I recently rehomed my Wide Bar SD's because I got tired of them banging against the glass everytime I walked in the door or in the room. The Zonatus pair ignored them, but they were a little too manic and somewhat anxiety inducing. Would a small shoal of Thorichthy be too risky/careless or could it work? The tank is a 180g. Any ideas are welcome. The Zonatus definitely aren't too shy, but the tank seems a little empty after I rehomed the SD's.
Small Thorichthys shoal with Zonatus pair?
- Thread starter Wharf
- Start date
I assume by pair you mean they are actively breeding? If so I don't think the Thorichthys will add the movement you are looking for.
The strategy most schooling fish use to keep safe is to just keep moving. When they do hide they tend to resume normal behavior quickly where a Thorichthys could easily hide all day if it felt threatened.
In my experience breeding cichlids have a lot more tolerance for mid-upper water schooling fish than anything that spends time on the lower parts of the tank, and I assume that goes for these as well.
For other options you could try a smaller silver dollar species, or a larger tetra species.
A medium sized barb could also work most are tough, and I don't know of any species that are skittish enough to run into the glass especially in a tank that size. They tend not to be as peaceful to look at as most tetras in my opinion. I have also seen some Vieja tanks on youtube with swordtails as tank mates which looks interesting ,but maybe someone with experience in this species can chime in to know for sure.
The strategy most schooling fish use to keep safe is to just keep moving. When they do hide they tend to resume normal behavior quickly where a Thorichthys could easily hide all day if it felt threatened.
In my experience breeding cichlids have a lot more tolerance for mid-upper water schooling fish than anything that spends time on the lower parts of the tank, and I assume that goes for these as well.
For other options you could try a smaller silver dollar species, or a larger tetra species.
A medium sized barb could also work most are tough, and I don't know of any species that are skittish enough to run into the glass especially in a tank that size. They tend not to be as peaceful to look at as most tetras in my opinion. I have also seen some Vieja tanks on youtube with swordtails as tank mates which looks interesting ,but maybe someone with experience in this species can chime in to know for sure.
In that tank size I would not add any Thorichthys with a pair (especially breeding pair) of V. zonata. The species is known for being one of the most aggressive/ territorial Vieja, and they can get much larger and bulky than majority expect.
Thoricthys are also very peaceful and a ‘bark over bite’ species. They don’t thrive with overly aggressive tank mates. To combined them with a breeding pair of zonata you’d want a much larger aquarium.
My personal choice would be a school of Astyanax tetras such as aeneus or mexicanus (not the blind cave form).
Thoricthys are also very peaceful and a ‘bark over bite’ species. They don’t thrive with overly aggressive tank mates. To combined them with a breeding pair of zonata you’d want a much larger aquarium.
My personal choice would be a school of Astyanax tetras such as aeneus or mexicanus (not the blind cave form).
When I kept mated zonatus pairs, a 6 ft tank was usually only large enough for one pair, and no other cichlids.
Even in the large expanses of nature, once paired, the pair are loners that move to deep areas without other cichlids around.
Non cichlids, like a shoal of 6 or more fast moving tetras would be my choice as tank mates, especially the already suggested shoal of Astyanax tetras, , but only if they are large enough.
They are one of the most common tetras found in the same habitat as zonata in nature.
Even though zonatus isa generalist, not a piscivore, in the confines of a 6 ft tank, there is not much escape room, and any individuals small enough, could be easily cornered and become a little extra protein.
Even in the large expanses of nature, once paired, the pair are loners that move to deep areas without other cichlids around.
Non cichlids, like a shoal of 6 or more fast moving tetras would be my choice as tank mates, especially the already suggested shoal of Astyanax tetras, , but only if they are large enough.
They are one of the most common tetras found in the same habitat as zonata in nature.
Even though zonatus isa generalist, not a piscivore, in the confines of a 6 ft tank, there is not much escape room, and any individuals small enough, could be easily cornered and become a little extra protein.
Thanks for the comments and cofirming what my gut was telling me. I just saw good size offerings of both Aureus and Maculipinni that made me contemplate grabbing some. I hope I wasn't wasting anyone's time; however, maybe somebody pondering the same thing will read the thread and it will prevent them from a potentially bad situation.
I would love to stick with biotope but due to scarcity in online vendor stock it might be hard to come by good sized offerings of the Mexican Tetra. I think the Male is big enough where he might pic off livebearers at night also...unless I could find full sized sailfin molly or Swordtails.
SD's don't seem an option for me...I love how they look in a group, but way too skittish for a high traffic area in my humble abode. If i break the biotpe mold I am sure it will need to be some sort of Barb....Tinfoils are probably too big and messy for me though. Once again thanks for your responses.
I would love to stick with biotope but due to scarcity in online vendor stock it might be hard to come by good sized offerings of the Mexican Tetra. I think the Male is big enough where he might pic off livebearers at night also...unless I could find full sized sailfin molly or Swordtails.
SD's don't seem an option for me...I love how they look in a group, but way too skittish for a high traffic area in my humble abode. If i break the biotpe mold I am sure it will need to be some sort of Barb....Tinfoils are probably too big and messy for me though. Once again thanks for your responses.
There are a few other good sized Central American tetras, but they may even be less available than Astyanax.
SDs are not really geographically correct either, living about 6000 miles south.
I'm using Roeboides bouchellii tetras with my Panamanian cichlids, these are not at all skittish, and reach a length of almost 4".
These are sometimes called vampire, headstander tetras, and occasionally take mouthful of scales off the cichlids.
SDs are not really geographically correct either, living about 6000 miles south.
I'm using Roeboides bouchellii tetras with my Panamanian cichlids, these are not at all skittish, and reach a length of almost 4".
These are sometimes called vampire, headstander tetras, and occasionally take mouthful of scales off the cichlids.
Roeboides bouchellii barely has any pictures online, no videos, and certainty none for sale! Seems like a lot of these awesome medium sized tetras just don't show up for sale for whatever reason. Around 4 inches is a great size too shame they are so rare.