hardy versus not hardy

[jason longboard]

I've been trying to find more of a list on what SA and CA cichlids are more tolerant or not with water conditions and such. Stress from other fish, cool down periods, you get the drift.

If you guys don't mind, if this is lame then just toss it.

It doesn't have to be every detail, I know their are plenty of exceptions.

I will say lets stick to 3 brackets,,,,,,,,,the point of this is a bit for those of us who do love to keep our tanks as perfect as possible for our loved pets, however still have a lot going on in life so that all of our eggs are not in one basket. Like I would love a discuss set up, but I'm stretched thin and tend to stick to silver dollars, viejas, jags, JDs and such.

Anyways, I would love to see what you guys bust out based on experience. You hear things like, severums and geos are hardy, others say no they are sensitive, chocholates are hardy, no they bite, and so forth. You know.


If you could ad the scientific and common name that would be great.

So like this

1. very hardy list



2.hardy within limits list




3.better skip it until ready.

 

[ad88]

Almost any fish that comes from a fish breeder will be hardy. If it is wild caught then you will need to be much more cautious of your water readings to match what ever location they were caught. Just stick with fish that weren't wild caught and you should be good! If you are super busy then keep your tank lightly stocked and that will help if you can't do weekly water changes. Good Luck!

 

[ryansmith83]

^ I don't find that true at all. My South American fish are almost exclusively wild caught and I'm keeping and breeding them in Florida tap water with moderate hardness and pH in the high 7s.

You need to specify what you mean by "hardy"? Discus are hardy if you maintain them properly. But if you don't have time to change water, their growth and eventually health will suffer. Severums are hardy, but they still need frequent water changes to stay in good shape. Geos are hardy, but prolonged exposure to high nitrates and poor water quality will usually result in HITH.

If you keep your nitrates below 20ppm (preferably 10ppm or lower), do at least one large weekly water change, mind your stocking density, and avoid mixing species that are totally incompatible in terms of aggression, most cichlids will be fine. The only exceptions I've found so far are Uaru fernandezyepezi, which do not acclimate easily and need soft water, and newly imported altum angels, which are also difficult to acclimate. Some cichlids like beani are known to be succeptible to bloat. Most common types (severums, festivums, geos, oscars, acaras, etc.) are fine as long as the water quality is right.

 

[jason longboard]

I know what you guys are saying, I've kept aquariums for 20 years or so mostly cichlids but some I stayed away fro because they seemed to start breathing like they were having a stroke if the power was out for 1 hour. I was just thinking of a simple base guideline list but I knew it wouldnt be that easy due to all the variables. I only have the 125 right now so its no big deal, I just thought others would find it useful as well. Good info though guys.

 

[Belly up]

My all time toughest fish would be a Dempsey. I have neglected them (sorry, it`s true) in the past to the point their water has evaporated down to what looked like P water, in the basement where temps go down to fifty degrees. They not only lived but in a couple of months started to grow again and show good colors. I had one jump out of his tank in the middle of the night and wake me by thumping on the bottom of the dresser the tank was on. I had to get up and hand drain the tank. In those days I did`nt own a python. Then after several hours I found a very dry, lint encrusted fish that I thought would never make it. In the mourning he was swimming around like nothing ever happened. It took days for the lint to come off. He lived for years after that.

So for both poor water quality and temp IMO you can not find a tougher fish.

 

[jason longboard]

Good you want my JD then? lol, I just put him in a bucket to take back to shop, hes mean to everything lol.

 

[robham7770]

Carpintis are very tough, just don't ask me how I know. Also Mayan, and Midas would be solid bets. I think most CA would be good, they seem more tolerant of temp fluctuations and less than ideal water conditions than the SA.