My 75 is empty, considering Grammodes or Jaguars to go in it.

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I had 6 1"ers in a 30 gallon. They were fine for a couple months, and I had no problem giving the ones I didn't want away to other MFKers. Now I'm down to my final pair in my 55 gallon.

It seems like there is a trade off with the bigger tanks. If the tank is too big and the juvies haven't figured out where food gets dropped in yet, they won't eat enough for optimal growth rates. However, if the tank is smaller than optimal, the hormones released by the fish can hinder growth rates.

Personally, I'd have no problem putting them directly in a 75 gallon. A 75 isn't that big, and they'll have no problem finding food. Plus, it'll be a large(ish) amount of water, and should keep hormones and nitrates low to promote growth.

And definitely get 6 or more if they're going to be in their own 75 gallon. That way, you'll be able to get a pair out of them, and you can pick your favorite out of the group. From my experience, you won't have any trouble getting rid of the ones you wish to re-home. Just keep a divider handy just in case.
 
That makes sense, I wouldn't mind having a breeding pair, if no other reason, I've never had one before. I don't have any smaller tanks anyway. Just a 75 and a 30 full of tetras that might be handy as feeders. A divider is something I'll have to rig. But I've got time to get everything I need. Best decorations would be? I was going to go with driftwood and plants, not sure if that would be good. I do have a peice of pvc 4 inch diameter I would cut in smaller peices to make caves maybe.
 
They're pretty hardy man. You should be good with whatever kind of decor you want. Personally, I'm using just driftwood. They seem to like terra cotta pots as well. Caves would be fine as well.

If you're planning on doing a few in one tank as juvies, just make sure you have a few larger things in there to break sight lines and for them to hide. I had 2 big sponge filters and a large plastic castle cave thing, and that was enough for 6 of them to hide from eachother when they wanted.

I've found that some of them are really outgoing, and some are more skittish when younger. But all of them are mean as snot when larger. When younger, I've tried them in just barren tanks. Some will swim all over and come up to the front of the glass to look at you, and some will try to squeeze behind the heater to hide.

And for the 30 gallon, you could always consider breeding convicts to feed to the grammodes :)
 
It's the meanness that I like about the larger fish. If I wanted a peaceful tank, I'd get guppies, tetra and platys. I'm way beyond that. I want something that knows that I am there, and reacts to me. Even if that reaction is trying to bite a chunk out of me. Jag tried, only drew blood a few times. It sounds like a group is the best way to do this, then I can keep the one or two with the best personality-or attitude- whichever that may be. The others I should be able to sell or trade because they are not common where I live. I want something that looks like a predator, if I can't have a real dovii, a grammodes is certainly close enough. The more aggressive and meaner the better.
 
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