be a potential snack, and have spines on their fins which can get caught in the mouth of their would-be predator. I have had this happen in the past and lost the fish.

The firemouth, Jack Dempsey, and synspilum are the odd men out imo since they are central american fish, would prefer harder water than the rest of your fish which generally like soft water and lower pH. I would probably take those out and keep it as a dedicated SA tank; that would cut down on your eventual bioload a bit to since the synspilum (name incorrect nowadays btw, they are melanurum now) get huge.
Also the pair of nicaraguense are central americans, and breeding pairs will make things more difficult for you, as they tend to stake out territory and harass fish that come near.

edit: missed the pearsei, add them to the CA list
 
Last edited:
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Decide whether you want South American or Central American, which should get rid of half your fish.

or buy another 250g and separate them
 
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For me, my tap water would be the deciding factor.
If its hard and mineral rich, I'd keep the Central Americans, because as the S Americans age, they could very well start to succumb to stress induced, chronic diseases like HHLE and other maladies,especially with a minimal water change schedule like two 20% water changes per week.
20% per day will most likely be needed when they are all adults to keep it pristine enough.

If your water is soft and mineral poor I keep the South Americans, because the same chronic conditions might show up in older Centrals, if kept in water they are not evolved to live in

They other consideration may be that even in a 250gal tank, as adults a 16 " fish like C pearsei can get quite cramped and testy, especially with other of the same body shaped cichlids like Heros, the chocolate and the parrot.
 
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Im also a newbie, but kept green terror with oscars. Went well for a couple of weeks/months till the gt started to bully the other fish.
But just my own experience, Im sure it also can work out.
Good luck anyway ??
 
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