Vieja Community Questions

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
D

decoy50

Polypterus
MFK Member
Jan 25, 2012
1,136
116
96
VA
So I've gotten interested in viejas(mainly argentea, fenestratus, syns, regani, briedhori, & heterospilla). I've been doing research on here-tons of threads- & I'm searching CL for a used tank. The largest tank I've found on CL is a 150 but there are lots of 125s. I know this is pretty small for a community...

Those of you familiar with these fish, do you see any combination that will work in a tank this size? I know there are alot of factors involved - individual temperament & tank layout etc. Let me know if you think this is a bad idea & there is a slim chance this will work. I have never kept any of these fish before so I'm a total noob w/ large CAs.

My plan was to get a large syn & maybe 2-3 other viejas. I would shoot for all males around the same size 4-6 inches. The idea being the more mellow overall attitude of the syn would keep the tank in check.

Any tips or knowledge will be helpful.
 
I had an argentea around 5" and a maculicauda around 8-9" and they did well in a community (not with other viejas, had them at different times) but that was in a 240g. If you have it set up right you could do 2 maybe 3 in a tank that size from people Ive seen with multiple viejas. I'd start with 2 and see how it goes
 
Thanks. I've been reading up on aggro levels and from what I've read it seems like Syns, briedhori, & heterospilla are the most laid back. Fenestratus & argentea being more aggro with regani being a wild card some say shy, others say aggro. If several vieja will work in a 125, what is the best combo for minimum aggression?
 
Honestly its hard to say since even though one species may be more aggressive than another on average, each individual temperment can vary a lot. If it was me, I would pick the two I like the most, try it out then go from there. If things get really bad you can always put up a divider until you can re-home one or get another tank. Not the best solution but you really wont know how a vieja will behave until its matured.

Someone else may be able to guide you more than that as far as which species to go with, but thats my two cents
 
heterospilla are GREAT community fish....I am sure there are others ,I would say that black belts are a BAD idea for a community though ....
 
Maculicauda and Zonatus can get pretty aggressive as well. I would suggest putting a couple of non-Vieja cichlids in the tank as well just to keep the Viejas from targeting aggression on eachother. I've noticed that multiple species of the same genus can cause problems if they only deal with eachother. They are always in competition with eachother and that can cause aggression. Try to offset that possibility by adding a Heirichthys or Amphilophus.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
I've got a group of HRPs I'm growing out, I was thinking of using them as dithers along with some large tetras or SDs. I'm still really early in the planning stage though & I want to make sure it will be worth my while. Its alot of $ for a 125/150gal, filtration & lights to be able to keep only one fish in the tank. Please keep the opinions coming.

There was a big thread on here about CA community tanks...it was about 65 pages. I started but didn't finish, now I can't find it. Anybody got that link?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom