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**PhishPhreek** · 08-22-2007, 10:59 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

Be the first in your neighborhood to have
Electric Blue Jack Dempsey - 1.5 inch

http://www.somethingsphishy.com/product_info.php?products_id=672&osCsid=d4fdc99cfb56dc3dc3cdca54e5fe38e0

**CatFishLady** · 08-22-2007, 11:02 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

Originally posted by PhishPhreek";p="

Be the first in your neighborhood to have
Electric Blue Jack Dempsey - 1.5 inch

http://www.somethingsphishy.com/prod...cdca54e5fe38e0

I'm guessing this beautiful guy would work with my cats??

Any other suggestions as far as my other tank??

**Zulaab** · 08-22-2007, 11:14 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

You can get them for $19.95 at fishland or City Pets.

If you dont want to spend that much money on a cichlid, how about some oldie but good fish.. I dont see many people have Firemouth Cichlids (Thorichthys meeki) anymore.
The cool thing about Firemouth's are they prefer harder and higher pH water than most south americans because they are actually from Mexico (Cancun area) where the water is a little more like African lake water. (ie Houston Tap water)

Petsmart carries them for like $5-6 a piece, and a 55-75 is more than enough for them :)

** Edit ** Opps just noticed you are in Garland, TX... not near Houston... heh :)

**Spot86t** · 08-22-2007, 11:26 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

I'm partial to the rummynose tetras - really nice looking in a group and very distinctive looking IMHO.

**CatFishLady** · 08-22-2007, 11:36 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

Originally posted by Zulaab";p="

You can get them for $19.95 at fishland or City Pets.

If you dont want to spend that much money on a cichlid, how about some oldie but good fish.. I dont see many people have Firemouth Cichlids (Thorichthys meeki) anymore.
The cool thing about Firemouth's are they prefer harder and higher pH water than most south americans because they are actually from Mexico (Cancun area) where the water is a little more like African lake water. (ie Houston Tap water)

Petsmart carries them for like $5-6 a piece, and a 55-75 is more than enough for them :)

** Edit ** Opps just noticed you are in Garland, TX... not near Houston... heh :)

haha!! I have yet to see the electric blue here in the Dallas area. But I have seen firemouths. How many would you say to get for the 75gal??

**CatFishLady** · 08-22-2007, 11:37 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

Originally posted by Spot86t";p="

I'm partial to the rummynose tetras - really nice looking in a group and very distinctive looking IMHO.

So how about 10-15 tetras with my 5-6 dwarf cichlids would work?

**sproett** · 08-22-2007, 11:38 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

I've heard the rummynose require more attention to water quality, you may want to consider that. I'd do the congo tetras, a school of those are so beautiful.

have you considered severums for your 75? they are awesome fish. you could have a few in there. they have a few different varieties.

**Somefishguy** · 08-22-2007, 11:56 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

i say throw in a couple firemouths and a couple of convicts. More than enough room for them and a few others perhaps

**CatFishLady** · 08-22-2007, 11:57 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

I liked the congos too. Like 10-15 with the dwarf cichlids?? Should I get a mate for the other bolv ram? It seems like 2 have paired...they're swimming together and the other is sortof a loner now :(

I'm thinking 2 Severums, 2 Green Terror, 2 Jack Dempseys for the 75. Is that too much? Should I get pairs or the same gender?

**CatFishLady** · 08-22-2007, 11:59 AM

Re: Restocking my tanks

Originally posted by Somefishguy";p="

i say throw in a couple firemouths and a couple of convicts. More than enough room for them and a few others perhaps

Firemouths and Convicts with my cats??

**sproett** · 08-22-2007, 12:34 PM

Re: Restocking my tanks

I'd get another of the rams, I think that would be nice. The congos, the more the merrier!

As for the cichlids, I think you shouldn't do pairs of the GT or Jack Dempsey's with other fish (other than your cats), you may be in trouble if they decide to breed. They may kill off your other fish defending their eggs. The pair of severums should be fine (they aren't as aggressive), I'm not sure if you'll be able to get a true pair but unless you want to breed then it shouldn't matter. If you decide to go with convicts remember if you have a breeding pair they tend to be very aggressive. They can kill off your other fish or at best keep them out of their end of the tank. Plus you may find yourself with more babies than you know what to do with. The firemouths aren't nearly as aggressive when spawning so a pair or 2 won't be a problem. You have to think of aggression and bioload when stocking the larger cichlids.

I'd do
2 severums (8"), 1 convict (4-7") and/or 2 firemouths (7")
2 severums, 1 Jack Dempsey (10")
2 GT (12")
2 Jack Dempsey
1 GT, 1 Jack Dempsey
All convicts
All firemouths

You can change up the mix but these are just what I think would work.

I think figuring out what to get is the funnest part!

**CatFishLady** · 08-22-2007, 01:35 PM

Re: Restocking my tanks

Thanks alot Sproett :) I'm doing some major research on all the cichlids we've mentioned and will make a decision from that. One more question, can I put firemouths and convicts together? If so, how many of each?

The bolivian rams and kribs will get along fine right?? I'll probably end up with 2 pairs of rams and 1 pair of kribs....with the school of congos and the pleco.

**Hanson77** · 08-22-2007, 02:02 PM

Re: Restocking my tanks

The more Convicts you have the better your chances are for them to breed.....unless you can somehow guarantee all males or females. They are fine until they decide to breed then the agression really comes into play. The Firemouths or ok with a decent group. They are mostly all talk when it comes to agression. They will flare up at just about anything but that's about it.

The Kribs have a reputation similar to the Convicts. Supposedly they get pretty nasty when they are defending eggs or young. With them being so small though....not really sure what kind of damage they could do.

With the tank sizes that you have, you may just have to experiment with the combinations until you get it right. I had a 40 gallon with 2 Convicts, 3 Firemouths, 1 Green Terror, and two small Managuenses. I never really had bad agression issues. The Convicts bred twice and I got the babies out as soon as I could because they were having trouble fending off the others when the lights weren't off. Firemouths and Convicts were about 3", Green Terror was about 4" and Managuenses were about 2.5" at the time that I had them. If I would have let them get much bigger, the close quarters would have never worked.

My two pennies worth.

**Zulaab** · 08-22-2007, 02:59 PM

Re: Restocking my tanks

CFL,

I am going to agree with Sproett on a school of Congo Tetra's or a school of Cardinal Tetra's would work well with your Bolivians. I would most likely also look at getting another Bolivian to see if they will pair up so you have 2 pair.

Is the 55G a planted tank (at least with fake plants ?)

For the 75G I am a little worried about the Severums and Jack Dempsey's because when they grow out you are going to need a bigger tank. The Convict and Firemouth's would work well, as a 75G is plenty for them. I would most likely (because I have pink) go with Pink Convicts as they tend to grow out only to about 4-5 inch and Firemouth grow only to about 6.

Now if you get a nice juvi group of each something like 6 of each (total of 12 fish) and get two pairs out of each group (sell the remaining adults off with your fry you are going to end up with). Now make sure that you have plenty of little caves for the fish (make sure you get about 6-8 caves in the tank, and some leaf plants (Real or Fake does not matter) and you will see the parenting in them come out by the time they are about 1yr old. If you can get some larger structures in the tank like some drift wood or plants that rises to the waters edge and covers the lights a little for shade.

You can keep the pH around 7.5-8, and a temperature around 78 and they will be happy as possible. Your cats will be fine with both of them in the tank.

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