Keyhole biotope

[Stanzzzz7]

Thanks for commenting I was hoping you would ?

Yer you put me onto getting a group of thorichthys a while back on my first thread on here. The thread was about having higher tap nitrates 20ppm out the tap, if you recall?

Because of the nitrates you advise I go for a thorichthys from the meeki group and of the 3 meeki is the my favourite. I'll also be going with your suggestion of wild type swords, looking at people's meeki biotopes on Google the swords really complement them well.

What numbers of each would you suggest for my tank? I've started my scape now and started another thread on it, I'll tag you in it if you'd like to see what I've come up with?

I would start off with 8 meeki juveniles. Try and look out for youngsters that already show a nice amount of colour. There are a lot of poor quality meeki about that are a washed out grey. Although these may colour up a bit when settled into an aquarium they won't be as nice as young fish that are colourful from a young age.
You won't be able to sex young meeki so just go for a group and hope for a good ratio.
With Live bearing fish you also need to shop about. Shops stock a lot of fish with poor genetics that are often prone to bacterial infections. Look out for lively fish with bright eyes and nice extended fins. Live bearing fish are easy to sex, I would aim for one male and 6 to 8 females. 2 males in the same tank will fight. Wild green colour swordtails are my choice of preference and will compliment your meeki nicely.
When scaping your tank try to think long term. Your meeki will eventually stop schooling together and form pairs. When this happens they will want small individual territories and spawning sites. Try to provide as many as possible with line of sight breaks so each pair has its own little zone. I have had as many as 4 pairs all spawning at the same time. If the tank is set up right it's a joy to watch and works without to much aggression.
Being sand sifting cichlids it's also good to provide a small grain sandy substrate for them to behave naturally as they would in the wild. Think of meeki as hard water geophagus which they basically are. Their Gill rakers are not quite as adapted as the South american earth eaters but they are a very good case of convergent evolution.
I would try to resist the temptation to add any other cichlid species. A group of meeki will provide all the entertainment and visual impact you could need, adding other species could interrupt some of the behaviour you will enjoy seeing with your group.
Hope this helps.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

I would start off with 8 meeki juveniles. Try and look out for youngsters that already show a nice amount of colour. There are a lot of poor quality meeki about that are a washed out grey. Although these may colour up a bit when settled into an aquarium they won't be as nice as young fish that are colourful from a young age.
You won't be able to sex young meeki so just go for a group and hope for a good ratio.
With Live bearing fish you also need to shop about. Shops stock a lot of fish with poor genetics that are often prone to bacterial infections. Look out for lively fish with bright eyes and nice extended fins. Live bearing fish are easy to sex, I would aim for one male and 6 to 8 females. 2 males in the same tank will fight. Wild green colour swordtails are my choice of preference and will compliment your meeki nicely.
When scaping your tank try to think long term. Your meeki will eventually stop schooling together and form pairs. When this happens they will want small individual territories and spawning sites. Try to provide as many as possible with line of sight breaks so each pair has its own little zone. I have had as many as 4 pairs all spawning at the same time. If the tank is set up right it's a joy to watch and works without to much aggression.
Being sand sifting cichlids it's also good to provide a small grain sandy substrate for them to behave naturally as they would in the wild. Think of meeki as hard water geophagus which they basically are. Their Gill rakers are not quite as adapted as the South american earth eaters but they are a very good case of convergent evolution.
I would try to resist the temptation to add any other cichlid species. A group of meeki will provide all the entertainment and visual impact you could need, adding other species could interrupt some of the behaviour you will enjoy seeing with your group.
Hope this helps.

Thanks that's

I would start off with 8 meeki juveniles. Try and look out for youngsters that already show a nice amount of colour. There are a lot of poor quality meeki about that are a washed out grey. Although these may colour up a bit when settled into an aquarium they won't be as nice as young fish that are colourful from a young age.
You won't be able to sex young meeki so just go for a group and hope for a good ratio.
With Live bearing fish you also need to shop about. Shops stock a lot of fish with poor genetics that are often prone to bacterial infections. Look out for lively fish with bright eyes and nice extended fins. Live bearing fish are easy to sex, I would aim for one male and 6 to 8 females. 2 males in the same tank will fight. Wild green colour swordtails are my choice of preference and will compliment your meeki nicely.
When scaping your tank try to think long term. Your meeki will eventually stop schooling together and form pairs. When this happens they will want small individual territories and spawning sites. Try to provide as many as possible with line of sight breaks so each pair has its own little zone. I have had as many as 4 pairs all spawning at the same time. If the tank is set up right it's a joy to watch and works without to much aggression.
Being sand sifting cichlids it's also good to provide a small grain sandy substrate for them to behave naturally as they would in the wild. Think of meeki as hard water geophagus which they basically are. Their Gill rakers are not quite as adapted as the South american earth eaters but they are a very good case of convergent evolution.
I would try to resist the temptation to add any other cichlid species. A group of meeki will provide all the entertainment and visual impact you could need, adding other species could interrupt some of the behaviour you will enjoy seeing with your group.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for that, it's exactly the info I was after.

