Stocking help?

[PinkPunisher]

So I have a 96"x18"x15" tank that I would like to stock with some big cichlids. I'd love to hear everyones thoughts on it and about what you would put in it. Right now I'd think I want to incorporate a GT and an Oscar but I'm not set on that yet.

Filtertration with consist of four canister filters; two Rena xp2, one Eheim ecco 2232, on Eheim pro II 2026. Heating will be two Hydor inline 200W heaters. Does that all sound good?

Spencer

[GaryofMontreal]

Gts and Oscars are South American - with your hard water and the size of your tank, I'd go Central American. Have you considered stuff like firemouths? They're really neat and have tons of character, plus they max at a manageable size.

[PinkPunisher]

The GT yes that's a thought but with Oscars so few are wild caught that I'm not worried about it. The majority of them are farm bred and I highly doubt they go out of there way for Oscars.

Spencer

[GaryofMontreal]

The problem you'll encounter is the old calculation everyone hates - you have to plan for the adult size of the fish, because that comes very very quickly. Your tank would hold one oscar, and not much else. That's a far cry from the plan you had for the Amazon fishes.
Think of it - take 45 cardinals, 25 pencils, the corys, the Apistos and (in your mind) mash them up and shape them into a fish. All together, they would have the body weight of a young juvenile oscar.

If you go for a Central American habitat tank, you can still have tetras (astyanax - the Buenos Aires is the common one). You can keep a few smaller cichlids (firemouths, sajica, elliotti, multispinosa) that show interesting, interactive behavior. There's an older thread with photos of OldMan's multispinosa - it's one of the most engaging cichlids out there, with as much "personality" as any oscar, at 20% its body weight max. You can add mollies and swordtails and have an active and dynamic big tank.

You can ditch geography and keep rainbows in a tank like that as well. Your options are wider, related to the direction you started out researching.

Add an oscar, a dempsey, a green terror or a Texas cichlid, and your 112 gallon suddenly becomes a very small and overcrowded tank, in a flash.

[OldMan]

I have no idea where that old post is Gary but I still have these guys, along with a few that were once their fry, in my big community tank.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll251/Oldman1947/Rainbows/6Rainbows800b.jpg

This picture was right after they bred for me and shows the smallest fish from the previous picture guarding the fry.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll251/Oldman1947/Rainbows/MomAndChild2_800.jpg

[bae3]

Here's a link to an article about a beautiful planted tank stocked with Thorichthys elliotti, a relative of the firemouth cichlid: http://www.aqua-magica.com/cichlids-plants-community-tank.html

There are a lot of good articles about Central American and other cichlids at http://www.cichlidae.com/articles/default.php, including first-person accounts of their habitats and behaviour in the wild.

[GaryofMontreal]

I bought two elliotti a few years ago, and wish I had bought more. It is a really nice, undemanding cichlid for a big tank.
Locally, they are very available. I suspect they are heavy eaters as the ones in the stores often have big heads and thin flanks, a sign of being starved. The other fish in with them usually look robust enough, so I have a gut feeling it's their guts - they probably need to eat a lot more than the stores are offering. You have to watch that if you're shopping for some.
It's a great suggestion.
I also suspect that if you got them at the same size, they could do well in with Herotilapia.

[CACAdmin]

PinkPunisher, just wondering what you eventually decided on?

[vince0]

oldman, those fish are absolutely gorgeous! I think you just inadvertly gave me one more research project and a new fish to be on the look out for!

[GaryofMontreal]

If you want a fish with personality, you could do worse than multispinosa. It's like a tank full of dogs - great creatures!

[vince0]

What size tank would suit them best for a breeding pair and room to allow for fry to grow in the tank?

[GaryofMontreal]

They are territorial, and excavate. I kept and bred mine in a 33 g, but if I ever got them again I'd like it to be a slightly larger tank. Then again, I have become a 'lightly stocked tank nut" over the past few years, and hate the look of a crowded tank, or a small tank with larger fish.
Someday, I'd like a big 'Nicaraguan' tank with these and wild-type mollies. Plus, once again in the someday, I'd like wild-caught firemouths in with Xiphophorus maeyi in a deep Guatemalan tank . Impossible dream tanks, but hey...
The broods are enormous though. If you want to keep all the babies, flood your local town.

[OldMan]

If you decide to get some Herotilapia multispinosa, don't forget the need for veggies Vince. I feed mine a full cover of a 6 foot tank, that's a cover of duckweed. They go through it in about a week to 10 days and start the courting rituals right after. Without tons of greens, they are just pretty fish swimming in my 120 gallon tank.

[vince0]

just a species to keep in mind next time im looking for something new. I already have so many projects at this point, ill just keep them in mind next time im looking for something new.