Sa/Ca stock for the 300

[pengu13]

Well i need to start thinking of final stock for my tank. the tanks internal dimensions are about (this is to the water line) 32"t x 26"w x 84"l so that works out to be 302.54 us liquid gallons. the filter is attached but separate and it is about 32"t x 26.5"w x 9.25"l so that works out to be 33.95 gallons.

with that being said this is what i currently have growing out in other tanks.
These are my guesses.
Cichlids
1 7-8" Aequidens' sp. Goldsaum (i think it has a white fringe to the tail)
1 6" Amphilophus labiatus. red devil (most likely a cross got it from petsmart )
1 7-8" Herichthys cyanoguttatus
1 5-6" Heros efasciatus. green severum
4 male 5-6" 1 female 3" Archocentrus nigrofasciatus. convicts
2 6" 'Cichlasoma' octofasciatum. jack dempsey (don't know sex have been kept separate)
2 male 1 female 3-5" Cichlasoma' salvini. (the pair have their own tank for now)
2 male 1 female 2-3" Herichthys bartoni

Other fish
1 8" Apteronotus albifrons. black ghost knife
3 4-5" Pimelodus pictus.
1 ?" Platydoras armatulus. Striped Raphael catfish (haven't seen it for months)
1 6" Common Pleco

What i'm not going to put in the tank is the pleco, 1 male convict, 1 female convict and maybe one of the JD's.
The plan was to have a breding pair of salvini's and bartoni in the tank but i'm starting to second guess that. i would like some info from people that have kept these breeding in a community.
the bartoni will probably end up in the 60g as a species tank, they are a little small for the community yet.

I know the red devil may become a problem but i will deal with that then.

Stock i want to add is a
Herichthys carpintis,
Astronotus ocellatus,
and maybe Parachromis friedrichsthalii, or any for the group except dovii

I will try to get pics of what i have over the next bit i would like to get it sexed were possible, when i get closer to having the new tank cycled i could try to post venting pics for those that need them.

Looking for input and ideas

 

[pengu13]

I'll bump this thread with some pics.
i would like to get these sexed if possible i'll start with my green severum, then my RD, then my cyano. sorry for the pic quality, if better or different angels are need ask

 

[pengu13]

heres a pic of the tank so you know its real with a 55g for reference.
i need a ID and sex on this one i think its a gold or silver saum not to sure was sold as a GT.

 

[xEchOx]

GT looks to be a silver saum. Male. Good looking fish too.

I don't know if I would put a breeding pair of Salvini in the tank. I once had a female salvini and my male texas lay eggs. The eggs either were not viable, or not fertilized as they all turned to fungus. But when the salvini and tex were guarding the eggs, they were ferocious. They had the better half of a 125g tank all to themselves. And its not like they just kept the others at bay, the other fish were battered. I eventually sold the salvini even though she was gorgeous.

I realize you have a bit more room, but I just can't recommend it after seeing how aggressive she was. Maybe you'll have better luck.

PS - Beauty of a tank.

 

[pengu13]

Now the jack dempseys i'm not to sure i think one is male and the other is female but it hard to get pics of both they are always hiding.
would having a breeding pair a jd's in the tank cause chaos or could i get away with it?
i have kept them separate so no breeding behavior but one has specs only on its gill plate and the other is it's full body.
heres a pic of the one i don't have a decent pic of the other just pics of his head sticking out

 

[xEchOx]

The JD pictured appears to be female. I've never bred them personally so I cannot say how aggressive they would be. Just be sure you have a back up plan if any of these breeding pairs decides to go berserk.

 

[pengu13]

hey thanks xEchOx for getting this going.

the breading pairs do worry me thats why i'm asking because i saw how fast my salvini's killed off the rest of the group once a pair formed. my big concern is that if it gets to crazy in the big tank that i won't be able to catch the culprit to get it out.
i'm also not sure if a 300 is enough space to have breeding in a community setup

 

[xEchOx]

It might be alright if you have the right mix. It's really difficult to say though. There's a member here (Lowcel) who has a 300g tank with a male Amphilophus amarillo breeding with a female Red devil. The amarillo is huge and could probably wipe out 75% of the tank himself, but he stays pretty close to the eggs.... baffling. Then like you said, there are pairs that will kill everything in sight.

 

[remme]

to sex JD's is easy, its all about the speckles of blue on their gill plates. not sure which is which but one sex has speckles all the way up and the other has speckles on the bottom half only

 

[xEchOx]

and the other has speckles on the bottom half only

Close, but no cigar. Male dempseys will lack spangling on the lower half of the gill plate. Female dempseys will have spangling all over the gill plate. Neither really have spangling on the lower half only.