Planning a new SA/CA Cichlid tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
I think everyone who keeps fish gets this idea at one point or another. Get a huuuuge tank, and put in every single fish you ever liked. I know I did. And all the fish I liked were big, flashy, and aggressive. But as I did more research and learned more about fish, I started to appreciate other things. I never thought twice about tetras before, but now I really like the look of a bigass shoal of small fish cruising around the tank. Same with bottom dwellers, I always thought they were boring, but now I have an appreciation for them as well.

Getting a house of your own is very exciting, and the temptation is to right away build a ginormous tank. But perhaps you should scale back your plans, and start with a tank that's still big, but just maybe not FIFTEEN FEET long. You could make it a region specific biome that incorporates alot of your favorite fish, just maybe not all of them.
 
Thanks for all the feedback. I didn't know that those fish needed to be kept in pairs. I will try to do some more research and revamp my list before the building begins.

Also to bob965, the reason I am going with such a large tank is because I have already had a 250 and want to upgrade since I was not able to bring the 250 to the house. The reason for the 15ft span is because that happens to be the width of the living room and the wife says go big or I can't build. Never expected that one.
 
Wow! I like to see the tank and fish once they are all in...
 
If I were you I would have lots of rock work and huge branches. I would honestly take in rescues. Let the fish find me if I had a tank that size.

I would do
3 hoplo cats or 3 Pimelodus cats
1 large pleco maybe a sail fin.
20 silver dollars
1 tiger pike
1 jd
5 severums gold green and red
6 Uaru
10 Tapajos Orange Head Geophagus
3
 
i would def do all those guys they sound cool, though i would take out the hybrids and aro and do a nice big school of the geos like 10, and like 5 uaru, and make sure to put the ebjd in first so that they can grow big before you add the other fish and can establish their own territory, i would also get some cool bichirs like some wild caught delhezis and some ornates
 
I actually agree with Bob965 entirely. Pick a biotope, do some research about fish and plants there, put in a killer 3D background, and make a proper 15' tank ;) That way it would look like your living room is underwater....it's not just about a random assortment of fish that are blue or red or whatever...
 
ok, I have been thinking about this and I have narrowed it down to two lists. One is a central american list with mostly mildly-aggrssive fish of various sizes, and the other is a tank dedicated to one of the favorite types of fish the Heros. Please give me feedback on each of these and input on which I should pick:
Central American
Blue Acara – 2
T-bar Cichlid – 2
Jack Dempsey – 2 (maybe)
Convict - 4 (regular and pink)
Firemouth - 3
Nicaragua Cichlid - 3
Salvini - 1
Honduran Red Point – 3
Electric Blue Jack Dempsey – 2 (maybe)
Cryptoheros Cutteri - 3
Archocentrus centrarchus - 3
Blue Eyed Cichlid - 3
Cichlasoma pearsei - 1
Vieja regain - 1
Paraneetroplus bulleri - 2
Tomocichla asfraci - 1
Archocentrus septemfasciatus - 1
Archocentrus spinosissimus - 2
Amphilophus longimanus - 1
Amphilophus robertsoni - 1
Herotilapia multispinosa - 3
Thorichthys sp. "Coatzacoalcos" - 2
Thorichthys ellioti - 2
Thorichthys pasionis - 2
Vieja synspilum - 1


As you can see I need help narrowing this list down but it is still a work in progress and I have time. Also I will be making my own fake root system in the tank and this will almost work as a natural divider giving the smaller guys a place to hide but still be observed if the big guys try chasing them.


Heros Tank
Heros efasciatus
Heros severus
Heros efasciatus (Albino aquarium strain)
Heros efasciatus (Gold aquarium strain)
Heros efasciatus (Rio Negro)
Heros efasciatus (Turquoise)
Heros efasciatus (Ucayali)
Heros efasciatus (White aquarium strain)
Heros sp. "French Guyana"
Threadfin Acara
Geophagus altifrons
Chocolate Cichlid
Arowana


With this list I am still playing around with the number but it will mainly be various types of Heros based on what I can find and then1-2 of the others, besides the arowana that is obviously only 1. I thought that with these larger fish the arowana wouldn't be able to eat them so it should be safer.


As always, all comments and criticism is welcome and appreciated.
 
A severum tank would be cool. I love my severum and to have them in a group I bet would be fun. If you had enough cover like rocks and wood you might even get some babies. It's a large enough tank it would the strongest and smartest would live.My head hurt after looking at the first list haha.

I still think you should add some catfish but that's just me I like catfish.
 
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