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July 20th, 2008
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Fish Lore Newbie
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What other fish should I add to this tank?
Right now I have a total of 9 Tiger barbs, 1 Jack Dempsey, 1 Green Terror, 1 Texas cichlid, 1 Rainbow cichlid, and 1 Black Convict. I plan on adding 2Plecos slowly, and maybe 1 Red Devil. My tank is a 55 gallon long tank with artificial rocks and plants with a gravel base.
Anyone has any advice on what I should add and if the plecos and red devil are a good idea or not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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July 20th, 2008
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Fish Master
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Welcome to Fishlore!!!
The general rule for stocking is one inch of fish length per gallon of water, but with large bodied fish like you have, the rule doesn't really work...that is, a 12 inch fish needs a lot more than 12 gallons. But anyway, just to give you an idea...(sizes are approximations based on a quick googling)-
tiger barbs...9 x 3" = 27"
JD...10"
GT...8"
Texas cichlid...12"
And there you're at 57" already. Unfortunately your tank is very overstocked...please do not add any more fish, especially not Plecos which get Huge and produce a lot of waste. I am not sure about the compatibility of your fish either, but I'll leave that to someone who knows more about cichlids.
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July 21st, 2008
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Fish Lore Newbie
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thanks for the advice. im sort of a novice when it comes to aquariums and i guess i took some advice from the wrong person. thank you for the formula also.
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July 21st, 2008
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Fish Master
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welcome to fishlore!!
I agree with omorrokh and also, the green terror is a meanie by trade and having no room to call his OWN, be very careful ..they are amazing fish, with super attitudes...can you get us pisc of your tank? we LOVE pics 
Last edited by Shawnie; July 21st, 2008 at 06:23 PM.
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July 21st, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Don't cichlids need to a little overstocked to lower aggerssion??
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July 21st, 2008
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Fish Master
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fishrule101
Don't cichlids need to a little overstocked to lower aggerssion??
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Not always..each fish is different...I think hiding spaces and such to get away from one another is more efficient...overstocked means everyother day water changes and cleaning..its alot of work and why stress them when theres no need to....but that green terror, as it grows, wont make a difference whether its overstocked or not...his name fits him  |
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July 21st, 2008
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Fish Mentor
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Usually when people talk about overstocking cichlids, they are refering to mbuna. Large cichlids like Oscars, Texas Cichlids, Green Terrors, etc. need all the space they can get.
RyanTom1:
You should get rid of the tiger barbs asap. They will become lunch for the other fish. I would say that in your tank, I would just keep the JD and the Texas Cichlid. That would even be pushing the stocking levels. They are both BIG thick bodied fish. They are all beautiful fish, but they just need space or they will either die of disease from overcrowding, or end up killing eachother.
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July 21st, 2008
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Fish Lore Newbie
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at the risk of sounding inhumane, i put the tiger barbs in the tank to get through the cycling period and thought they'd get eaten quickly. at present, they're all still alive and kicking. eventually, id hoped it would be an all cichlid tank. don't know if that's the perfect idea, but any advice any of you give will be accepted. thanks for everything so far.
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July 21st, 2008
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Fish Master
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Quote:
Originally Posted by RyanTom1
at the risk of sounding inhumane, i put the tiger barbs in the tank to get through the cycling period and thought they'd get eaten quickly. at present, they're all still alive and kicking. eventually, id hoped it would be an all cichlid tank. don't know if that's the perfect idea, but any advice any of you give will be accepted. thanks for everything so far.
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Well...I'll just say that I don't have a problem with feeding fish live food if it's necessary, but to put fish in a tank and then just hope they get eaten...well I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you just didn't know better because pet stores never give people the info they need. Just so you know for the future, you can cycle the tank using ammonia or fish flakes, so no need to use fish for the process. But since you sound like you don't want the tigers, please take them back to the store...as well as several of the cichlids, unless you're prepared to set up another very large tank. |
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July 22nd, 2008
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Fish Lore Newbie
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yeah, the pet store told me to use either danios or barbs to cycle the tank. ill definitely take them back as it sounds like that advice, as well as every other bit of advice ive gotten from them, was wrong. im going to post some pictures of my tank and fish in the photos section. go ahead and critique my setup as it was on the advice of the aforementioned pet store. tell me if i need anything else in the tank(rocks, plants, etc. etc.) or any other advice you may have for me. thanks everyone for your help.
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July 22nd, 2008
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Fish Lore Newbie
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my aquarium pictures will be under the title of "MY 55: Need Advice"
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July 22nd, 2008
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Fish Mentor
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I'll check it out. Thanks for letting us know  |
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