Morcs

Daily 50% waterchange, thats some dedication! Surely a better filter would reduce that frequency?

Yep, they were labelled as chinese when i bought them, but its odd as they are south american...

Yep that Turq is a beauty!

Thanks I need a black Angel in there I reckon. Just waiting for the ones at the shop to grow a bit otherwise it would get bullied.

Both my tanks are 'finished' now My Amazon themed soft-water tank. Just replanted on the weekend. Aqua one 620T 1 Golden pearl scale Scalere 1 striped Scalere 1 Koi Scalere Pair Neon dwarf gouramis Pair chinese rams Pair of peppered corys 1 bristlenose 1 kuhli loach My 3ft medium cichlid tank (lighting is very subdued, so had to edit the gamma on the pic so you can actually see it!) Pair of Firemouths 1 Convict 1 Blue acara 1 red jewel 1 red tailed shark

Thats part of the fun with cichlids As long as they dont get too stressed or hurt. Looks like Boris the Blue Acara is going up on trademe

Are jewels that bad? mines seems okay. Its a good 2inches and in my community tank with rams, angels and gouramis at the moment. No problems at all. Was only ever bothered by an aggressive convict that was smaller. How big do blue acaras get? the internet says 6 or 8 inches, and ive never seen that size.

Yes the Javas are buried. Will see how they go. In my tall tank ive got a small clump of java high up on some driftwood, looks great, but wouldnt suit this tank. As for selection, i looooove convicts, so will want to keep one of my 3. Will keep my jewel. I want a firemouth and a T-bar - and that may be it. My Blue acara will probably get too big for the stocking level that im after. Do Salvinis ever come up for sale in NZ?

Nooooo dont want a hood! my other tank has a hood, prefer without the water level did go down somewhat when i started up the filter, it holds 12 litres But yeah, I figured all the way up would leave no air... The javas are potted, with the bottoms cut out, not expecting them to thrive, just survive. purely aesthetic.

Want to keep low on the plants, The 2 java ferns are to give the tank some green (and they are robust and potted) and ive always loved the look Vals give - especially when they are swaying around due to the surface current. I thought the tank was full enough? how full is full?

Pics! -Tank up and running. -Pair of convicts hanging out -The little-left-out-con-loves the camera

Tank is all setup. Got a nice rocky backround, and a grey heater guard for the heater to blend in. Water is in, along with 3 juve convicts to cycle - Ill monitor their aggression over the next few weeks to see which one I want to keep - I really want to keep one! Got the CF1200 running this morning, the pipes are horrible, so need to rerig them. Heres a pick before the water went in:

Meths on a cloth, and just rub it. sorted.

Im rethinking on the whole keyhole thing. Im going to put a female convict in. The only sexable as a female is the most aggressive, so hoping one of the other two is a female as they are quite placid. What are your thoughts on fast dither fish that are too big to eat but will lessen the aggression amongst the cichlids?

Its a 915 x 380 x 460 I calculated there is enough surface are for 1 con, jewel, acara, firemouth and keyhole when at full adult size. The tank is stunningly setup at the moment, very simple. but will have a play with some more rocks and stuff to create more territory boundaries and line-of-sight breakers.

So ive decided on my lineup for the american tank: Already have: Blue acara convicts x 3 Jewel adding to that: firemouth Keyhole (1 or 2?) And 5 tiger barbs as cycling fish, and will remain as dither/target fish hehe What order do you suggest they go in? Going on territorial natures and aggression of the individual fish, I have this order: Barbs / keyhole / firemouth / acara / jewel / convicts

Massey pets in west auckland have a L270 Zebra plec at the moment... just under $100.

I do a 10% water change every other day, and run full tests (and record results) on the in between days. Adding in some bacterial product like API's stress zyme helps things along - I cycled a 130L in just under 3 weeks. Though just to be meticulous I monitored it for the fourth week to make sure everything was stable.

the tank is all put together. It Looks great. Just needs water, a filter, heater and lighting oh and some fish :bounce: will get some pics soon

Oh and what about Orange Chromides? saw some in the shop today, I know they arent americans, but dont seem to grow to big, and add a great dose of colour

Yep aware re the jewel, I see them as an honory american, it was just born on the wrong continent. What are the common names of the geophagus, im not familiar with them and there are 22 different species. With the convicts, will probably just keep 2 males or 2 females as they become sexable to stop breeding. Without convicts I should be okay with a firemouth too? The only other Idea I had was a keyhole or 2.

Ive just bought a 150L 3 foot . Got some great pieces of drifwood and some great rocks for hidy-holes. Will have overfiltration. Like a Aquaone CF1200 my 3 juvenile convicts will be going in there, along with a young jewel and a 5'' blue acara. what other americans will be compatible with the tank size and companions? Obviously dont want anything that will outgrow the tank. Thanks

Ive got to take pictures of the bettas tonight for trademe, so will take some pics of the tank too just out of curiosity, whats the minimum tank size I could keep say 1 convict, 1 jewel and 1 acara? a 3 foot? Probably no plants, but lots of wood and rocks. then I can setup the Tall tank as a Angel community tank to keep the missus happy EDIT. Pictures. Damn fish are hard to photograph. Only the Blue Acara came out nicely!

Yep am aware of the surface area problem. Community is not what im after really - the usual community fish are generally quite boring. A Cichlid tank is my plan - with getting a longer tank around xmas time, holiday project The Khuli is fine, he has nice hidy holes and doesnt get bothered, same with the bristlenose. The acara is unbelievably peaceful, and hangs out with the angel rather than tearing around. It wasnt random stocking, every fish was researched as much as possible, it was just a case of pushing the boundaries of the 'standard' compatibilities.. Im thinking of sticking with the acara, angel, jewel, bristle, khuli, and rams. Thinking of tetras to make the rams more comfortable perhaps. Convicts will stay in their own tank for the time being until I figure something out. Its a very small tank, but has good hiding places, and all 3 are around 3cms at the moment. One is sexable as a female. I may have to look at a bigger tank sooner, the missus isnt keen as this one has only been running for a few months. Many thanks for the replies guys

Thanks for your reply. Yep hence ive got hopefully a pair to breed - will hopefully try using some of the fry as feeders for the other cichlids. Out of the 3 cons theres is one which is slightly smaller and gets a bit of grief from the other two, hard to sex but I think hes a male - so will be good in the other tank.? So the females are more aggressive toward otherfish than the males regardless of if its spawning time or not? Funnily enough the gouramis (usually scared of most things that move) have no problems with the cichlids, only other anabantoids really. Its been quite a good selection of fish, everything was fine until added a convict and a jewel. Removed the convict and peace was restored As its quite a tall tank, and only the anabantoids (Dash up for air) and guppy really frequent the surface, all of whom are leaving bar the gouramis, will about 10 schoaling tetras (like penguins maybe) be okay in my setup? once again, thanks