Hey everyone! I have a 125 gallon with a bunch of crater lake cichlids, 2 devils, 3 jags, 4 convicts (two potential breeding pairs) and 5 black belts. I may even have a pair of black belts that are going to spawn soon, as it looks like tubes are dropped. I thought I had all males. Here's my thought and options.... I would like to at least keep all the convicts, this breeding pair of black belts, and at least 1 jag. Could I keep the 2 devils too? How should I best thin this heard down. Haven't had a ton of experience with my 125 yet or with keeping all these fish to adult hood. Help a brother out please!
How should I thin down the herd?
- Thread starter Batboi3000
- Start date
I'm going to tell you now should the black belt pair up that's all your going to have in that tank. It's in all honest really overstocked. The I've had cons in a 125 they are little devils that will claim at least a third of the tank
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Black belts, red devils, and jags all get very large. I don't know if you're asking if they'd all fit together in a 125 for life? If so, I would say no, you'd have to narrow down your selection a bit more. The jaguar would probably kill your convicts eventually, that would be a very large size difference in a full grown jaguar vs a convict. Breeding pair of larger black belts would pose the same issues, I would think.
Agreed with both the above. The black belts will turn homicidal in defense of eggs and you will have a tank full of dead fish if they do. Jaguars will start to hunt convicts once they max out in size. Convicts would be fine to keep in there if you just keep a single black belt.
Unfortunately breeding turns even the most peaceful cichlid into a hellacious monster.
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Unfortunately breeding turns even the most peaceful cichlid into a hellacious monster.
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Yea, not to jump on the beat down band wagon but unless you are like the .01% of fish keepers who luck out, you don't stand a chance in keeping more than 2 BB's. Or Maybe 1 devil 1 jag, But still really un likely. if the tank was a 7-8' long an 2+ feet in depth maybe. But the 125 just won't cut it. And convicts are a dime a dozen just put them in a 40g breeder.
If it were me, I'd put each con pair in their own 20 gal tank, and leave a devil, bb, and jag in the big tank. Assuming they're all male, you'll have some time before either the jag or the rd kills everything else. Probably the rd.
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it would greatly increase your success rate if you keep one each of the larger species and the cons if you must. I have kept jags and amphs together before in a 125. presently i have a jag, a midas, 2 mayans, a syn and a bifa in a 135. Its going to be about 16 months since they all got together. The jag, midas and one of the mayans were all adults when i started. they were what i actually wanted to keep in the tank long term. the rest are all the survivors from various 1.5 - 2 incher juvies i bought and put in there on a whim and left overs from trying to get pairs of veja. i figured they would lower the overall agression in the tank and serve as food sometimes. As time passed a few of them disappeared until the stock is what it is now. i suspect this is the final group but you can never tell. the dynamic can change anytime with centrals. you just have to be prepared to deal with it if it does. the jag and the mayan were part of a previous attempt. there was a blackbelt involved in that try. i never got it to work with him.
Thanks for the input guys. When I initially bought all these, I was hoping to make kind of a biotope nicaraguan crater lake tank. I was also hoping to get a pair. Until yesterday I was pretty sure all the fish, besides 2 convicts were male. I was wrong.... I now have black belt eggs and a pair of fish. Here is what I am currently doing. All the bigger fish, devils, jags, b. belts, are roughly 5-6". The cons are about 2-4" and there are two pairs. I am currently taking to the local fish store 2 of the jags and 2 of the black belts. Ultimately, if I had just the breeding pair of Black Belts and a few cons I think that would look awesome. I want to leave the cons in there for a bit of a breeding food source and if they can hold their own (so far so good) I like the size difference/contrast with the cons against the bigger cichlids. So Currently in the tank I have what I believe to be 1 male 6" jag, 2 male 5" devils, 3 Black belts (2 male 1 female), 4 cons (2 male, 2 female). I am prepared to thin down the heard down the road as they grow. This should hopefully buy me some time though.