[FireHorn123]

SO I GOT A 450G FOUNTAIN POND! Haha sorry caps . So I am super excited about this new pond and I want to stock it with some semi large cichlids. The pond is circular and will be equipped with a de-icer and a pond filter. I will be using sand substrate and the bottom will be have a few rocks but not too many. The fish i will be getting will be jueveniles. So I have two questions:1) Will the de-icer work as a heater or will it only work for de-icing? 2) How long will it take for these fish to grow to 8inches? Plz give me a time for each fish. Also tell me anything about my stocking if i should add or remove some fish. Now I'm not exactly sure if this pond is 450 gallons I will take measurements tommorrow and post on here for now I am lowballing and saying 450g. So here is the stock:
-(2) Jaguar Cichlids
-(2) Midas/Red Devils
-(3) Oscars
-(2) Plecostomus to minimize maitenence
I tried to go a little less with the stocking because of the shape of the pond and i know there will be aggression issues. Tell me what you think please

 

[Oscar6]

Nice big tank/pond for sure. Couple of suggestions.. don't mix Oscars with the high aggression Central Americans. They cant stand up to Parachromis or Amphs. Plecos, assuming you mean common of sorts wont minimize maintenance, in fact the exact opposite. They produce far more waste than any possible cleaning. Could also be shredded by any big CA cichlid with a chip on its shoulder. Jags and Midas/RD should all hover around 8ins by their first birthday, given optimal care.

 

[FireHorn123]

Hm interesting ok so no Oscars, no plecos. What do you suggest to replace them?

 

[Oscar6]

I didn't mean to discourage having plecos, rather to make clear that big ones are the messiest fish in the entire hobby. Big contributors to bioload of any tank they inhabit. At 450g you certainly have room for a couple. They indeed may not survive a stock of CA killers though. Its just not possible to say put this and that together, they will be fine. Mixing aggressive, territorial cichlids is always a coin toss in any size tank. Odds are better with a South American mix. You could have Oscars, Acaras, Severum, big schools of Festivum or Silver Dollars. Options are wider with fish that aren't so eager to kill everything around them. I get the attraction of the CA meanies, I have several myself, but they are tougher to make community tanks with. I am interested in your progress though, so please keep us posted with the results of whatever you decide!

 

[FireHorn123]

Ok I will keep that in mind. I want to scratch the plecos though I never really liked them anyway! Haha but what about vieja I really like the synspila I have seen them kept with red devils. I will definitely keep you up to date but since I am leaving tomorrow for a business trip I have to post pone the pond, it will be stocked some time next week!