A clean slate

Well after the wonderful outbreak of "the plague" in my tank I am down to my 5 silver dollars.

I lost my 3yr old 11" midas, a 3yr old sailfin pleco, a WC argentea, a WC pearsei.

So I kind of have a clean slate. The only thing Ive decided upon is whatever fish I had I will not get again, just dont want the constant reminder that I lost one and this is a rebound fish, if that makes any sense.

I know that I want a community of large fish, I want to keep the silver dollars and would like for at least one fish to realistically get large (over 12") Lots of things you read will claim a fish can get 16" for example but really they usually hit 12" and thats it. In the last tank the big guy was planned on as the pearsei which are known to hit the 14"-16" mark. They can be common fish, in fact I am not going to spend a lot of money to restock this tank. Yep I will even consider something as common as an Oscar, Jack Dempsey, Jag

Ive talked with madness who has a few fish that I am interested in: hogaboomorum, Lyonsi, Xiloaensis, Zonatum

I would kind of like to hear what you would recommend in the way of new fish for the 210g. What combos would you do?
(No Africans, Anthraxx )

One other big puppy dog fish is the Bocourti. They will get 16" and can be quite beautiful. I have extras of them also if you decide to come my way for restocking. They are also 2"+ right now.

Sorry about all the BS that has gone on.

Im still voting for bleekeri!

or if you can find it Andinoacara Rivulatus (silver) (this is probably under $10)

Bocourti - I like how they look and similar personality to a pearsei but with just a bit more attitude. I really would consider that one in the mix.

Andinoacara Rivulatus are beautiful fish. Dont these have a rep for having issue with internal parasites and can be sensetive to such things?

I dont want a bleekeri, I dont know why, just dont...

I have heard they are sensitive to HITH, but never anything about parasites.

Festae? i know APFP(or they did a week or two ago) has some for i think $5 each.

210 guppys.... sorry had to say it...... this is my favorite thing, palning a tank. Sorry not any help, but have fun!!!

I do have a betta in a 2.5g that could go into the 210g...

Man that thing would get HUGE!

Thanks vw, I needed the guppy humor!

Ok, so I am pretty sure on the Bocourti.

eartheaters? maybe threadfin acaras?

I actually like fish like the Amphilophus robertsoni or some of the earth eaters but I have gravel and do not want to change it out for sifter type fish.

Okay 'D' here it is. Keep the desease invested silver dollars, JK..... Add Bocourti, Hoga, Lyonsi, Zonatum, Robertsoni, Rhytisma.

Bocourti: Mildly aggressive, easy to care for, 14-16", yellows, with greens and org.

Hoga: Aggressive (besides the lyonsi, the least agg Amph), easy to care for, 10-12", beautiful yellowish body w/red chin and in fins.

Lyonsi: Mildly aggressive, easy to care for, 10", great reds and coloring patterns.

Zonatum: Aggressive, easy to care for, 12-14", lots of blues, and some red.

Robertsoni: Mildly aggressive: easy to care for, 10", lots of blues, and some reds & greens.

Rhytisma: Mild, easy to care for, 8-10", Lots of blue spangling, reds, and greens.

Thats my idea. Then a couple cool exotic plecos, and some red finned loaches or other bottom feeders. Maybe a cool Syno cat.

Good luck.

you suck dave! howd u know i was gonna say that.. lolz

And a convict that I am growing out! dont forget to put that beast in the list. Even my wife commented how crazy and hyper that little guy is.

Thanks for the suggestions madness, I will probably take you up on the Bocourti, Hoga, Zonatum and Lyonsi. I am really just tempted to move a couple bristle nose into the 210g and call it a day on plecos.

Anthraxx wrote:you suck dave! howd u know i was gonna say that.. lolz

You have been wanting another African junkie in town, and you've only said it to me like a million times!

Nice stock madness... souunds cool. Here's my idea, 5 silver dollars, 3 peacock bass.... useuall 9.99 at apfp.. grow out those bad boys...

I like peacock bass but they would just get too big for my tank!

when they get to big... eat em!

Really I think even a single bass would be too much for my tank. They easily hit 24". If my tank was 30" wide I would try it.

I thought one of them only got to 16"... I am probably wrong, but I. Could swear I read that somewhere. I think a few of them, with silver dollars, a few fancy plecs. And you have yourself a really nice S. American setup... or you could try 2 pairs + the s/d's 1 pair gold saum, 1 pair feastea... I'm just trying to keep you geographicly correct. I was going for a set up like the later mentioned at one point, but my male g/t jumped, so I got rid of the rest. It would be really nice.

i think a terror tank would be amazing! i am working on that at the moment myself.

i still have about 20 of the andinoacara stalsbergi left if you are interested. they are eating great and growing fast!

vw , they get HUGE!

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rattle1972 wrote:i think a terror tank would be amazing! i am working on that at the moment myself.

i still have about 20 of the andinoacara stalsbergi left if you are interested. they are eating great and growing fast!

rattle, Ive seen your andinoacara stalsbergi in some pics you've posted and they are very nice looking. I am still needing to a major scrub down of my tank before anyone new goes in but I will keep those guys in mind.

I know that type does, but there three species. I though one of them stayed smaller.

I think the smallest still hits 24"

Oh... do the terrors, if you want of course.

Green terrors remind me of miniature umbee... No wait thats Jack Dempsey's

As it looks now I will probably end up with a tank full of madness fish I always joked about it but now it looks to be a reality. I will do a major tank clean up and then try and get fish in it by next week. There is no way I can fully break down the tank but I was thinking of multiple large water changes of at least 50% over the next three days and then break down the filters and clean all the media in boiling water to kill the bugs!

personally id do 100% change out multiple times. and then clean the filters as well. just my two cents. once u get the plague it can be tough to be rid of.

