No more Convict, Gettin new home for something else!!

After the post from madness that his dovii was 'gettin' a new home I had to post that my little convict is getting one too.

I picked up a filthy used 56g (30x18x24) with stand, HOB filters and the works. Everything was in good shape, but really filthy and crusty.
I originally was going to move the little guy from his 29g bachelor pad to a 37g but this tank came up for a good price. So my little convict gets a new home but I need some ideas for tankmates....
He has killed a pike who was twice his size and he would nip the fins on the plecos that used to be in with him so, what could I add? (No female cons, I dont want tons of kiddies)
I was thinking of a couple pictus cats or a small school of blind cave tetras. I will post some pics of it when its all clean and set up, hopefully by this weekend.

Get him a turtle!

Normal one or Teenage Mutant Ninja Type?

snapping turtle!

I would love to have a Fly River turtle....

But no turtles at this point.

Been a nightmare to get this thing clean... lots of crusty stuff.

I needed to buy the plastic hinge and rear strip for the glass top and decided to order a Beamworks LED fixture for it. Looking for a background this weekend. Hope to have it all set up by Saturday night.

For filtration I will use a Penguin 200 and an AquaClear 70 combo. I would like to use a larger filter but this tank does have a center brace so it does limit filters (I have a Penguin 350 that wont fit on it!)

Pictures, soon.

OK, got it set up this week and here are some promised pictures.

Here is my original office set up, a 29g and a 2.5g on a homemade stand:
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Here is the new office set up, a 56g column:
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Still a bit cloudy looking. Used sand instead of gravel. Still not sure of my stock and still not aqua-scaped yet.

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just add some of that

Zerc wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

just add some of that

Zerc wrote:[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

just add some of that

sneaky sneaky. im guessing that means make a saltwater tank??

How is the convict going to do in the saltwater?

Zerc, knows a thing or two about monster cons.

it will magically turn into a clownfish!


you just mentioned you were unsure of stock so...

Unsure of freshwater stock!

I have a three or four $5 off (same as cash) coupons for APFP you can have if you want to do salt...

Your just evil!

No salt for now.... but I have considered going against all that I stand for and own a fish that looks like poo (Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo, to be exact). Yes, I might consider a bichir. I might consider a Polypterus delhezi or a Polypterus senegalus (Albino if possible).

loving this post! It makes me laugh.

Not to be a buzz kill, but heres what I have as tank mates in a standard 55. I have three male convicts(2.5 inches) living with a fire mouth that is slightly larger than them(3inches), an opaline guarami who is even bigger(about 4 inches), a large bala cat, and a bright red jewel(about 3.5), who enjoys his half of the tank the jewel is running it! except when the guarami wants to flex his muscles. I know this goes against common sense, but they seem to enjoy each other now that the convicts have determined a pecking order...

btw nice tank, i have always liked the "show" style tanks.

Owning "show" tanks is a whole other beast. My 210g involves many a wet arm pit when doing water changes. This one at 24" deep is a little better. It really has a horrible footprint... so I will probably limit the number of cichlids in this one. So a convict, a bichir and a.... (walk into a bar) wait that sounds like a joke starting, no my stocking list. Then maybe a small school of tetras will be about all I will have in this thing. The little male con has had a 29g all to himself for a long time now.

DMD123 wrote: The little male con has had a 29g all to himself for a long time now.

And for this reason be careful and keep an eye on him. He may want to remain a solo. Hey they little tetra, come here little guy

So I considered the little guys history with tankmates, including when he had multiple bristle nosed plecos growing out with him. He would just nip at the fish in his tank to the point where the fins were noticeably shorter and stubby. He had been solo for too long and the fish in the 210g were just not big enough to handle him yet so... I let the little guy go back to the store. I took little 'Spaz' to Aquarium Paradise. I will miss the little guy, he kept me going in fish when I had that plague wipe out all the stock in my big tank.

So I begin with a blank slate for the 56 gallon column.

So the column became a growout for some bottom feeders that I want in the 210g. IU tried to introduce these fish into the big tank with some near close expensive meals almost happening.

So now the 56g has a royal pleco, a albino bristlenose and a hoplo cat. Too bad the royals grow soooooo slooooooowwwww...... probably be at least a year before that little guy might be able to go in the big tank. Well it will be fun to watch him grow.

The 56 could use a nice looking pleco too, so its a perfect spot for him.

Oh, and I changed your subject heading for you.

Thanks!

It was pretty funny/sad last night. I looked at the royal that I just spent $30 on and thought it has a pretty big head and its fat looking so I dont think there will be any issues.... with in a few seconds the big parrot was going after it, trying to eat it. So I was scrambling to get a net and save him. It was a pretty funny moment. So Ive heard these guys maybe get about 1.5" of growth per year on them max, might be a few years before he makes it into the big tank.

So my big one thats like 8" is probably about 4-5 years old, and my little 3 incher is probably going to live amongst the fry for a while.

Hey Im just going by what I saw someone else comment on their growth (MFK). My little guy is slightly larger than yours by maybe half an inch. My cichlids will be full grown monsters in a year and this guy will still be little, maybe 5"...

Well I have been dealing with Ich from the fish that I got from the B&I. The hopplo cat was immediately infected and the royal pleco had it also, could not see it on the albino bristle nose. Well after a week of salt treatments, water changes and some Seachem Paraguard it looks to be gone. But I did lose the royal. The hopplo and Albino bristle nose are looking good and feeding well, so I think it is beat!

Ive decided to just keep these two guys together in this tank and not grow them out for the 210g. So I really need some ideas of something to put in with them. I have no middle to top swimming fish. I have considered putting my gold sev in there along with a small school of tetras and the two cats and calling it done. But there is much debate on sev size and this size of tank.... any thoughts on that? I also considered angels with tetras, maybe a gourami of some type, I really dont know. So looking for some ideas.

I really like the Dwarf Cichlids. Maybe some Apistos,with your schooling fish. I am really thinking of starting a huge Dwarf Cichlid community.

I do like the Apistos and a few of the dwarf pikes Ive seen. Nice idea.

Well it looks like I have an idea for this tank after all. I will have some more Pearesei coming soon and I am trying to growout a big male. The current one I have in the 210g is a female.

So Pearsei growout until I can get my boy large enough not to get ate and put him in the big tank.