New tank, what order to add fish

[duanes]

Since all your cichlids are territorial, I believe the best way to add the cichlids, is all at once.
If you add them one at a time, the first will always consider the entire tank its territory, and kill or die for it.
By adding them all at once, you take away the advantage of one over the other, and the innate instinct to defend.

 

[duanes]

Since all your cichlids are territorial, I believe the best way to add the cichlids, is all at once. Whether new ones or the ones you already have.
If you add them one at a time, the first will always consider the entire tank its territory, and either kill or die for that piece of turf.
By adding them all at once, you take away the advantage of one over the other, and the innate instinct to defend what it perceives to own.

 

[Gourami Swami]

Check out 4-line pimelodus, if you can get one, they are like giant pictus cats.

 

[AnthonyFish20]

Check out 4-line pimelodus, if you can get one, they are like giant pictus cats.

i had those they're pretty cool a little skittish but they go nuts when its feeding time

 

[Jexnell]

Look at Ornatus cats. They are a cousin to pictus.

 

[Audaxcity]

IME, if you add cichlids at the same time, they may beat each other up trying to take over the empty territory.

Add the parrots, oscars, and severum at the same time. You might get away with adding the GTs as well at their small size.

That JD is the problem. Due to his size, he might kill a fish if you so much as take your eyes off them for a bathroom break. I guess you could do a test run by adding him and severum first, see how aggressive he is. Its a big tank though, so add him last and you should be fine.

Catfish:
-featherfin synodontis
-some sort of large pleco
-eclipse catfish
-Callichthys/Hoplosternum sp.

 

[Ogertron3000]

If possible I would add them all except the JD then add him a few days later when they've settled in, might disrupt the pecking order.
As for the catfish, I am in oz too so I feel your pain, I find the shops in Vietnamese areas have a good selection of harder to find cats, they seem to like catfish for some reason and usually they sell them at a reosable price.

 

[jmf]

Wow guys thanks for all the replies.

The tank is bigger then I thought, it's 6ftx3ftx3ft. I'm adding 4 largish red horseface, 2x firemouths, 1x Salvini 2x Oscars, 1x JD, 2x Blood parrots 1x Green Severum 1x Stripped cat and 1x Spotted cat. The sump is almost 6ftx2ft and with a fx5. I know I'm pushing it but I think I should just fit all these in.

I also know that I will have to get rid of some due to aggression etc

 

[Gourami Swami]

That is a nice big tank! I am jealous. Personally, I would leave the salvini and JD out of your stocking. The rest of your fish are south American, and the Salvini in particular is a very nasty CA cichlid. It will be a pain in the butt to catch him out of a 400 gallon tank, I'd just replace him with a suitable cichlid in the first place. But to each their own, it might not bother anyone in a tank that size.
good luck

 

[jmf]

That is a nice big tank! I am jealous. Personally, I would leave the salvini and JD out of your stocking. The rest of your fish are south American, and the Salvini in particular is a very nasty CA cichlid. It will be a pain in the butt to catch him out of a 400 gallon tank, I'd just replace him with a suitable cichlid in the first place. But to each their own, it might not bother anyone in a tank that size.
good luck

My JD is my baby, so I have to keep him but I'm getting a free 4ft tank so I might but the Salvini in that. Funnily enough the only fish I have yet to move out of the 3ft QT tank is the Oscar's, they harassed everyone, even biting the net whilst trying to catch on of them lol