Would this be a disaster?
- Thread starter Cichlidfever
- Start date
i wouldnt say disaster but i doubt all three will survive as adults together
Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
Posted on mobile.monsterfishkeepers.com
I want to have more cichlids than what I have and trying to figure out what would work? I have such a big tank, but only seem to be able to house 1 cichlid at a time. I like Festae, Beani, Motaguense, Umbrieferum, Black Nasty, Midas, Grammodes, Green Terror, Red Jewel, Escondido. Is there a possibility of any of the combinations working, if so which one would you suggest trying?
I would get a pair Festae for a tank that size or maybe even a trio but i'm not sure if the 2 females would play nice.
If it werent for bloat due to stress on the beani, the 3 might work in a 360 until around 8 or so inches max...but the beani would have to be brought to a rather large size (5-6 inches) before even being added to a tank with those fish. Its rare that beanis will live AND thrive in a community tank. Possible, but very rare. I can only think of 1 person on here thats had theirs with other fish and it was small.
A trio of festae NEVER worked for me in a 265. As soon as a pair was formed, they eliminated the other female and as soon as they spawned, they killed the other 13 fish in the tank.
The most successful full grown aggressive community on MFK is probably Terd Fergusons tank. He has a large parachromis community all thriving, spawning and raising fry in a 380 I believe.
Of your list...
Festae, Motaguense, Midas, Grammodes, Green Terror, Escondido w/ Red Jewels as dithers would probably be successful. Ive kept them all together in a 265 (minus the GTs) successfully without any deaths. This was not for life though so when full grown, all bets are off.
Beani, Umbrieferum & Black Nasty are, for the most part, solitary pets. Its rare any of those 3 will live with females of their own species, let alone different species.
A trio of festae NEVER worked for me in a 265. As soon as a pair was formed, they eliminated the other female and as soon as they spawned, they killed the other 13 fish in the tank.
The most successful full grown aggressive community on MFK is probably Terd Fergusons tank. He has a large parachromis community all thriving, spawning and raising fry in a 380 I believe.
Of your list...
Festae, Motaguense, Midas, Grammodes, Green Terror, Escondido w/ Red Jewels as dithers would probably be successful. Ive kept them all together in a 265 (minus the GTs) successfully without any deaths. This was not for life though so when full grown, all bets are off.
Beani, Umbrieferum & Black Nasty are, for the most part, solitary pets. Its rare any of those 3 will live with females of their own species, let alone different species.
Okay, thanks for all the advice. I will stay away from Black Nasty and Umbrieferum, and Beani. I have a pair of Grammodes who haven't mated yet, althought they grew up together, I can't get them to mate... Do anybody have any suggestions of what I can possibly add in the 360 with them? The Male is very aggressive which cause the female to be aggressive also.
I also have a 90 gallon tank with two Escondidos and three Red Jewels. I was thinking if I can't find anything that I could add to the 360 then maybe putting the Grammodes in the 90 gallon, and the Escondido's in the 360. The Escondidos are both females and not too aggressive at all. I wanted to perhaps add a Beani, that was larger than the two escondidos and place him in the tank with the escondidos. My thought was that since the Beani would be larger than the Escondidos then he would be in charge thus keeping him from bloating as long as he was in charge...
Anyway if that is still crazy thinking, what else would you suggest that I could add in the 360 with the two female Escondidos, and the three red Jewels?
I also have a 90 gallon tank with two Escondidos and three Red Jewels. I was thinking if I can't find anything that I could add to the 360 then maybe putting the Grammodes in the 90 gallon, and the Escondido's in the 360. The Escondidos are both females and not too aggressive at all. I wanted to perhaps add a Beani, that was larger than the two escondidos and place him in the tank with the escondidos. My thought was that since the Beani would be larger than the Escondidos then he would be in charge thus keeping him from bloating as long as he was in charge...
Anyway if that is still crazy thinking, what else would you suggest that I could add in the 360 with the two female Escondidos, and the three red Jewels?
I have similar stock to you right now, all in a 265. A pair of grammodes (that havent spawned either m-6" f-3") 4 carpintis Vontehillos 3.5-6", 3 HRPs 3.5", 2 midas 4-5", 1 red istlanum 3", 1 female convict, 4 clown loaches 3-6" & several catfish...and its a very balanced tank for now. In a few weeks, Ill be removing the midas, all but 1 vontehillo and the HRPs, so well see how it goes then.
If it were me, Id just add the escondidos, jewels and 4 or 5 clown loaches and a pictus or 2 into the tank. I say the loaches and cats as well because if you just add the escons & jewels, it will be a few targets for the grammys to take out but 6 or more in addition will add more things to distract the grammys and , in my experience, will all but eliminate carnage. The more targets, the less they focus on 1 or 2 of the other cichlids. Besides, the grammys are bigger right now and will be at the top of the hierarchy, feeling little to no competition from a group of smaller fish.
That being said, the grammys could do good in a 90 as well...As far as the beani, I dont think its just bloat you have to worry about. I am under the impression that they just dont tolerate tankmates...and cant find any posts/threads on here that show anything different. As I said prior, I think I recall seeing maybe 1 beani in a community tank but it wasnt very big.
If it were me, Id just add the escondidos, jewels and 4 or 5 clown loaches and a pictus or 2 into the tank. I say the loaches and cats as well because if you just add the escons & jewels, it will be a few targets for the grammys to take out but 6 or more in addition will add more things to distract the grammys and , in my experience, will all but eliminate carnage. The more targets, the less they focus on 1 or 2 of the other cichlids. Besides, the grammys are bigger right now and will be at the top of the hierarchy, feeling little to no competition from a group of smaller fish.
That being said, the grammys could do good in a 90 as well...As far as the beani, I dont think its just bloat you have to worry about. I am under the impression that they just dont tolerate tankmates...and cant find any posts/threads on here that show anything different. As I said prior, I think I recall seeing maybe 1 beani in a community tank but it wasnt very big.
Cichlidfever;4246550; said:
yeah as far as i know beanis have to be kept alone when younger to prevent bloat but must be kept alone when older because of aggression. ive never personally kept them though so this is all just what ive heard from others on here. when beanis are older they just dont tolerate tankmates well. but yeah i would add a male midas, male GT and either gender festae if you can along with the escondidos and red jewels (could even get a couple more jewels to have a nice colony thing going on and a good supply of feeders) and if grammodes dont tolerate them then i think they would do well in the 90g on their own