Getting Back into the Hobby..

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IcK

Candiru
MFK Member
Feb 5, 2007
220
8
48
Winston-Salem, NC
Hey Everyone,

It has been awhile since I've considered getting a fish tank since I've been moving around a fair amount, it has actually been since about 2012 that I've actually posted on this website. Now that I'll be moving into a new place in October I'm looking to get back into the hobby. I previously had a 75 gallon fishtank with a single wetpet Trimac male from Rapps. He was fantastic and very interactive.

I'm going to get a 75 gallon aquarium again as I feel that is a good size to either keep one single wet pet or a couple different cichlids, while not breaking the bank on actually buying the aquarium and the set up.

I was considering getting a single Trimac male again from Rapps. I enjoyed the personal interaction I received with the fish when it would follow me around the tank, waited for me to drop pellets in its mouth, etc..

However, I've also been intrigued with the notion of purchasing about 4-5 marbled/barred convicts from Rapps as well, all males of course. I know it could be difficult getting them all to live together and I would need to build in some "natural" dividers and figure out a way to give them plenty of hiding spots. The convict idea has me interested because of the 'action' I would see on a daily basis.

My cousin had some what of a 'community' cichlid tank when I was younger. 1 Jack Dempsey, 1 convict, 1 firemouth, and 1 jewel. They all lived really peacefully together thanks to the Jack Dempsey that seemed to keep the peace. It was only a 55 gallon as well and they were all almost full grown. There always seemed to be something going on in the tank and i thought that was so interesting.

Thoughts?
 
i think youre asking for trouble. theyll be ok for a while but eventually i think youll end up with a couple of the convicts really stressed to hell and beat up.
 
That is unfortunate. I'm looking for that community feel to the tank but I'm not looking to get super small cichlids. What about JD, convict, and a salvini/firemouth? Any other suggestions would be helpful as well.
 
I like the "community" idea. My advice would be to pick out your "centerpiece" fish first, and add your convict last...and make sure he is smaller than all the rest. Dither fish such as larger tetras also help to spread out the aggression. I currently have a male convict in with my severums in a 75g. He was the first fish in the tank, and is also one of the largest, and constantly keeps the severums in the corners. I am hoping the sevs get more assertive and will intimidate the con when they are larger.
 
Convict, Jd and salvini could work. It could also not work at all. But a 75 is a good size to grow them out in.
However, please don't add dither to spread out the aggression. I hate that. If there is going to be aggression among the fish some punching bag fish won't stop that. It'll just prolong the inevitable.
 
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Onother member here had an all male con tank and i dont think he had any issues. I really like the marbles that rapps has.
Chocolate cichlids are cool. Gonna have to check out rapps site
 
You should get some angelfish. I have kept mine for 3 weeks and one of them handfeeds chases my finger and jumps out of the water for food. It would be cool to keel some of those
 
Benthebassmaster said:
You should get some angelfish. I have kept mine for 3 weeks and one of them handfeeds chases my finger and jumps out of the water for food. It would be cool to keel some of those
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Cool man but before you post look at the date of the thread and if's not very recent then refrain from digging up it's grave. This particular thread is 5 years and many of these members are no longer active.
 
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