I want this tank to look natural so I'll be avoiding the super colorful varieties and going with wild type. I'm going to keep it just meeki and swords, with the exception of perhaps one bristlenose, if the tank was bigger I'd be tempted to add a pair of blue eye Cryptoheros.

Let's say I get 8 juvenile meeki and end up with 4m 4f, I'm guessing I'd wanna be rehoming a couple of the males? Would I then add more adult females?

I've already started my scape, got the backbone of it done, I've still got the detailing stuff to do, I'm going to add some smaller gravel, twiggy branches, leaf litter and other botanicals. I've tried to base it loosely around images of the bladen river I've seen online, most of the hardscape will be locally collected so I can't really call it a biotope. I'll tag you in my thread, I'd love to get your input as looking through your threads and posts you seem to know you're stuff when it comes thorichthys and natural looking scapes

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Thanks that's
Thanks for that, it's exactly the info I was after.

I want this tank to look natural so I'll be avoiding the super colorful varieties and going with wild type. I'm going to keep it just meeki and swords, with the exception of perhaps one bristlenose, if the tank was bigger I'd be tempted to add a pair of blue eye Cryptoheros.

Let's say I get 8 juvenile meeki and end up with 4m 4f, I'm guessing I'd wanna be rehoming a couple of the males? Would I then add more adult females?

I've already started my scape, got the backbone of it done, I've still got the detailing stuff to do, I'm going to add some smaller gravel, twiggy branches, leaf litter and other botanicals. I've tried to base it loosely around images of the bladen river I've seen online, most of the hardscape will be locally collected so I can't really call it a biotope. I'll tag you in my thread, I'd love to get your input as looking through your threads and posts you seem to know you're stuff when it comes thorichthys and natural looking scapes

Thanks.
If you end up with 4 males things may still work out fine, a lot will depend on the individual fish. You will have to monitor them and see how they get on. They will flare their gills at each other and a little bit of chasing will be normal. Just intervene if things get out of hand.
Sometimes the answer is to add more meeki.
I once had a set up with just 6 meeki and they constantly chased each other. I added another 16 and the tank became harmonious again. This was in a 7 foot tank however. Sometimes upping the numbers can help with aggression but the fish should not be crowded either, they are not mbuna at the end of the day. Use your own judgement on this but really I would be surprised if you have any major issues.

Regarding collecting your own wood and biotopes,i would not be so strict on yourself. If the fish can be found together in nature and the set up resembles where they come from, well that's biotope enough for me.
Hornwort, elodea and nymphia lily can all be found in the habitat your trying to create. Planted between strategically placed stones will keep them from being dug up by the meeki. They will also offer refuge and extra hiding places.
I look forward to seeing your scape, from pictures I've seen of your planted tanks I'm sure it will look amazing.

 

[Tripping Willow 91]

Thanks.
If you end up with 4 males things may still work out fine, a lot will depend on the individual fish. You will have to monitor them and see how they get on. They will flare their gills at each other and a little bit of chasing will be normal. Just intervene if things get out of hand.
Sometimes the answer is to add more meeki.
I once had a set up with just 6 meeki and they constantly chased each other. I added another 16 and the tank became harmonious again. This was in a 7 foot tank however. Sometimes upping the numbers can help with aggression but the fish should not be crowded either, they are not mbuna at the end of the day. Use your own judgement on this but really I would be surprised if you have any major issues.

Regarding collecting your own wood and biotopes,i would not be so strict on yourself. If the fish can be found together in nature and the set up resembles where they come from, well that's biotope enough for me.
Hornwort, elodea and nymphia lily can all be found in the habitat your trying to create. Planted between strategically placed stones will keep them from being dug up by the meeki. They will also offer refuge and extra hiding places.
I look forward to seeing your scape, from pictures I've seen of your planted tanks I'm sure it will look amazing.

Thanks, so i guess when the time comes I'll get a group of 8 or so and wait and see how it goes, then take action of needed.

I say loosely themed as I wouldn't want to upset the biotope brigade but hopefully it'll be a close enough match. I've got some nymphaea red tiger lotus sitting in my quarantine tank from my last scape, I know it's African but I think it'd look very nice in the meeki and it must be a close match to some of the nymphaea found over that way? I'm not sure it'll do well with the low watt light I'm using but it'll only end up in the bin anyway so I might as well give it a try. I also saved a few pieces of bucephalandara attached to pebbles, they should fair well enough in the low light but not sure if they'd be a close match to anything found in the bladen or any water meeki are native to, I'll probably stick them in, they're nice easy little epiphytes and it'd be a shame to throw them.