55 Gallon Tank Looking for opinions on what to do.....

Since Lady my very large gourami passed away a few weeks ago and all I have left in the 55 is my JD pair, my single firemouth and my 4 various catfish I was thinking about possibly purchasing a pair of some other kind of cichlid but was still a little on the fence about it. I was worried about it thinking maybe the JD's would not be happy with me adding new friends to their tank. If I don't get a new pair of something I was thinking if I could find a female firemouth to hang out with my male maybe they would not be so upset with me. At anyrate I would like some input from my fishlore friends and opinions on what if any may be a good pair to go with. Thanks in advance fellow fishlorians. Oh and also its a 55 with 80 gallons worth of filtration on it if that would make a difference on what my outcome would be.

 

IMO I wouldn't add anything. JD's will get to 9-10" and if you have a M/F pair in a 55 which isn't big enough for them, the FM will most likly end up getting killed anyway since there isn't enough room for it to escape. JD's will defend an area about 6 to 8ft in dia when spawning. The best you could hope for is to have two females they don't get as big and are generally not as aggressive as males. It is not uncommon for the male to kill the female after spawning even if they have been together for a while in a small tank like a 55. Other than when looking for a mate CA cichlids are mostly loners staking out and defending a teratory against all commers.

If you want to add some movement to the tank and keep with CA flavor try some Mollies. But really you should consider upgrading.

 

Its been almost a year with no spawn no aggression no nothing, in fact they act like the other isn't even there. Thought I was going to have a spawn a couple months ago but.......no.

 

What size are these JD's or how old are they?

 

Well considering they were probably in the round abouts of 4 months old when I got them, They would be about 11 months to a year old. They were purchased together as babies only I was told one was a exas cichlid.....ummm no not a texas ended up a male JD. Hes 7 to 8 inches and the female is about 6 inches. Shes smaller than him but not by a great deal. If you go to my photo albums, the pictures are on there.

 

I agree with Aquanero, I wouldn't add to the tank (fish wise). if the jd's do decide to breed, imho the tank could very well turn into a "war zone" as the dempsey's will get very aggressive. the same will go also if you were to get a mate for the firemouth and they decide to breed, they maybe a smaller fish but they can have a very big attitude.

 

I also agree that adding anything else would be a bad idea. If the Dempseys do spawn they aren't going to want anymore tankmates.

 

I also agree that adding anything else would be a bad idea. 55gal is about right for two JD's on their own, erhaps with a sml breed of Pleco as well. I would still consider the tank overstocked, even just from a bioload point of view let alone a territorial one. I would be removing that poor old Cory to. One day it will become a meal.

 

LOL my cory is four inches long and is completely ignored by the other fish, anyways......after some extensive investigating I do NOT have a JD pair as first thought. I have one male JD and one female texas cichlid. That was my original stocking from when these guys were purchased. Only it was the opposite, The male was marked as a texas and ended up being a jd and the female was marked a jd and ended up being a texas. Does this make any sense at all????? In other words my LFS was right just wrong id's on the wrong fish. Since they were purchased as babys it was really hard to identify what I had until a couple of months ago. Thanks to those that helped in my "fish investigation" and steered me in the right direction.

 

That makes things even worse. Texas have a higher bioload than JD's & it also means that 55gal isn't going to provide enough room for a territory each. I'd be looking at moving the Firemouth out at least. IMO the Cory should still go, it must be feeling very lonely without others of it's own kind & to reduce the bioload further.

 

I would really like to have a pair of firemouths so would I be able to house both of them in a 55 by themselves. I have other corys in other tanks or I could always give him to my daughter and he can join her very large albino corys and emerald corys. I have a 75 that when my FH starts to grow more he will be put in a larger tank and the 75 could go to the JD the Texas and the cats, and the 55 to a pair of firemouths.

 

55gal is fine for a pair of Firemouths. The Cory going to your daughter so it has some company sounds like a good plan as long as her tank is large enough (min 20gal for Cories). 75gal could work for the Texas & JD so long as you provide a clear territory each.

 

That makes things even worse. Texas have a higher bioload than JD's .

I am just curious how you came up with that Nutter?


Brian

 

I am just curious how you came up with that Nutter?


Brian

I would probably agree with Nutter. A Texas will grow bigger than a JD won't it?

 

Texas get substantially bigger than JD's. Texas 12" JD 8". Texas are not just longer but they are also deeper & thicker than JD's.

 

I'm starting to think my texas was a runt, Shes at least an inch or two smaller than my JD and I think she is adult age, but I could be wrong. They both at this point would be going on a year old.

 

I am just curious how you came up with that Nutter?


Brian

I certantly agree a Texas Cichlid at 12' either Herichthys cyanoguttatus or the more southern ranging Herichthys carpintis would add more strain on the bio-load, while at the same size or smaller than a JD the effect on the bio-load would be no different than what the JD would add. Both are very similar CA cichlids with like requirements.

 

Most fish, including JD & Texas, grow fairly quickly until they reach sexual maturity & then the growth slows down quite alot. Don't be surprised if your fish get larger, it will just take a fair while now.

 

Its funny when I think about these bitty babies I brought home all those months ago and then they had like a huge growth spurt one day and seemed like they grew 4 inches overnight. Thanks for all the info everyone, My plans at getting MeekI a mate will wait until I can house him and his gal alone together.

 

I agree with you Nutter a Texas grown to full potential will produce a bit more waste than a full grown JD, I just didn't agree with it being the deciding factor I guess. And taken into account most Texas, most, don't get to the 12" mark anyhow. There is a size difference but like I said not enough to say yes to one fish but not the other, that's why I asked.


Brian