From Planted tanks, to Chichlids

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Sean W.

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Sep 10, 2013
88
159
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Claremont California
Whats goin on guys,


I joined this forum in 2013, I have been lurking ever since, this is my first post tho! so... Hello! :)

Be warned, my posts tend to get a little long winded... haha


I have been in the hobby for 15 years, keeping a huge variety of fish. A few years ago I was bit by the high-tech planted tank bug and have been doing that for a while. My current 75 gallon tank has nuked itself because I was having issues with the Co2. It upset me so much I am going to pivot my hobby from planted tanks, to keeping animals like the larger chichlids. In planted tanks, the plants are the focus, everything you do is to benefit the plants. Substrate, lighting, flow, filtration, nutrients, dosing, Co2, algae control, It just so happens that you can keep fish too. The fish really arent the focus tho, they are an after thought to compliment the hardscape and plants.

I would like to make the switch to keeping fish. Choosing the perfect specimen, growing them out, giving them what they need to be as healthy and happy as possible, maybe even breed them. I am excited about this change and I think its going to be a lot of fun.

So... I have a 75 gallon Petsmart tank, with a Sunsun 704B canister filter crammed with as much bio material as I could fit. I think I have the tank and filtration checked off.

I do have a few thoughts and questions tho:

1. I am SUPER torn between a Flower Horn or a Green Terror (Gold Saum). I will only keep one fish in this tank, I know a 75 is about as small as you want to go, and I dont want to overcrowd or stress the fish, so I think I will limit myself to one fish. I LOVE the color of a male GT, but LOVE the personality of the FH... I am not crazy about the kok on FHs... looks kinda weird to me haha Other than a massive kok, FHs, I think FHs are beautiful. Any input from people who have kept both of these fish? GT vs FH?

2. I am leaning more towards keeping a Male GT, and have heard that Jeff Rapps over at Tangledupincichlids is the best place in the States to get wild caught specimens. I have already reached out to him for a quote. He says he cant guarantee a male because his are very juvenile, and suggests buying multiples and growing them out and keeping the one I like the most. Is there someone closer to California that is also a respected wild caught importer/breeder that would give me the closest to a show quality specimen?

3. Tank setup. I watch Joey over at " The King of DIY " on youtube, he is a pretty big advocate of bare bottom tanks. There are obvious benefits to keeping a bare bottom tank that beneift the animal, but really arent that visually pleasing. If I do a bare bottom tank, I was thinking of doing a dark ceramic tile bottom with a black background to "dress up" a bare bottom tank. Is there any downside to keeping a FH/GT in a bare tank?


I think that is a good place to start, these are my questions and thoughts, input is appreciated.



 
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The wet spot in Oregon has good fish and does have some wild cichlids, not sure about gt. With 1 get in a 75 I wouldn't worry about doing a bare bottom since it should still be very easy to keep clean.
 
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A flower horn will most likely be more personable and more of a "wet pet" IMO. If you want something of that color and want something "wild caught" I would suggest a Trimac.

Jeff Rapps, has a great selection, I have a a Green Terror from him and its a good looking fish but Ive seen better looking ones at my local fish stores, you can save a bit of coin getting a common fish like a GT, locally. Jeff is great for the hard to find / impossible to find stuff. Just my 2 cents.

Dont assume wild caught will give you the best colors and "show" quality. Many times it the opposite, select breeding of captives can develop favorable traits.

As far as a bare bottom..... some large cichlids enjoy moving the gravel around, so it might give them something to do. Ive given my Midas and Trimac's ping pong balls to play with too.
 
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Sean W. said:
Whats goin on guys,


I joined this forum in 2013, I have been lurking ever since, this is my first post tho! so... Hello! :)

Be warned, my posts tend to get a little long winded... haha


I have been in the hobby for 15 years, keeping a huge variety of fish. A few years ago I was bit by the high-tech planted tank bug and have been doing that for a while. My current 75 gallon tank has nuked itself because I was having issues with the Co2. It upset me so much I am going to pivot my hobby from planted tanks, to keeping animals like the larger chichlids. In planted tanks, the plants are the focus, everything you do is to benefit the plants. Substrate, lighting, flow, filtration, nutrients, dosing, Co2, algae control, It just so happens that you can keep fish too. The fish really arent the focus tho, they are an after thought to compliment the hardscape and plants.

I would like to make the switch to keeping fish. Choosing the perfect specimen, growing them out, giving them what they need to be as healthy and happy as possible, maybe even breed them. I am excited about this change and I think its going to be a lot of fun.

So... I have a 75 gallon Petsmart tank, with a Sunsun 704B canister filter crammed with as much bio material as I could fit. I think I have the tank and filtration checked off.

