5 replies to this topic

[Bickley]

hey guys been on this forum for a little bit, my names Tristen im a 20year old male ..........my older bro was into breeding rare cichlids an what not years ago but i never really took a interest but in the last few years i caught the addiction lol problem is he now lives in Adelaide so figuring it out by myself as i go with great help from this forums members.

I currently have a 4 footer with bout:
15xelectric yellows (just started breeding)6M,9F
5x Pseudotropheus flavus (just started breeding)2M,3F
1x rusty (first fish so cant get rid of him lol) sex not known
4x orange spot plecos (would like to breed)sex not known

1x 3 footer setup as grow out tank for fry
1x 2 footer (spare)
1x 1.5 footer (spare)

1x 6 footer full setup just missing the fish
Spent the last 6 months getting this tank setup slowly with the intentions of filling it with barra and mangrove jack (with constant nagging from the missus about how we dont need it waste of time money an space so on so forth) Now funnily enough its done ready for fish she decides she like it but wants "pretty fish" she looked up a couple of fish and showed me, problem is i dont know anything about them:
price ?
compatibility ?
easy or hard to breed ?
water parameters ?
i researched them found out a bit thought id prefer post this an get real peoples experience an knowledge.
pretty much any information and advice you would be happy to share would be appreciated

Aequidens` sp. "Goldsaum"
Amphilophus festae "Red Terror"
Caquetaia umbrifera "Umbie"
Cichlasoma' octofasciatum "Jack Dempsey"
"blue dempsey"

Herichthys cyanoguttatus "Texas Cichlid"
Cyphotilapia frontosa "7 Bar Frontosa"


Thankyou all in advance
Bickley

[Poncho]

Hi Bickley and welcome to the forum,

You might have better luck if you post your questions in the cichlid discussion forum.

I haven't kept most of those fish before so won't comment on breeding or compatibility but they are all readily available and not too expensive.

[Ivan Sng]

Spent the last 6 months getting this tank setup slowly with the intentions of filling it with barra and mangrove jack (with constant nagging from the missus about how we dont need it waste of time money an space so on so forth) Now funnily enough its done ready for fish she decides she like it but wants "pretty fish" she looked up a couple of fish and showed me, problem is i dont know anything about them:

Wouldn't be a waste of money if you ultimately eat the barra...
Sorry I am not into keeping cichilds but have grown out barramundi through aquaponics for food.

[Bickley]

Ivan Sng :yeah that was the plan but the missus isnt really interested in it so ill wait till my house is finished were we will be setting up a aquaponics eventually anyway lol my mate has just set one up an he swears by it

Poncho : cheers mate i originally went to post it in there but wasnt sure bout were to post it just figured if it was wrong it would be moved to the right place in due time, ill move it now an noworries m8 theres nothing worst then when people comment back when they actually no little to nothing more then you

cheers guys
bickley

[Ivan Sng]

Ivan Sng :yeah that was the plan but the missus isnt really interested in it so ill wait till my house is finished were we will be setting up a aquaponics eventually anyway lol my mate has just set one up an he swears by it

Well the trick is to start a small test system, prove the idea to yourself and the missus... I have heard of some members in another forum that their missus started off not keen as well, but as things progressed, they felt that the missus has taken over instead... then when your house finished, you will get immediate approval for the grand scale aquaponics system....

[the pulpican man]

Hey Bickley, welcome to the forum and i hope this helps.

Aequidens sp. "Goldsaum" - Pretty placid fish.. very nice looking and can hold their own, get to males to 25cm females to 15 - 20cm.

Amphilophus festae "Red Terror" - Aggressive, but also the females are the brightest looking fish ever, males are duller get to 30cm.

Caquetaia umbrifera "Umbie" - Another agro fish, but nice, covered in pearls too, females to 30cm, males to 60cm.

Cichlasoma' octofasciatum "Jack Dempsey" - Also a nice fish if you get a nicer looking one, still aggressive and get to a around 30cm.
"blue dempsey" - VERY rare.. and apparently easy to kill :S i have only seen a few on this forum.


Herichthys cyanoguttatus "Texas Cichlid" very nice fish.. covered in shiny pearls, can be aggressive get to 30cm and can hold their own.

Cyphotilapia frontosa "7 Bar Frontosa" - incompatible with the fish above as they are americans and the frontosa are from lake Tanganyika in africa. very placid, usually required to be in groups of 4+ as they are shy and prefer living in colonies. not to mention the 7 bar variety cost $100s each..

i have kept; saums, red terrors, frontosa and texas.. i dont have the room for umbee and not really a fan of jacks (maybe when they're really nice ones, blue ones are amazing, but very rare)

i have texas, red devil, FH, synspillum and butterkoferi living together at the moment.. i dont know how i've managed to get it to work, but the stocking levels have helped and i grew them up together... if your planning on keeping americans like the above.. i suggest overstocking and having higher numbers of fish to slow down aggression.. as for pH i dont bother.. for my americans i've left it the same pH that comes out of the tap, being in kingsley you should have similar parameters. Temperature at 26 - 28 deg.

hope this helps mate..

Tom