Temporary Grow Out Tank Advice

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Harris.

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Oct 22, 2011
26
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Australia
Returning to the hobby after 4 years with not a single tank. Now I’m in a position to get a freshly built tank, just placed an order and paid deposit on a 6x3x2 but it’s 9 months away. Got a free standard 4’x18”x18” tank and stand off a friend to get back in earlier and grow some fish out before the main tank arrives.

the tank comes with around 12 full grown Congo Tetras.

my question is, if I over filter the tank can I keep these fish for 9 months without any chaos

- 12 full grown Congo tetras
- 10 gold Saum Rivulatus (starting size 1-1.5”) (I plan on only keeping the best 2-3 out of the 10)

once the rivs start showing some great colours and shape at a small size I’ll be rehoming the remaining 7-8. Then I might add a couple of other less aggressive cichlids or more Congos as dither fish for the main tank later in the year.
 
Rivulatus usually don't need dither fish.
Once the GT's reach the the six inch mark, the Congos will likely start becoming snacks.
Silver Dollars might be a better choice for a compatible schooling fish.
Be sure to post pics as things progress.
 
Once the GT's reach the the six inch mark, the Congos will likely start becoming snacks.
Don’t Congo tetras get to 3 inches full grown? I could very well be wrong but I seem to recall them getting around that big. If they do then can a 6” really eat them?
 
What is a large fast group of fish I can put into a group that will not eat plants. Would full grown giant danios be a good option?

might wait till I have the big tank before getting any cichlids. Could use the next 9 months to grow out a large group of dither/target fish and then once in the big tank can add small GTs which will then also give the group of fish more time to grow.

i plant on having the scape be plenty of wood to create many zones and grow plants and moss all over the driftwood. Then have a handful of American cichlids a few large plecos and decent group of fish to minimise aggression.

it’s been a long time since I’ve had to plan a tank out.

thoughts?
 
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What is a large fast group of fish I can put into a group that will not eat plants. Would full grown giant danios be a good option?

might wait till I have the big tank before getting any cichlids. Could use the next 9 months to grow out a large group of dither/target fish and then once in the big tank can add small GTs which will then also give the group of fish more time to grow.

i plant on having the scape be plenty of wood to create many zones and grow plants and moss all over the driftwood. Then have a handful of American cichlids a few large plecos and decent group of fish to minimise aggression.

it’s been a long time since I’ve had to plan a tank out.

thoughts?
I think that’s a solid plan. If you’re dead set on smallish dithers, geos might be a better choice than GTs
 
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What is a large fast group of fish I can put into a group that will not eat plants. Would full grown giant danios be a good option?

might wait till I have the big tank before getting any cichlids. Could use the next 9 months to grow out a large group of dither/target fish and then once in the big tank can add small GTs which will then also give the group of fish more time to grow.

i plant on having the scape be plenty of wood to create many zones and grow plants and moss all over the driftwood. Then have a handful of American cichlids a few large plecos and decent group of fish to minimise aggression.

it’s been a long time since I’ve had to plan a tank out.

thoughts?

Sounds good to me. I think you could even add the GTs a bit earlier, maybe 2 months before the big tank arrives.
 
Never owned geos but loved the look of them, which type would you recommend?
I like G Sveni the best personally, they get around 6-8” I believe and have a similar coloration to GTs and do well in groups. I think they would do great with the congos. Sand substrate is a must with geos though
Here’s a pic

CF1E7AF1-D178-4D40-B87F-8CDDB1E6C491.jpeg
 
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