If I drain too much it might be tempting to just get rid of it Easier to sell...

At this point I just did about 60%. I am going to just keep on plugging away and clean everything the best I can. The gravel vac I did really had almost no junk in it so not a whole lot for the nasties to eat there. I have completely removed the large wood. I will break down the filters and clean them. I just did not want to catch and remove the silver dollars at this point by doing the 100%. It will get a very good cleaning before anything else goes in. Also plugged the UV back in, at this point it wont hurt since I am not actively medicating the tank. This clean up Im doing will require me to cycle the tank for sure!

DMD123 wrote:I actually like fish like the Amphilophus robertsoni or some of the earth eaters but I have gravel and do not want to change it out for sifter type fish.

Actually there is one of the nicest eartheaters in the Geophaginae subfamily that are pretty aggressive for an SA, get past the 10" mark, don't mind harder water and are in my opinion one of the most beautiful cichlids on the planet.. Here is a pic of my young Acarichthys heckelii "thread fin acara" around the 5"-6" mark.

Just saying if you don't go too over the top with uber aggressive tankmates they may be a nice uncommon (and dead sexy ) addition.

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EDIT: oh oh oh what about green bay snooks? They get big like to be in large schools have massive mouths and can be kept with other aggressive tankmates, They will not risk injuring their mouth by lip ocking so hey won't attack anything else in the tank. Whatcha think??

Anthraxx wrote:personally id do 100% change out multiple times. and then clean the filters as well. just my two cents. once u get the plague it can be tough to be rid of.

I agree as well and would go a step farther. When I got whiped out a few years back by septicemia I moved the survivors to a small tank to treat with oxylinic acid (spelling) and bleached the tanks. Just started over. SD's are bullet proof and could still be a carrier so treating them aggressivly, sterilizing the tank and using them to recycle the tank would be a pretty good idea.

I just bought an A Hekelii, it will be here tuesday, i cant wait!

JK47 wrote:

Anthraxx wrote:personally id do 100% change out multiple times. and then clean the filters as well. just my two cents. once u get the plague it can be tough to be rid of.

I agree as well and would go a step farther. When I got whiped out a few years back by septicemia I moved the survivors to a small tank to treat with oxylinic acid (spelling) and bleached the tanks. Just started over. SD's are bullet proof and could still be a carrier so treating them aggressivly, sterilizing the tank and using them to recycle the tank would be a pretty good idea.

This would probably be my aproach as well.

Thanks guys, I will go the extra step and do this right.

JK, I have totally wanted a green bay snook for a while now. Can only find the red ones for sale locally.

DMD123 wrote:Thanks guys, I will go the extra step and do this right.

JK, I have totally wanted a green bay snook for a while now. Can only find the red ones for sale locally.

I just saw some listed for sale somwehere, can't remember who had them though. I try and dig it up for you right now.

Update: Have not had time for the full scrub down on the big tank. Its easy when you deal with 30 gallons or so but the time it takes to drain and refill the 210 is amazingly long.

I have as of now done 60% water changes for 4 days in a row. The silver dollars are driving me nuts! They are totally scared all the time and I cant even approach the tank without a major spaz out. I guess they miss having other fish that had confidence in the tank. Its almost as if the giant midas made them feel more secure. As of now I can not get them to eat. Very frustrating! I dont know if they are carriers of whatever plauge hit the tank but they show no visible signs of illness, they just wont eat. I feel as if I should just get rid of them.... but I know that when they feel secure they are awesome to watch.

Hope to have some real fish soon!

Another update: today I cleaned out both FX5 filters and put media in boiling water to kill all the nasties. I am going to wait a bit but I feel I am ready to try some fish!

best to let that cycle work in really well. no reason u can pick up stock now and place in a temp tank. its what i did to remain sane during my whole build process.

Anthraxx wrote:best to let that cycle work in really well. no reason u can pick up stock now and place in a temp tank. its what i did to remain sane during my whole build process.

Got a fully cycled 29g to use until the 210 is ready. Will be getting smaller cichlids again, starting from scratch. The silver dollars are in the big tank since I had nowhere else to put them. They will help cycle it along with some seachem stability that I have.

Going to get a few fish from madness

Do it... and buy my Argentia before the LFS has her!

New stock from madness:
bocourti x1
synspilum x1
hogaboomorum x1
zonatus x1
red devil x2

I will not keep both red devils. Will only keep one if the aggression level is low otherwise they both will go.

Thanks again madness for the new fish in the tank!

Anytime. Feel like I just got kicked in the groin. Just sold my truck.
F****N L&I.

Look on the bright side, selling the truck was a step in the direction of getting out of construction! Did you get what you wanted for it?

So if I were to say who were going to be trouble in the new group, it would be the larger of the two red devils who nipped at a silver dollar to eat a scale. Also a bit of a face off between the hoga and zonatus. The ones I know are going to eat me out of house and home are the bocourti and zonatus who had some baby earthworms within an hour after being put in the tank. The other fish are still settling in.

Pics D..... and great stock load by the way... I'm sure you will be very happy.

You know what I retract my pics statement... fish always look like crap the first day or two there in a new tank... so Monday... then I will start to pester you.

Yeah the fish were stressed but still had good color for the fact they got moved around. The hoga and zon are the most bland right now. I will get some pics up when they settle in.

DMD123 wrote:Look on the bright side, selling the truck was a step in the direction of getting out of construction! Did you get what you wanted for it?

He tried to low ball me, and I said no. I told him that he was already getting it for $2700 under blue book price. I said that I didnt have to sell it, so I wasnt settling for less than what I asked. So he agreed. FINALLY. Im sure I could have gotten even more for it, but its either the truck, or my tanks.