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Prochaska

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Posts posted by Prochaska

  1. I like your setup and have my 29g set up the same way filtration wise it has worked well for my Multi colony of x20-25 with x5 Transcriptus and grow out black Calvus!

    The 29g is the smallest size I’ll keep, I’ve always really enjoyed the little community I’ve been able to create with it! I have GBRs such as the one in my profile and apistos, and have had a pea puffer community, a endler livebearer tank and even a shrimp one too. 
     

    The small body fish you have in your stocking list will work great, I’d personally replace snails as I’m not a fan and replace them with some Otocinclus if you’re looking for algae eaters!

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  2. It’s been a week since I added 5 Juli Transcriptus and the smallest Calvus a local store had.

    The Julis and the Multies had quite the gang war when first introduced. I did so under no light and kept light off for the next two evenings coming home from work. I think the Multies had really come accustomed to all the new territory and rock work of their new upgraded tank in a quick few days and weren’t inclined to easily give it up. Luckily I have had no fatalities in either species.

    Once the Anubias came in though it really helped me break up even more lines of sight and really help split the tank horizontally into a top and bottom half. The Julis have now claimed the upper parts and the sides of the rock pile and most of the plants. Now them and the Multies rarely notice each other outside of feeding time or one drifting off a little too far from the rest.

    The Calvus gets along with everyone and hasn’t had many if any real scuffles, he has more or less claimed the territory on the back half of the rock pile. He does sometimes come out in the upper piles of the rock to interact with the Julis. He is an eager eater and usually first in line when the lid is opened!

    Got a power head this weekend to make sure the water is getting well circulated for the L Sponge and 55 Tidal. Still a lot of time left to see how this little community develops but so far off to a good start!

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  3. I used to catch these and other sunfish such as, bluegills, green sunfish, red ear, longear and pumpkinseed in local waterways. 

    They are actually what got me into the hobby believe it or not! I was such a big fan of fishing for these guys I got a 65g marineland as my 1st ever tank to place some wild caught ones in to study their habits and traits. 

    I had success keeping between 3-5 in said tank depending on their size. They are territorial when breeding but not aggressive to each other and therefore like to be in community “shoals” for the aquarium environment. 

    True Bluegills always seemed to get the largest and I would grow out some big bulls to then stock my neighborhood pond with. 

    The pumpkinseed and green sunfish were the smallest and you could easily do 5/6 in  a 40 breeder+ sized tank.

    I had to always exclusively feed them live crickets and worms and once that would get established would take frozen food and some flake. 
     

    I never used a heater for these guys because they can survive below freezing temps outside and this allowed them to be more peaceful since it wasn’t warm enough to usually trigger spawning outside of sometimes August down here in Texas.

    I had larger stone sized gravel substrate a large and multi branch tangled spider wood piece in the middle with river rocks around the base and built caves on each back corner with a canister filter.

    Hope this is helpful and feel free to message me anytime about keeping sunfish!

     

    might have grammatical errors will reread later for potential edits.

  4. Adding a full grown angel let alone a wild one to an already established community tank could be an issue imo and ime, especially with the tetras you have.

    I had a full size mature wild angel that literally ate everything smaller than him. Rasboras, barbs, tetras and even corydoras. It honestly blew my mind because I have kept A LOT of angels over a very long time and never had one that aggressive and it was wild to watch him go after and eat fish 2.5"+

    I've also never had Angels, Festivums or Gouramis get along. They all always wanted to be the bigger, flashy, trailer show fish over the other "look a likes" 

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  5. On 12/25/2021 at 2:21 AM, s1_ said:

    I started with 3 calvus and 2 paired off. The odd fish out is now living in a 20 long with a colony of multifasciatus. No real problems yet but this was done with temporary in mind. I did have problems when this colony was in a 40 breeder. I added rockwork and caves higher in the water column and tried to mix in some caudopunctatus. They were getting their butts kicked by the multis.

     

     

    Awesome! Thank you for sharing your lake tang experience with me! Do you think that aggression came from them being physically so similar? That’s why I think I can get away with 1 Altolamprologus and a trio of J. transcripts being so different physically from the multies. 

  6. On 12/24/2021 at 11:44 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

    The Temple of Shell - all hail! Very cool design and execution. I’ve got brevis and they’re already too big for their shells so I’m going online soon to grab whale eyes and some other larger conical shells. Well done. 

    Thank you for the kind words, just to think I started out with 3 just under a year ago!

