What fish to add?

532 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Chunkanese, Apr 8, 2011

FourSeamer

Discussion Starter · Apr 5, 2011

I have a 65 gallon tank (48" long I believe) that I have had up and running for about a year now with cichlids. Tank is set up with two filters, one is a HOB AC 70 and the other is an Eheim 2217 canister.

I just got done redoing the entire tank, transplanted the fish over into a smaller tank temporarily, drained the tank, changed out sand, etc. I culled the herd a little, got rid of one of my larger Acei males (trying to get less males and more females) and got rid of a strawberry cichlid that I wasn't too fond of anyhow.

I also sold off 38 juvenile Acei from the one Acei female, they were in a smaller holding tank.

Currently decor is rocks on one end for the Malawi types with open swimming space on the other end, probably going to put a few fake plants over there for cover soon.

Current stock list:

4 Yellow labs (all 2.5-3.5")
Two adult male Pseudo Aceis and one adult female Acei.
5 juvenile Acei (unsexed at this point, each about 1.5 inches). These are offspring, about 5-6 months old I would guess.
1 male copadichromis azuris (lord of the tank right now)
5 barbs (my wife loves them, have been fine for over a year with the cichlids)
2 plecos
1 Orange dotted fish (not sure of the name)

So, what should I add next, if anything? Things are pretty smooth right now, not too much fighting or chasing going on. I would like to get a little more color, maybe a red/orange fish and something in the green family. Perhaps a couple of male peacocks or a hap??

Also, can anyone identify the orange fish I have for me? I bought him at the LFS cause he looked cool and I can't remember what he is.

Thanks in advance.

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GTZ

· #2 · Apr 5, 2011

FourSeamer said:
I have a 65 gallon tank (48" long I believe) that I have had up and running for about a year now with cichlids. Tank is set up with two filters, one is a HOB AC 70 and the other is an Eheim 2217 canister.

I just got done redoing the entire tank, transplanted the fish over into a smaller tank temporarily, drained the tank, changed out sand, etc. I culled the herd a little, got rid of one of my larger Acei males (trying to get less males and more females) and got rid of a strawberry cichlid that I wasn't too fond of anyhow.

I also sold off 38 juvenile Acei from the one Acei female, they were in a smaller holding tank.

Currently decor is rocks on one end for the Malawi types with open swimming space on the other end, probably going to put a few fake plants over there for cover soon.

Current stock list:

4 Yellow labs (all 2.5-3.5")
Two adult male Pseudo Aceis and one adult female Acei.
5 juvenile Acei (unsexed at this point, each about 1.5 inches). These are offspring, about 5-6 months old I would guess.
1 male copadichromis azuris (lord of the tank right now)
5 barbs (my wife loves them, have been fine for over a year with the cichlids)
2 plecos
1 Orange dotted fish (not sure of the name)

So, what should I add next, if anything? Things are pretty smooth right now, not too much fighting or chasing going on. I would like to get a little more color, maybe a red/orange fish and something in the green family. Perhaps a couple of male peacocks or a hap??

Also, can anyone identify the orange fish I have for me? I bought him at the LFS cause he looked cool and I can't remember what he is.

Thanks in advance.

Well, first off, measure the tank's dimensions, a 65g is normally 36". This will make a big difference in recommendations. Going by the full tank shot picture, it looks 36", but I could be wrong.
The mystery fish is a severum (Heros efasciatus), which strain or collection point, I don't know, not my forte. They're a South American fish. Doesn't really go with the Malawi, also, they can reach around 12", so at some point, it will be 6" smaller than the width of the tank.

You want to leave the barbs...to my knowledge they're usually hit or miss, more often than not ok, depending a lot on what they're housed with. So if you're looking to add to the tank, I would re-home the Severum and look for another calm, passive species, perhaps a group of Rusties (Iodotropheus Sprengerae). I'd be worried about the barbs by adding anything on the more aggressive side. As it is, I'm not sure they'd be fine with Rusties or not.
If it is indeed a 36" tank, I wouldn't add anything, I'd re-home the severum and seriously consider upgrading the tank if you want to keep the acei and azureus, as they should be in a bare minumum 4' 55g, at best at least a 75g.

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FourSeamer

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 6, 2011

Tank is 48" long x 13# wide x 24# tall.

To clarify, I am not really interested in rehoming anyone at this point. I was not aware that the Severum would get that big, he is currently about 5" long or so and seems to have plenty of room so far. If he gets too big I would rehome him but he is my favorite in the tank.

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Chunkanese

· #4 · Apr 8, 2011

my peacocks ate my tiger barbs, just to warn you. i tried to hide the evidence of the missing fish from my gf, whos favourite fish so happened to be the tiger barbs, went and got a new one, 2 minutes in the tank it was gone. Yours look prety big though

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