My 125 gallon new world cichlid setup

[Experiment397]

Hey everyone i am sort of new to this place, but not new on fish. I bought a 125 for my cichlids and am starting to wonder if my plan is going to be good. i am using a larger grain sand with lots of artificial driftwood and plants that are glued to rocks to weigh them down. i have 2 fluval 305 filters and 2 36 inch full spectrum lights. for fish i currently have 2 jack dempseys, 1 baby pacu species that only gets 12-14 inches, 1 blood parrot cichlid, 1 bristlenose pleco. i am planning to 1 tiger oscar, 1 green terror, 3 salvini cichlids, 3 firemouths, 1 rapheals catfish, 1 freshwater stonefish. the tank is just on the verge of being brackish with a ph of about 6.3-6.8. my fish are all babys in a 30 gallon right now, i wanted to make sure they would all get along with the ones i want to buy before i set up my big tank. thanks.

 

[devder1]

1 baby pacu species that only gets 12-14 inches.

facepalm

 

[Experiment397]

sorry like i said i am new to this site, what exactly does "facepalm" mean?

 

[Anubisscott]

sorry like i said i am new to this site, what exactly does "facepalm" mean?

Means that there is no such thing as a "baby pacu species that only gets 12-14 inches".

1.Pacu will need a larger tank as "ALL PACU" get around 3 feet in length.
2.For these fish you need your PH more in the 7.0 Range.
3 Your going to crowd your tank. Leave out the Stonefish and possibly the Salvini and you should be fine. Salvini are going to destroy most the smaller fish, especially when they form a pair. Your Oscar and GT might be ok if they are grown out small with the other fish. It is going to be a slightly overstocked tank but throw acouple Backpack filters and you should be good.

 

[kdrun76]

There are species of pacu that stay that smallish. They are exceptionally hard to find in the aquarium industry. What kind do you have? Can you post a picture?

Chances are, your pacu will need 350-500 gallons of water a lot sooner than later. But lets see a pic to be sure.

 

[thedarkone]

sorry like i said i am new to this site, what exactly does "facepalm" mean?

facepalm basically means he slammed his face into the palm of his hand out of frustration.

 

[dent20]

That seems like a lot of fish to me. I'd get rid of the pacu myself and focus on cichlids, but I'm guessing you like it. I'd also think about excluding the salvini.

 

[UTEP]

sorry like i said i am new to this site, what exactly does "facepalm" mean?

It is a rude way of saying that Pacus do not attain that size. They actually get to atleast 24 inches.

 

[UTEP]

Hey everyone i am sort of new to this place, but not new on fish. I bought a 125 for my cichlids and am starting to wonder if my plan is going to be good. i am using a larger grain sand with lots of artificial driftwood and plants that are glued to rocks to weigh them down. i have 2 fluval 305 filters and 2 36 inch full spectrum lights. for fish i currently have 2 jack dempseys, 1 baby pacu species that only gets 12-14 inches, 1 blood parrot cichlid, 1 bristlenose pleco. i am planning to 1 tiger oscar, 1 green terror, 3 salvini cichlids, 3 firemouths, 1 rapheals catfish, 1 freshwater stonefish. the tank is just on the verge of being brackish with a ph of about 6.3-6.8. my fish are all babys in a 30 gallon right now, i wanted to make sure they would all get along with the ones i want to buy before i set up my big tank. thanks.

Let me see if I can help. First off lets just stick to cichlids and maybe the Pleco and Catfish-for sure get rid of the Pacu and Stonefish.
With the Pleco and Cat-IMO I would only keep one-being that they are both bottom feeders and may fight at night. As far as the cichlids stick with only 1 per species-you dont want pairs in that size tank. So keep one-Jack Dempsey, Salvini, Green Terror, Oscar, and the Firemouth-I would ditch the BloodParrot-we dont need hybrids in there.
So here it is:
Either the Pleco or Catfish
Oscar, GT, Salvini, JD, and Firemouth-make sure you have a lot of caves or hiding spots-in a tank that size you should be fine!

 

[knifegill]

A 125g must seem huge, sitting there empty. Once the fish go in, you'll begin to see that it really is just enough room for an Oscar to pace madly.

If you really love the Oscar, he'd be happy in there with just a few other fish like a few raphaels and some dither cichlids (firemouths, etc.)

Or, you could can the Oscar and go for a larger group of smaller cichlids like firemouth, your dempseys and still have all the catfish fun with your bristlenose and raphaels.

It would be hell keeping the nitrates down under ten with the full stock you listed. So I'd either do an Oscar-based tank or a nice collection of what you've already got and those firemouths/raphs. Seeing as your list is pretty eclectic, you'll probably want to drop the Oscar idea in favor of three to five other medium-sized cichlids.

And no pacu. Or stonefish. I wouldn't, any way.