How am I doing with my tank?

[rmorse]

Hey all...I am a new cichlid owner, just want to make sure I am doing ok with the stocking of my tank. (Water parameters are all fine)

I have a 55G. Currently, it has 5 JD's. I have 2 I believe that have paired. When I am certain, I will return the other 3.

I have 4 giant danios, and plan on buying some more. (maybe today.)

I have 2 Bushy Nosed Plecos.


Questions: What temp should my tank be? How many more giant danios can I get? Will the Plecos be ok with the JD's when the JD's are larger? Can I get any other, more "exotic" plecos? (I.E. a Royal )

Thanks!

Bobby

 

[rmorse]

Oh yes, and is there any other dithers I can toss in? Tiger barbs, perhaps?

 

[voss345]

welcome to MFK
sorry to ruin the good feel right away but your way over stocked i would suggest keeping only one pair of Jd's if your not upgrading, and a pleco

 

[rmorse]

I am well aware of this, hence my remarks after the 5 JD's. They are VERY young...I am attempting to get a pair atm. Once I have a pair, I will be down to 2 JD's

 

[Headrush]

when I first read you had 5 JD's in a 55 I almost fell off my chair. BUT you're doing the right thing by returning 3. IMO 55's a little small for a pair, but you should be good if you change water often. Keep an eye on your water to help you develop a good schedule. I'm guessing it'll be once per week for now while they're juvies, but once they hit 4-5 inches and you have the pleco's etc it will probably need to change every 4-5 days? you'll have to figure that out.

Look at the other thread on Tiger barbs as dithers...should have plenty of info for you. It has worked for me , but not for everyone. Best bet is to get them in there when the cichlids are starting out, not after the tank is well established. You may have problems at breeding time though if a pair of JD's form. I'd just keep the best looking Male JD if I were you

Also, Bushy nosed pleco's work well in my SA/CA 90 gallon. Just make sure they get plenty to eat. One of them cleaned my tank by himself in 3 days. It had been growing algae for almost a month. They are EXCELLENT cleaners, but don't seem to clean up gravel/scraps too well.

Good luck

 

[freshyfishy]

 

[mbunafishkeeper]

i think youre welly stocked at the mo.

smart idea returning 3 of the JD's also got any pics???

i dont think the pair will allow for any tank mates if they breed.

 

[davidefc]

how is he overstocked?????wow he said his JD are young!!!!! so maybe a few inches, so you are saying 9 say 2" fish and 2 plecos which get around 4" lol you should see my tanks then.

what you should of said is yes that tank WILL be overstocked when all adults but not by juvies.

keep it up, youve done a good job by staying with that amount of fish,i was terrible when i started

so JD grow quite slow, 4" they should be pairing up and breeding round that size.

you have a good set up, up to know, danios for dithers, bristlenose for clean up and the JD'dwho you want to keep.

if you want to add another fish i would go for another danio, the bigger the school, the tighter they school around

just keep w/c every week to make the JD growth faster

dave

 

[pwmin]

i wouldn't really want a breeding pair w/ the plecos, but you might get lucky. I would get a few more danios, but no other dithers. They will be enough IMO. Just remember, the JD's and plecs will produce A LOT of waste, so you'll need good filtration and lots of water changes. Glad you planned out by getting 5 JD's and are only keeping the 2 best ones. That's the best way to do it, only thing that sucks is getting rid of the other 3. I think you'll be fine if you keep up with the maintenance unless the JD's breed and kill the other fish.