New 300g stocking help

[Fishtank6575]

I have a 96"x30"x24" 300g acrylic tank that will be here in 4-6 weeks. I'm looking for help on stocking the tank. It will be filtered by 3 fx6 canisters. I have two 75g tanks that I will be breaking down and moving some or all of the fish to the new tank.

The fish I have now are.

1- 5" Vieja argentea that I think is a male

1- 6" EBJD

1- 6" female JD

1- 7" rockteil severum

1- 6" red spotted severum

1- 4" L091 Three Beacon Pleco

1- 5" Striped Raphael Catfish

I would like to keep these fish and add to them but I am willing to rehome if they limit additional stocking to much. Any help or opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[Fishtank6575]

Any help??

Im interested in.

Vieja Bifasciatus
Carpintis
Jaguar

Could I have a mix of Thoricthys ? How many?

 

[Fishtank6575]

Help?

 

[triggered]

beautiful tank will look nice when set up..
not sure about the Vieja as I have no experience with those.. the JDs and severums should be fine together in that size tank. Plecos can always be a danger when they are on the smaller side with larger cichlids (choking hazard).
Look foward to the tank scape when set up looks same size as my tank.

 

[Justepic]

I would add the serum to the JDs with caution as the serums are much more peaceful than the jack Dempsey. It is good that the serums are bigger than the JD's and I think with enough hiding spaces and caves, they could do well but watch out. Unfortunately, I have no experience with the Vieja species but I am sure others will chime in.

 

[Gourami Swami]

The mix of fish you have, is not necessarily fish I would say go well together. The Vieja Argentea will be the odd man out, growing much larger and more aggressive than your severums. A big male Argentea could claim an entire 300 gallon pretty easily, whether it would allow other fish in there it's hard to say- but "push-over" cichlids like the severums may be outcompeted or attacked. You also have fish that thrive in softer, lower pH water, and fish that prefer harder, higher pH.

I think you will find the argentea to be too rowdy for your severums. Personally I would keep your severums in the 75 and make the 300 a central american tank. Here are my thoughts on some of the other fish you say your're interested in.
Vieja Bifa- may work, but mixing Vieja is a gamble. Most likely, your argentea would see it as competition and they would clash.
Carpintis- Not a bad fish to try and mix with those
Firemouths- Maybe, but their jaws are weak (as eartheaters) in comparison to the other fish, so if somebody turned on them they would be easily damaged. I would probably go with amatitlania species instead if you wanted a group of smaller cichlids.
Jaguar- Maybe it could work, since the jag does not look very similar to your other fish, but they do get very large and mean, and may clash with the Vieja to see who's top dog.

Cichlid communities are kind of unpredictable and require trial and error. If you are attempting it, I would leave the 75s running because you will have to shuffle fish around to get the balance to work. 300 is a nice size tank to work with, but when dealing with fish like Argentea and Jaguars, it will not seem so big.

 

[duanes]

Agree with the above.
And to add a little to Gourami Swamis take, aside from aggression and territoriality.
First some water parameter data taken in a location where Severums re found.

Now some data from where Herichthys carpintus, and most other central American cichlids are found

 

[Fishtank6575]

Okay thanks everyone. The severums have homes if I need to remove them. I would like to go central with the stock. My ph is 7.8-8 tested with the api master kit.

Should I get a kit to test the other parameters?

The fish I want the most is a Carpintis. TUIC has these " CB huge brilliant electric blue spotted stock; most similar to the popular 'Escondido' race. Limited quantity available " and COTA has these " Incredible Rio hondo carpintis with giant blue spots". What are the differences?

I understand that a cichlid community is unpredictable and will require trial and error. Do you think chances are better with a female RTM or female festae instead of a Jaguar ?

What about salvini instead of the amatitlania species ? How many and what m/f ratio?

What about bichirs and catfish? Would a group of pictus be a bad idea?

Thank you for helping me with this!

 

[Fishtank6575]

beautiful tank will look nice when set up..
not sure about the Vieja as I have no experience with those.. the JDs and severums should be fine together in that size tank. Plecos can always be a danger when they are on the smaller side with larger cichlids (choking hazard).
Look foward to the tank scape when set up looks same size as my tank.

Im horrible at tank scapes. Do you have a picture of your tank?

Thanks

 

[Gourami Swami]

Okay thanks everyone. The severums have homes if I need to remove them. I would like to go central with the stock. My ph is 7.8-8 tested with the api master kit.

Should I get a kit to test the other parameters?

The fish I want the most is a Carpintis. TUIC has these " CB huge brilliant electric blue spotted stock; most similar to the popular 'Escondido' race. Limited quantity available " and COTA has these " Incredible Rio hondo carpintis with giant blue spots". What are the differences?

I understand that a cichlid community is unpredictable and will require trial and error. Do you think chances are better with a female RTM or female festae instead of a Jaguar ?

What about salvini instead of the amatitlania species ? How many and what m/f ratio?

What about bichirs and catfish? Would a group of pictus be a bad idea?

Thank you for helping me with this!

I would skip the pictus if you're going with predatory species like the parachromis. They may become snacks and have barbs that can get caught. Could go for bigger pimelodus cats tho. Blochii are very cool and get too big to eat. You can see here a big one, about 12", that I used to keep with some cichlids and did well for the most part.


Salvini would probably be fine. M/F depends if you want to have breeding or not. If you do, can go for a pair and extras of a single sex, or just the pair. If not, get a single sex.

Female Mota or Festae would be better than a male managuense probably, just because they will stay much smaller. Need to watch out for hybrid pairs forming too if keeping different sexes of any cichlids.