I am still working on building my 700g large cichlid/monster tank, but as I have been watching some of my small cichlids grow out I have decided to keep back my Astronotus Crassipinnis (smaller cousin of the Oscar) and Uaru from the big tank because I am not sure if either species will thrive in with all the big/aggressive fish. I have had the Crassipinnis over a year and they are still only 4-5in, while the normal Oscars I got later, at smaller sizes are way bigger. Based on this growth pattern I just don't see the Crassipinnis getting much over 8 inches, or if they do it will be far slower than a normal Oscar. I think I am going to remove most the fish from my 160g tank (45g sump) and redesign it around these two species (plus the Krobia Xing that are already in there). This will enable me to keep the temp higher than the monster tank, and take the worry out of the big fish killing my two favorite species. I need to add more flow, but the sump holds a ton of biomedia and I use pothos to keep nitrates down, so I'm not concerned about bioload.
But anyway, I like having a school of fish in most my tanks, because when you pick the right species it seems to pull the tank together, and help it look more "organized." But I'm running into a block trying to pick a schooling fish for this tank... I would kind of prefer to keep to SA, because even though it is not a true biotope... but I can't think of species that would be good, that I also like. Based on the behavior I have seen with my Crassipinnis, I think any schooling fish 3-4inches+ (depending upon body shape) would be safe, even when the Crassi's reach full size, and I don't want fish much bigger than that (5 inch max).
Any ideas?? Rare is ok, as long as they aren't ridiculously expensive or hard to track down. I actually really enjoy have rare/unusual fish in my tanks.
These are all I have thought of so far:
Common Silver dollars - don't really like looks and supposed to be pigs
Buenos Aries Tetra - not sure if it would be good for them to be kept at 78-80F... Thoughts??
Giant Danio- Not SA fish
Denison's Barb - Ditto, also worried they would grow too slowly
Filament Barb - also not SA, but I really love how they look - almost willing to forget the SA thing
Congo Tetra - Again, not SA, though beautiful
So unless you guys can suggest some fish I cam somehow overlooking, I may just forget doing a loose "biotope"...
Ideas please!!
But anyway, I like having a school of fish in most my tanks, because when you pick the right species it seems to pull the tank together, and help it look more "organized." But I'm running into a block trying to pick a schooling fish for this tank... I would kind of prefer to keep to SA, because even though it is not a true biotope... but I can't think of species that would be good, that I also like. Based on the behavior I have seen with my Crassipinnis, I think any schooling fish 3-4inches+ (depending upon body shape) would be safe, even when the Crassi's reach full size, and I don't want fish much bigger than that (5 inch max).
Any ideas?? Rare is ok, as long as they aren't ridiculously expensive or hard to track down. I actually really enjoy have rare/unusual fish in my tanks.
These are all I have thought of so far:
Common Silver dollars - don't really like looks and supposed to be pigs
Buenos Aries Tetra - not sure if it would be good for them to be kept at 78-80F... Thoughts??
Giant Danio- Not SA fish
Denison's Barb - Ditto, also worried they would grow too slowly
Filament Barb - also not SA, but I really love how they look - almost willing to forget the SA thing
Congo Tetra - Again, not SA, though beautiful
So unless you guys can suggest some fish I cam somehow overlooking, I may just forget doing a loose "biotope"...
Ideas please!!
