Downsized my stock

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Stramn

Gambusia
MFK Member
Feb 8, 2011
262
1
16
Michigan
well, I picked up a 48x18x21.5 tank and now that it has finished cycling I stocked the bugger. I wish to add something to it but I don't know if or what to put in it.

right now all the tank has in it:
1 common Pleco 15inch
1 Chocolate Pleco 14inch
1 Red devil 6"
1 Cyanoguttus (sp?) Texas cichlid 6"
1 Red devil/Blood parrot hybrid 5"
1 Jag 3.5"

The tank is really boring, the red devil and the red devil hybrid just swim around the tank, the texas has barricaded itself in a false clay pot and only exits to terrorize the tank, and my jag is a damn ninja, corms out of its cave snaps at the red devils and the returns... it also comes out to feed but that is it. the plecos are just lumbering hulks that move around the tank.

I want to add something active and fast to the tank, but I'm not sure what would work. the jag ate 6 giant danios that i had in the tank as dithers, so i'm not risking that waste of money again. I was considering buying a jack demsey around 8 inchs from the fish store, or maybe a 5" fredi, I just don't knwo what would work out in the tank
 
48 x 18 x 21.5 = 80 gal? You're already severely overstocked. I wouldn't think about adding anything else but instead getting rid of most of em... starting with the two plecos.
 
Ok well i would dump the jag, and the plecos, then choose which of the other fish you want as the will probly try to kill each other
 
right now, I have been supplementing my lack of an income by growing out SA/CA cichlids to the 8 to 14inch mark and then selling them on CL for x2 to x3 what i paid for them in the first place. This of course allows me to buy larger tanks to house larger fish, and other things. for instance today I traded am 11" Midas for a Nintendo Wii system, that I should be able to sell for around 75$. I never plan on keeping fish for their entire lifespan, just long enough to make a buck or 2 off them ya know what I mean? However, the plecos are staying, they are the girlfriend's fish that she inherited, and I cannot for the life of me convince her to sell them. Once the Red devil matures, (female) I already have a buyer lined up to take her. as for the hybrid, I will most likely move it to one of my backroom ponds. I just want something to liven the tank up while the money making fish grow up.

My water quality was tested today at Ammonia .025ppm Nitrite .000ppm Nitrate .000ppm and a ph of 7.1 and so I am confident that my 3 50% WC a week keep the tank clean and liveable. It isn't rocket science to keep a tank clean and liveable, it just takes work and dedication. Now back to my original question, as I refuse to keep solo fish, it just bothers me to waste a great tank on a single specimen. What sort of fish would be feasible to add to the tank? Firemouths? Jacks? anybody?
 
cacichlids said:
48 x 18 x 21.5 = 80 gal? You're already severely overstocked. I wouldn't think about adding anything else but instead getting rid of most of em... starting with the two plecos.
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^^^my thoughts as well....

I have the same tank and mine houses:

1 4" green terror
1 3" convict
1 3" krib
1 5" L204
1 5" L147
1 5" L052

and i just had to give up my 5" firemouth because of aggression issues with the other fish. It's not the water parameters that are important here.....it's the space, or, lack of even in a 4' tank that seems large.
Although I dont feel overstocked per se, the space required by the cichlids and the bioload of the plecos has me thinking I'm pretty full. Opinions will vary, but i would lose both the plecos before even thinking about what to do with the cichlids. your tank may be boring right now, but if those fish stay in that tank for another 6 months it will be far from boring...........
 
I've had larger cichlids in smaller boxes than the current one. at one point I had 3 8inch oscars, the plecos, and 3 pairs of convicts in a 60g tank. sure theplecs were smaller at the time, but the bioload still was't too much for my filtration and dedicated WCS. I loved watching convicts swarm about it was exciting, but alas I have moved on from them. The most action in my 80g happens when i dump 100 convict fry in the tank and watch them disappear over about an hour.
 
Your aggressive fish are still juveniles and not showing their true colors. This does sound like a bit of a problem. Plus I know that common pleco will get bigger. Here is the thing. Even if all of your fish grew to full size and got along perfectly in your tank with perfect water it doesn't change the fact that it is not enough room for the fish. A full grown jag should have a at least a 6ft aquarium IMO.
 
Stramn said:
My water quality was tested today at Ammonia .025ppm Nitrite .000ppm Nitrate .000ppm and a ph of 7.1 and so I am confident that my 3 50% WC a week keep the tank clean and liveable. It isn't rocket science to keep a tank clean and liveable, it just takes work and dedication. Now back to my original question, as I refuse to keep solo fish, it just bothers me to waste a great tank on a single specimen. What sort of fish would be feasible to add to the tank? Firemouths? Jacks? anybody?
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im sorry but that is not good water measurements, you shouldn't have ANY ammonia readings EVER in a cycled tank, and the fact that you dont have any nitrate readings shows that your tank is not properly cycled and those fish are already stressed by the ammonia levels. are you washing your bio media with tap water or something?
 
Sarah88 said:
im sorry but that is not good water measurements, you shouldn't have ANY ammonia readings EVER in a cycled tank, and the fact that you dont have any nitrate readings shows that your tank is not properly cycled and those fish are already stressed by the ammonia levels. are you washing your bio media with tap water or something?
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I agree with this. Forget about additions to your tank and downsize your current stock.
 
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