I do have a few thoughts and questions tho:

1. I am SUPER torn between a Flower Horn or a Green Terror (Gold Saum). I will only keep one fish in this tank, I know a 75 is about as small as you want to go, and I dont want to overcrowd or stress the fish, so I think I will limit myself to one fish. I LOVE the color of a male GT, but LOVE the personality of the FH... I am not crazy about the kok on FHs... looks kinda weird to me haha Other than a massive kok, FHs, I think FHs are beautiful. Any input from people who have kept both of these fish? GT vs FH?

2. I am leaning more towards keeping a Male GT, and have heard that Jeff Rapps over at Tangledupincichlids is the best place in the States to get wild caught specimens. I have already reached out to him for a quote. He says he cant guarantee a male because his are very juvenile, and suggests buying multiples and growing them out and keeping the one I like the most. Is there someone closer to California that is also a respected wild caught importer/breeder that would give me the closest to a show quality specimen?

3. Tank setup. I watch Joey over at " The King of DIY " on youtube, he is a pretty big advocate of bare bottom tanks. There are obvious benefits to keeping a bare bottom tank that beneift the animal, but really arent that visually pleasing. If I do a bare bottom tank, I was thinking of doing a dark ceramic tile bottom with a black background to "dress up" a bare bottom tank. Is there any downside to keeping a FH/GT in a bare tank?


I think that is a good place to start, these are my questions and thoughts, input is appreciated.



Click to expand...

You're going to love taking your experience from planted tanks and aquascaping to large cichlid tanks. If you look for balance in the aquarium with fish as a forethought instead of an afterthought, you will create beautiful designs that are both effective in recreating natural habitats. But also fully functional. I too spent about five years in the high tech planted side before returning to my true love of New World cichlids.

You'll find the mixture of rocks,wood, plants and various fish to occupy the different levels in the water to compliment your cichlids as a worthy challenge and one that offers endless possibilities given the sheer variety of biotope a and setups you can set up for CA and SA Cichlids.

As for the green terrors. I would aim for a bonded pair and just buy a group of juveniles. That really is the way to go. They will breed as young adults and be able to work in your 75. Jeff Rapps is the vendor of choice for a lot of people and I'm a huge fan of his. Wet spot works too as mentioned already. Gunpowder Aquatics can get in larger wilds from time to time as well.
 
I understand the idea of a bare bottom tank, but I don't like it in display tanks. It's all personal preference.

Hospital, QT, grow out ranks, I keep them bare. But display tanks I try to get a bit of nature in there.

Especially if you do a wild caught fish. Putting it in a bare bottom would seem cruel in my mind... as for a flower horn? Many of them have probably only ever been in a bare bottom tank so it's not cruel in my mind - but probably pretty boring for them (hence ping pong balls etc)
 
Welcome. I think a lot of us have come from the planted tanks world to cichlids, or dabble in both. I think either would be great. If you go for the GT, finding one with nice colors can be challenging and time consuming. Be patient and don't grab the first one you see. Unless it's what your after. I've ordered from Jeff. I really liked the pic of the Rio Esmeraldas GT he has right now. Pretty pricey option through, especially for shipping one fish to California. If be looking at a group like he suggested.

I like bare bottom... might not be the best option for a wild caught fish, but being juveniles I'll think they'll adapt. I personally don't find my GT digging around in the substrate unless there picking for food. Overall they'd probably be happier with some substrate though. I think a little decor is important. Giving them a place to fill safe and comfortable.

I don't think a 75g is adequate for a pair or more of GT long term. Consider this if you don't plan to upgrade down the road.
 
Hello, I would definitely go with the GT, Flowerhorn males can get a bit too large for the 75gallon. GT would be better suited in my opinion. I have tried the ceramic tile bottom thing, one thing I will say is if you go that route, I would be sure that you like it, and silicon the tiles down. I had my tiles just placed on the bottom (they fit perfectly), and when I eventually decided to remove them, I found that a TON of black crap had accumulated down there over time. So I would fill the cracks with silicon if I did it again. Honestly though, I would just do sand or gravel. The tank won't be that hard to keep clean, the substrate will look better, and cichlids really enjoy digging and moving it around.
 
As bbortko said, WetSpot is a great place to purchase fish from, and they carry quite a few wild-caught cichlids. I've ordered from them before and have had a great experience.You could also try AquaBid.

I'm personally not a big fan of bare-bottom tanks. I'd encourage you to use some sort of sand and just lightly cover the bottom of the tank.
 
Thanks for all the feedback guys. I had not considered that captive bread GT might give a better "show quality" fish because of selective breeding over a wild caught animal. It makes a lot of sense tho.

I have heard of The Wet Spot in Oregon, but Ive never visited their web site. I check them out and their GTs are just $5 each, and shipping will be cheaper and easier on the fish coming form Oregon to CA, instead of the east coast from Jeff, plus his fish are $18 ea. I think I will get around 8 from them, grow them all out to sexing them, and keep the best male and get rid of the rest.
 
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