SixClowns

True green terrors are banned from entering New Zealand so for all intents and purposes, gold and silver saums are what are referred to as green terrors here. True and false green terrors are basically the same fish that have been cut off from each other in their natural environment since the 1980's. The only difference being colour and scale formation. Our GTs were imported from overseas so maybe they are closer to wild then others and that being said the one we ended up getting rid of was a lot more psychotic then the one we kept, different batches too.

We don't get all our information from one source, we also learned from Wonderworld Pet Centre, which is one of the best aquariums in New Zealand. All we are doing is stating opinion and giving alternative information that has worked for us. Its good to read different styles of fish keeping, what works for us might not work for others and vice versa.

Quote from Axelrod about clown loaches: "Clean, well aerated water. Temperature should not exceed 24c". Therefore keeping clown loaches above 30c would cause them to stress and be stunted. Also keeping any fish in water above 30c isn't very good as the higher the temperature the lower the oxygen content of the water. This is fish keeping 101 guys. Axelrod also recommends temperatures for discus to be at 24-28c, its survive or thrive. Speaking from personal experience, our clown loaches thrive at 25c, they are active, lively, we can hand feed them, they are all nice and plump and aren't nervous hide away fish like other peoples. When talking about whitespot we must keep it in context. Raising the temperature to combat whitespot is one thing but persistently keeping temperatures at 30c is another. Most experts agree that 26c is a good all round temperature and most fish wont tolerate water that is much different to their natural environment.

Have heard that some peoples green terrors are peaceful but here is a quote from Axelrod himself: "A vicious fish; will fight with all other fishes including members of its own species". In our experience green terrors will take on anything even kill a fully grown Oscar. I guess that some peoples GTs aren't what they're supposed to be. We also didn't buy 3 green terrors as breeding stock or anything like that, it was purely to grow them out and pick the best fish. He also was brought back to life and is still in our 700L tank. We moved the other one on and now our bigger cichlids keep him in line.

Having higher temperatures and feeding more is a breeders technique to grow fish out fast which in turn leads to stunted fish and more nitrogen in the water which is why fry tanks need so much care. Feeding less and keeping the temperatures a little bit lower like 2-3c lower is better for long term growth, longevity and better for your water quality. Put in another way, the lower the temperature (without going too low) the longer it takes for the food you give to be metabolised and the more nutrients the fish receive. This of course is assuming that good quality foods are used ie. Omega One, New Life Spectrum. To Ron: Having 5 clown loaches in a small tank is a bit mean, considering clown loaches are capable of reaching 30cm in captivity. I hope you have good filtration at the very least. To Adrienne: Higher temperatures make whitespot spread faster. It also shortens the lifespan of the parasite but this wont help unless your medicating. Clown loaches don't have much of a chance against whitespot even if they're dosed with the heaviest medication. Your best bet is probably just not to get whitespot in the first place.

Have clown loaches in our tank, two of which are 9years+, have never kept them in water over 27c and clown loaches can go as low as 22c, which makes them eat less, grow bigger and live longer. Ours are kept at 25c and have never had a problem.

If they grew up in the same tank with severums they MIGHT be okay as long as the severums are bigger. You can insert images using the Img tool at the top of the posting window but you have to host them on photobucket or facebook or something

They're okay when they are young but as soon as the males start maturing eg around the 3 month mark they start going crazy. Hope you find them good homes

I guess all fish are different, in regards to the clowns/discus. Our clowns are very lively all day and thought that would probably upset the discus. Our Surinamensis and Oscar lived together for about 11 years until the Geo died of old age. Did have other Geo's in with the Oscar after that ie a 6cm Balzanii Cichlid (Gymnogeophagus Balzanii) and never had any problems but just keep an eye them cause you know what Oscars are capable of lol. Love most of the fish you want in option 1 and 2 (either have had them or want them, especially the Asian Arowana you spoke of). PS the whitespot comment: Clown Loaches are susceptible to it as they have no scales and it can spread quickly and fatally. Once saw a tank of about 50 A grade Clowns get wiped out by whitespot in a day and that was with treating them with heavy duty medicine. Plus the higher temps discus like will likely aggravate the Clowns. Good Luck

TEN!! Jesus. They WILL kill each other. They're 1:1 ratio M:F but just be aware that you will probably lose the female. You will always get a dominant male and he will kill other fish. We ended up getting rid of our dominant male cause he was just too aggressive (as in he almost killed our 30cm+ Ghost Knife)

Lol, had 3 green terrors (gold saum) we had 2 males and a female in 700L and the 2 boys killed the female and the larger male somehow got the smaller one out of the tank and onto the floor (when we found him he was fully dead and my father-in-law flicked him twice with his finger and bought him back to life and he's still alive now - true story), but agree with jim r, GT's can be super aggressive and probably the most aggressive Aequidens species - that's why they're called "terrors". Firemouths and Red heads aren't too aggressive for severums as well.

Other fish you could add: Tinfoil Barbs, Silver Dollars, Blue Acaras, Black Ghost Knife, Geophagus and/or Gymnogeophagus. Basically any large robust fish that isn't too aggressive, Severums are on the low end of the cichlid aggression scale and generally will break fights up. Don't listen too much to books and stuff, fish are incredibly adaptable and most fish live happily at pH 7 as long as the water is clean. Also note that different pH levels have an effect on ammonia, so if you do raise your pH using dead coral just be aware of your Ammonia, Nitrite etc

Oscars and Geos go okay together. Have kept Oscars, Clowns and Geos in the same tank (as long as they are the bigger Geos ie Surinamensis etc and decently big clowns, although our fully grown Oscar never bothered any of our smaller fish). Just as a side thought, wouldn't recommend putting Clowns with Discus. As they are quite boisterous and like to swim fast up and down the tank (at least ours do). Would recommend using a big school of dither fish (ie some sort of tetra, have seen tanks with Blue Turks, neons and planted look quite nice). PS. We had an Albino Pigeon Blood Oscar and he was awesome.