    I have escargot, whales eye and sea urchin shells for the multies. I also have small pink “raspberry” shells in there for color and aesthetic that they also enjoy moving around like sand.

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  7. I recently upgraded my multi colony to this 29g. There are currently 12-16 mature adults with 2-3 Bull males. Also 8 grow out juveniles and who knows how many fry in the 3+ dozen shells. They started burying their shells and breeding immediately after moving in, surprise, surprise. 

    I also settled on the new rock configuration I think. Lots of levels, angled line of sight breaks, and many caves/crevices in the holey rock/dragon stone combo. I think this should allow me to get a trio of julidochromis transcriptus. 

    Still waiting on 2 XXL Anubias for those corner planter stones to help with additional cover and breaks of sight and soaking up those nitrates. 

    I think I should also get a power head just to make sure no debris is really settling all over the rockwork. I have a Seachem Tidal HOB and a Medium Size Co-Op Sponge. 
     

    Is it possible to maybe grow out a single Calvus/Compressiceps or any of the Altolamprologus species in said tank? I’ve read how they take forever to hit full size, so maybe I could have one for a while before needing to trade em in or sell it?

    What do y’all think? Any advice or experience you have in the matter would be greatly appreciated!

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  8. On 12/21/2021 at 12:44 PM, Beardedbillygoat1975 said:

    I think for the bigger boys and girls it would be a singleton tank. It is not enough room for 3-5 large cichlids that then need to fight it out for dominance and the right to breed. 

    In my mind some of the most beautiful tanks I have seen recently on YT (George Farmer had an amazing one) are with firemouths, blue eyes, and a huge group of sailfin mollies. Cryptoheros spilurus is a gorgeous fish, related to convicts but just way cooler and did I mention gorgeous. @Zenzoposted a video of his gorgeous group of them. Sorry to use gorgeous so much but they are now on my list if when I get to do a 100+g CA community tank. 

    I appreciate the insight and the stocking suggestion! I know I couldn't get multiple big boys in a 65g, do you think I could get away with one and some firemouths or salvinis maybe? I also love the idea of livebearers as a dither fish especially when they are endemic to CA if that is my only real option for tank mates!

  9. Hello all,

    I have an empty 60 gallon sitting around and I am thinking of getting it set up into a Central American cichlid tank if possible.

    I currently have a 150g South American community, a 60g Asiatic community and a 30g Lake Tanganyika community (micros). 

    I know CA Cichlids are known for their tenacious aggression and breeding, I have had some in the past including firemouths, Honduran red points, salvinis and of course convicts. 

    I know a 60g is not a large tank and it has a rather small footprint being a "Tall" tank. Am I limited to only getting away with the CA cichlids I have kept in the past, or is there a possibility of making a larger CA cichlid work in a 60g tank such as a, Texas, Carpinits, Jack Dempsey, Cuban, or a Nicaraguan? 

    If so would it be a solitary tank, or could I get away with a breeder pair? 

    Is there an option for a decent sized CA cichlid in a 60g with other smaller CA cichlids I've kept in the past or livebearers?

     

    I greatly appreciate any and all responses and shared knowledge and experience on this matter or any other suggestions of stocking species, Thank You!

  10. On 3/19/2021 at 7:31 AM, Fish Folk said:

    This can be a very fun tank! I'll note that it can also become a mini "thunder dome" quickly. You'll definitely want to choose a tank boss. You need one Cichlid that is the undisputed champion of the space to manage and control aggression. Firemouths are either very aggressive or submissive. If they are the biggest thing in the tank, they will terrorize everything. But if you've got a big, dominant male Acara, he can intimidate them into submission. But personally, I would NOT recommend Convict Cichlids with this set up. They will breed like rabbits and fight off _anything_ that threatens their broods. For dithers, you might consider Buenos Aires Tetras. They're lively, and like the Columbians, they school well and are a bit too large to get eaten. 

    Here is a 55 gal. we set up with 1x pair of Electric Blue Acaras, about 6x Firemouth Cichlids, 1x Gold Convict Cichlid, about 12x Buenos Aires Tetras, and 2x Bristlenose Plecos. (Note: Buenos Aires will shred out plants . . . they need greens in their diet)

     

    How large of water changes and how frequently in order to do something like this. 50% 3-4 times a week?

  11. I’ve used both and like my tidals, quieter and easier to hot rod. I think the skimmer is more of a gimmick than anything. Love how they prime themselves as well! Also the heater holder is a very nice touch and I don’t see “hotspots” in my tanks anywhere. 

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