Substrate and Tank Ornaments for Aggressive Cichlids?

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4D3

4D3

Plecostomus
MFK Member
Jan 21, 2013
984
47
61
United Kingdom
Hi,

I have a 6x2x2 with the following stock:

1 x Red Dragon Flowerhorn - 8cm
1 x Polini - 7cm
1 x Festea - 9cm
1 x Green Terror - 18cm
1 x Red Devil - 7cm
1 x Jack Dempsey - 12cm
1 x Synspilium - 13cm
1 x Convict - 7cm
1 x Firemouth - 8cm
1 x Tiger Oscar - 15cm


Non-Cichlid Stock:

6 x Clown Loach - 10-12cm
1 x Yoyo Loach - 10cm
3 x Featherfin - 13-14cm
1 x Aligator Catfish - 25cm
1 x L001 Gold Spot - 22cm
1 x L038 Gibbi Pleco - 30cm

Currently I have a thin sand substrate with drift wood, white rock, terracota pipes etc.

I was wondering if I have all the hiding spaces will that end up with territory disputes should i empty the tank and have the the rocks on the bottom with no driftwood, or empty the tank completely?

I know these fish are going to be bad attitude fish and they are going to have scraps every now and then but i want them to be in the best environment... I use Neutral Regulator and American Cichlid Salts from Seachem and the water quality is really good.

A friend of mine mentioned to have a completely bare tank so that they are kept watching their backs rather than looking for a fight, and also keeping the water temp at 25, slows them down a but, but i think having the fish in a constant stress situation cant be good, nor keeping the fish cold.

Please can someone shed some light on this?

Also should i look at getting rid of my featherfins?

thanks
 
Another recipe for death tank. Keeping the temp low can curb aggression but once your stock matures it's gonna be hard for them to coexist. Rock piles on bare bottom tanks scare me. I like sandy substrates myself. I want to say you might be lucky and if all your fish are small and introduced at the same time you might be ok but it's probably going to end badly. In the near future you might have to move some fish out or they will most likely be killed. Not trying to hate on you man and most of us made the same mistake when setting up our first large tanks.

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cali~budfish said:
Another recipe for death tank. Keeping the temp low can curb aggression but once your stock matures it's gonna be hard for them to coexist. Rock piles on bare bottom tanks scare me. I like sandy substrates myself. I want to say you might be lucky and if all your fish are small and introduced at the same time you might be ok but it's probably going to end badly. In the near future you might have to move some fish out or they will most likely be killed. Not trying to hate on you man and most of us made the same mistake when setting up our first large tanks.

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Click to expand...

Yeah no problems,I get what your saying, but I see so many people have these fish all together at 35+cm with no problem.

I have been to a guy's house in my town he has everything I have and they are fine.

I'm going to a guy's house tonight who keeps flowerhorns, Midas, Synspillum, king Kong parrots and Oscar with no issue all 28cm+

If they can do it why can't I?

Regarding my question,I like the sand, should I increase the hiding places or empty the tank...

I do have tanks on stand by for any problems!

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Personally that seems a bit over stocked even for a 180. I'd take out a few cats a smaller cichlids. The convict and fire mouth might do well while they all close to their size but once the others outgrow em they stand very little chance of survival against bigger cichlids.

Just cause it works for other people not all fish get along well with others. Keep the sand and tons of hiding places.


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doomiedee said:
Personally that seems a bit over stocked even for a 180. I'd take out a few cats a smaller cichlids. The convict and fire mouth might do well while they all close to their size but once the others outgrow em they stand very little chance of survival against bigger cichlids.

Just cause it works for other people not all fish get along well with others. Keep the sand and tons of hiding places.


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Click to expand...

Yeah I know the convict and firemouth need to go, the wife bought them not knowing!

Which cats should I pull, the feather fins?

Funny thing, the firemouth is the boss of the tank at the moment!

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Ornaments and hiding spots can be tricky cuz once they establish territories they defend them and the odd fish left out gets banished to the top corner of the tank. Your stock will work for now as they are small. I can tell you from experience your polleni is probably going to claim a large territory. I think how people keep a stock list like this together at a large size is no territories at all. Nothing for them to defend. Then it's just the social hierarchy that keeps them in check. My current stock is adult polleni, adult and juvie sb texas, juvie Midas, 4 berdmorie loaches, and a vampire pleco. And it cracks off in my tank! My tank is a 210 almost identical footprint of yor tank. My polleni chases everything and my fish get bite marks on them. Just have a backup plan if your fish don't get along. Put a lot of bio filtration on your tank also cuz that oscar alone is gonna be messy.

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I am running a 2080 with mech pro and 8l matrix, 2217 with the eheim bio media, and a 1.5l purigen reactor.

I have a backup plan! Just hope one day I can have a tank like the ones I see on YouTube every day lol

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4D3 said:
I am running a 2080 with mech pro and 8l matrix, 2217 with the eheim bio media, and a 1.5l purigen reactor.

I have a backup plan! Just hope one day I can have a tank like the ones I see on YouTube every day lol

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Click to expand...

Filtration sounds good and glad you have a back up plan. I know exactly what you mean about seeing other tanks and wanting that same thing. Nobody is perfect. I mean I just threw my lil 6 pack of congo tetras in my 210 last night hoping they don't get munched. Trial and error. I've learned over the years research is one of the best tools a fishkeeper can have. But sometimes you gotta say fug it and do what you want lol. Good luck and throw some pics up when you get a chance.

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