Upgrade planning - help me stock

[robham777]

I think my older 5.5" fish is a female. The other 2 are under 2" so probably impossible to visually sex, but they are not at war so maybe that is a good sign that it may be 1 each. You can see the damage the bichir did to the fish's tail, it was not out of aggression but most likely just seemed like something to eat to the bichir in the dark. I have seen pollinis growth rate compared to that of a bonsai tree by others so you would definitely want to take purchase size into consideration. I think duanes had a colony of adults so maybe he can add some expertise here. Except for the growth rate, I would say they are very oscar like in personality and temperament.

 

[jaws7777]

Something to keep in mind if your planning to keep larger growing up jaws and any lower jaws the width of the 180 would come in handy.....great thread btw.

 

[DMD123]

I am familiar with your Porkchop! Yours live with your bichirs, right? (Like your faranah lap that I want.) Or are they separated? It's hard for me to remember if I've seen Porkchop with them, or just pics of her in the poly forum.

Porkchop is part of the 300g community with the polys. She gets along great and pretty much ignores the poly unless its feeding time. Then she might move a poly to get to a pellet.

Im down to three running tanks. My 300g, 65b and 40b. Once the puffer is moved from the 40b to the 65b I will sell the 40b. It will be rplaced with another 65b that will sit empty in the garage as a qt/hospital tank. So I will only have two running tanks, the 300 and 65b.

 

[robham777]

Which cichlids did you use then, and what do you have now, and how is it going?

what did you do for the feeding part when you had one with the ornate? (And this is why I keep hesitating over an ornate. I read about them being aggro more than any other bichir.)

I have had an oscar, pollini, carpintis, and salvini with bichir so far. Most of these have been juvies, so I really can't say it will work long term. I fed the pollini one floating pellet at a time on the right side of the tank while dropping sinking food in on the left side of the tank near its hiding spot. The pollini would inevitably get some of the food, but so did the bichir. You could construct a cave too small for whatever cichlid which has an opening at the top to drop food into for the bichir.

 

[magpie]

I think my older 5.5" fish is a female. The other 2 are under 2" so probably impossible to visually sex, but they are not at war so maybe that is a good sign that it may be 1 each. You can see the damage the bichir did to the fish's tail, it was not out of aggression but most likely just seemed like something to eat to the bichir in the dark. I have seen pollinis growth rate compared to that of a bonsai tree by others so you would definitely want to take purchase size into consideration. I think duanes had a colony of adults so maybe he can add some expertise here. Except for the growth rate, I would say they are very oscar like in personality and temperament.

I have read about the very slow growth of the Polleni also. And the same with the Heterospilus. In that regard, these two might be an OK match as far as starting them together? Do you think there is any difference in aggression levels between the sexes, or is it just about the combination of sexes in the tank?

Thanks for the pics! I just adore these fish. Everyone who talks about them seems to love their personalities.

Something to keep in mind if your planning to keep larger growing up jaws and any lower jaws the width of the 180 would come in handy.....great thread btw.

Yes, others have said that - 24" width is really nice to have for the LJs. I'd love to have at least a couple LJs. At this point I'm not sure how my Moke will fare with them, as they supposedly grow slowly. I would think the Del would be able to hold his own if I get the LJs at a small size, as they are more girthy even if they don't get much more than a foot long. Maybe the Moke will always have to live in the 65?

I have had an oscar, pollini, carpintis, and salvini with bichir so far. Most of these have been juvies, so I really can't say it will work long term. I fed the pollini one floating pellet at a time on the right side of the tank while dropping sinking food in on the left side of the tank near its hiding spot. The pollini would inevitably get some of the food, but so did the bichir. You could construct a cave too small for whatever cichlid which has an opening at the top to drop food into for the bichir.

Thanks! Someone mentioned that their Polleni mostly hangs at the top level of the tank during the day. Do you find this to be the case too?

 

[magpie]

solo male Sajica would be OK, pairs can be pretty bad.

I think I will likely end up with all solo fish to limit aggression. I just saw that you specifically mentioned a male Sajica. Are they more placid than the females?

 

[Vukmir13]

I think I will likely end up with all solo fish to limit aggression. I just saw that you specifically mentioned a male Sajica. Are they more placid than the females?

If breeding isn't the intent, then I think it would be wise to go with solo fish. Male sajicas will be able to hold its own in a tank with fish much larger and potentially more aggressive than he. A female may or may not be able to hang as well as a male. Also, a pair can and/or may take over a whole aquarium other than really large aquariums.

 

[magpie]

I actually had a pair of WC Laetacara Araguaiae take over my 65 gallon, and they are small. They were fine until they spawned, and then all hell broke loose. They had all the other inhabitants on the far side of the tank. And they'd move their eggs/babies around! So I learned quickly from them. Still wish I had kept them in like a 30 gallon or 40b. They were awesome to watch, and gorgeous.

 

[dan518]

I think I will likely end up with all solo fish to limit aggression. I just saw that you specifically mentioned a male Sajica. Are they more placid than the females?

Solo males are pretty placid but can certainly hold there own, solo female might get bullied by othersl.

 

[magpie]

I think if I went Heterospilus then I wouldn't do Sajica since they have a similar "color palette".

Also wanted to clarify that when reading about the "Green Terrors" I think the best bet would be Gold Saum (Andinoacara rivulatus). Supposedly more mellow? Still with the orange/red finnage that I think is beautiful. (And they still might be a hit or miss option or a non-option.)

How many of these types of cichlids would I be looking at for a 180? 3?