Will this 60 gallon setup work? Please help!!

[Jacob6556]

So I got a empty 60 gallon tank, it’s a little over 4 feet long and yes I cycled it threw and put a few small fish in it for the time being. So my idea was to buy a Jack Dempsey, a green terror, a convict, and then two African cichlids! This would be a dream setup as I been looking into moving out of smaller school fish and want to buy a few larger fish for this tank. Do you think this would work? I have 4 caves in the tank and a few pieces a drift wood as well as a very large filter. Let me know if you think these fish will be fine together and if you have any tips!!

Thanks

 

[duanes]

I believe if you put them in altogether as juvies at the same time, it might work for about a year.
At that point, the JD and GT will outgrow the stocking situation, and small footprint, and territorial disputes will begin.

 

[Backfromthedead]

Agree with duanes. Thats too many large territorial cichlids for that tank. The 60 gallon would only serve as a decent grow out tank for a year or so.

Basically same thing i said in your other thread.

Jack Dempsey tank idea! Does this work??

So I now have a 60 gallon tank, and ofcourse like all new tanks it’s empty. I was just wondering about what fish I should get. First I was think about just an Oscar but then I realized that one would just be to big and to much water cleaning required as the have a huge bioload. So I had an idea...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[duanes]

One other thing, 60 gallons is not a very large box of water.
So when the fish are young, a moderate water change schedule of one or two per week may be adequate.
But if by some miracle they don't kill each other as semi adults, when crammed in that small space, in order to keep water quality high, you will need to be doing large water changes every other day (if not every day) or so to keep them from swimming in mostly a tank full of "their own urine"..
To me a 60gallon tank is only large enough for a pair or trio of fairly small cichlids, and some dithers.
Just a pair of convicts or similar species will easily max out that space.

 

[Jacob6556]

One other thing, 60 gallons is not a very large box of water.
So when the fish are young, a moderate water change schedule of one or two per week may be adequate.
But if by some miracle they don't kill each other as semi adults, when crammed in that small space, in order to keep water quality high, you will need to be doing large water changes every other day (if not every day) or so to keep them from swimming in mostly a tank full of "their own urine"..
To me a 60gallon tank is only large enough for a pair or trio of fairly small cichlids, and some dithers.
Just a pair of convicts or similar species will easily max out that space.

Do you think I could maybe try a jd, a convict and maybe a smaller African or two? Then add the dither fish? Because I’d be eliminating the larger most aggressive fish. What do you think?

 

[duanes]

The water requirements of "rift lake" Africans, JDs and Cons are the same as far as parameters go, so it may help by eliminating one, although as the 2 new world cichlids grow water quality will be a concern. As long as you are willing to ramp up water changes with growth, that may be a non-issue.
However you look at it though, with all cichlids(but especially new world type), its always a crapshoot whether or not they will be compatible. They could coexist, or you could end up with one if the alpha flexes it muscle.
Just so you know where my bias about space is coming from, below is a video of the kind of space JDs come from in nature.
Eden2
Although I know no aquarist can come close, this is normal JD habitat.........

 

[FINWIN]

One other thing, 60 gallons is not a very large box of water.
So when the fish are young, a moderate water change schedule of one or two per week may be adequate.
But if by some miracle they don't kill each other as semi adults, when crammed in that small space, in order to keep water quality high, you will need to be doing large water changes every other day (if not every day) or so to keep them from swimming in mostly a tank full of "their own urine"..
To me a 60gallon tank is only large enough for a pair or trio of fairly small cichlids, and some dithers.
Just a pair of convicts or similar species will easily max out that space.

I wonder if that's the "skinny" 60 gallon by Marineland that's even worse...12.75" total width. Subtract about 1/2" -3/4" for the walls and that's tight.

Scary reviews, too:

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