New territory for me

[Aquadestroyer2]

Hey everyone, so yes this is another stocking suggestion post.

I have a 540g tank, 8'x3'x3" and it will have a 125g as a sump. I would like to stock it with a mix of amphilophus and parachromis species. I know that aggression will be an issue but is this even possible or should I stick to one genus? Species wise I was thinking amph. Citrinellus and hogaboomorum and parachromis managuensis, motaguense, and friedrichsthalii. I am open to other suggestions if you guys know of a better mix.

Thanks

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

more curious where you sourced that tank or is it DIY?

 

[Aquadestroyer2]

It is an acrylic tank by custom aquariums, I got it used, the sump is me diy, still configuring it.

 

[Hybridfish7]

I would not mix parachromis species, and if you want to mix amphilophus, go by lake. I think a lake nicaragua biotope would be cool; I believe you have the options of:

Parachromis dovii (probably not good idea for a 540 community)
Parachromis managuensis
Amphilophus citrinellum (keep a decent sized shoal, lake nicaragua ones are available through Ken Davis)
Amphilophus labiatus (probably two pairs, have a lot of rockwork, pretty much all true labiatus in the hobby right now are lake nicaragua)
Cribroheros longimanus
Cribroheros rostratus
Hypsophrys nicaraguensis
Neetroplus nematopus
Herotilapia multispinosa
Amatitlania nigrofasciata (legit lake nicaragua ones are available through Ken Davis but you can substitute with PetSmart ones)

I would worry about losing individuals of the last four, moreso the last two, but the convicts should be prolific enough to replace themselves, given they have the aforementioned rockwork.

 

[Aquadestroyer2]

I would not mix parachromis species, and if you want to mix amphilophus, go by lake. I think a lake nicaragua biotope would be cool; I believe you have the options of:

Parachromis dovii (probably not good idea for a 540 community)
Parachromis managuensis
Amphilophus citrinellum (keep a decent sized shoal, lake nicaragua ones are available through Ken Davis)
Amphilophus labiatus (probably two pairs, have a lot of rockwork, pretty much all true labiatus in the hobby right now are lake nicaragua)
Cribroheros longimanus
Cribroheros rostratus
Hypsophrys nicaraguensis
Neetroplus nematopus
Herotilapia multispinosa
Amatitlania nigrofasciata (legit lake nicaragua ones are available through Ken Davis but you can substitute with PetSmart ones)

I would worry about losing individuals of the last four, moreso the last two, but the convicts should be prolific enough to replace themselves, given they have the aforementioned rockwork.

Thank you for the reply that would be an amazing mix of fish I completely overlooked a lake biotope look.

 

[Hybridfish7]

In that large of a tank, everything should ignore eachother, since they're all feeding at different trophic levels. Keep us posted

 

[Rocksor]

I would exclude the neets from the list if you want to keep nicaraguenses. They simply hate each other. In the wild, nics have a relationship with Dovii by helping protect their young, and in return the Neets are kept away from the Nics. Reduce the drama and don't keep both in the tank.

 

[Hybridfish7]

I would exclude the neets from the list if you want to keep nicaraguenses. They simply hate each other. In the wild, nics have a relationship with Dovii by helping protect their young, and in return the Neets are kept away from the Nics. Reduce the drama and don't keep both in the tank.

I thought this was a breeding specific thing, since the neets target hypsophrys fry, but I agree with keeping one or the other. The hypsophrys have more interesting behavior in my opinion.

 

[duanes]

I agree with not mixing Neets and Nics, they are instinctually, mortal enemies, in fact Nics will protect dovii fry, allowing dovii parents to go out and hunt Neets in nature.
I also agree about not mixing species within a single genus, unless they are found together in a lake.
In nature (especially with Parachromis) we never find 2 species of the genus together in the same area (unless man introduced).
One species usually either wipes out the other, or they interbreed and produce a hybrid strain. What is theorized might have happened with P.sp La Ceiba.
I would probably also not mix hogaboomerum (a riverine Amphilophine), with a lake type) but on a biotope principal, although in 500 gallons it may be spacially possible.

 

[Hybridfish7]

What is theorized might have happened with P.sp La Ceiba.

Speak of the devil, I was just about to make a post on how I think the la ceiba is a natural multifasciatus/motaguensis hybrid.