Very valid point imo. Chalceus are also known for attacking similar shaped fish.
How do you think of this tank stock?
- Thread starter TheTerminutter
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Very valid point imo. Chalceus are also known for attacking similar shaped fish.
There seems to be mixed replies about the chalceus and the pike characins, so I guess I can try them out one by one, see how they fare. If there's any problems I'll give them to my friend with a 125 or surrender them to my lfs.
I thought Viejas were peaceful? Im shocked to hear that they're murderers. I'm not a fan of angelfish so I guess cichlids are out too.
How does this list sound?
Pink tailed chalceus
Hujeta gar
Red tail barracuda
3 Black bar myleus
Snakeskin gourami
Rope fish
Striped Raphael cat
Goldfish
I did a quick check to make sure the scarier ones don't have a tendency to bully non aggressive fish.
Also the ranchu goldfish is the size of a softball, so he's probably not gonna get eaten.
Ik the list still looks iffy but at least I got rid of the ones that will definitely 100% not work or immediately try to take a bite out of every fish it sees.
And again, I'll be adding them one by one and monitoring them carefully. If things are looking bad or I can't keep nitrates under control I'll remove the fish. I live near a huge lfs and they take care of their fish well.
Thanks everyone
I thought Viejas were peaceful? Im shocked to hear that they're murderers. I'm not a fan of angelfish so I guess cichlids are out too.
How does this list sound?
Pink tailed chalceus
Hujeta gar
Red tail barracuda
3 Black bar myleus
Snakeskin gourami
Rope fish
Striped Raphael cat
Goldfish
I did a quick check to make sure the scarier ones don't have a tendency to bully non aggressive fish.
Also the ranchu goldfish is the size of a softball, so he's probably not gonna get eaten.
Ik the list still looks iffy but at least I got rid of the ones that will definitely 100% not work or immediately try to take a bite out of every fish it sees.
And again, I'll be adding them one by one and monitoring them carefully. If things are looking bad or I can't keep nitrates under control I'll remove the fish. I live near a huge lfs and they take care of their fish well.
Thanks everyone
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Listen. Do not bother with the Chalceus and barracuda.
The myleus will pick at the goldfish, and there is not enough of them anyway. They are super anxious fish, and will freak out when the lights come on and bash into the walls and stress out the other fish.
Snakeskin gourami will probably get a bit to big, and can be aggressive.
You may also want to ditch the raph. He'll get to about a foot, but you don't have to.
Sure the ranchu is the size of a golfball, but he will be slow as hell. The other fish will harass him to death.
Here's what could work
x2 hujeta gar
x1 Firemouth cichlid
x1 Ropfish
x1 Goldfish
Maybe x1 Striped Raph.
I like that stocking suggestion, but isn't the firemouth cichlid known for being very aggressive? Did you ever have a successful community tank with one?
Firemouths are less aggressive than all the other fish you suggested. They stay small as well, and people happily keep them with sword tails and mollies. However they will become aggressive while breeding, which is why I only put one.
Also I am referring to Thorichthys meeki and not Thorichthys maculipinnis(ellioti)
Love it. Funny but true. I wish the OP well with his tank.
Hey man, don't listen to everything you find on the internet. Different people have different ideas of "aggressive."
Firemouths are a fairly common cichlid so the bloggers doing species profiles on them are likely beginners-intermediates who have largely kept peaceful community tanks, hence they say fire mouths are "super aggressive."
However, the other fish on your list like red tail barracuda are niche fish that only the most experienced fish keepers have kept. People that blog species profiles on red tail barracuda probably have kept other vicious fish like wolf cichlids and tiger fishes, so relative to those 2 species, a red tail barracuda might be "semi-aggressive" and "compatable with other species."
At the end of the day, a lot comes down to experience. You'll get many differing voices on which fish are compatible with other fish so you'll have to tough things out and see what works and what doesn't.
Back when I started fish keeping, I read this awful fishkeeping book by some professor that defamed cichlids and called them "mean killers/murderers" that every fishkeeper should avoid. I didn't realize that this guy only kept community tanks and knew nothing about cichlids until I decided to keep cichlids myself. (Also this guy claimed you can keep 1 Oscar in a 29 gallon even though an Oscar grows to 15 inches which is longer than the width of a 29 gallon).
WHAT
Problems:
Firemouths are social, as are goldfish.
Everything in this list will pick at the goldfish. Especially a solo firemouth, which will be aggressive without conspecifics. Every (respectable) non line bred fish will attack guppies, goldfish, bettas, etc in my experience, seemingly because they can sense the sort of "weakness" bred in alongside their bright colors and fancy fins.
You don't seem to understand, NOTHING can go with the goldfish. You are trying to put one of the least mobile and most sensitive varieties of goldfish with highly aggressive, highly mobile, and highly capable species of fish. Ranchu can't even go with other goldfish because they get outcompeted for food, since they're slow and can't see. The only goldfish you can get away with with them is orandas because they have a near equivalent lack of vision. That's why I personally like ranchu, because they're so far from a normal fish that it's funny. But that's also exactly why you don't put them with other fish.
Do not do firemouths for the reasons I've mentioned above, let alone one. One will become aggressive, you'll need a group, and even then it'll still nip the goldfish.
The fact that he is using an American standard tank size, and the imperial measurement system for that matter, tells me he is in America.
