Bichir tankmates/72g bowfront ideas

Well Im at a crossroads on what I want to do with my 72g bowfront.

I have been raising bichir in it and you know what? They kind of are boring....   

Really they are pretty much lumps that sit except my albino sen and del which are both pretty active. I have a feeling I will be selling off my gold dust and weeksii and keeping the other two. Or I might keep just the albino sen in the 72 and move the del to my 210g. Undecided what Im going to do just yet, but looking for something.

So what I need is an active fish with a bit of personality and that can live in a 72g bowfront for life. I dont necessarily want a cichlid but might be the best choice. A single wet pet maybe? Any ideas?

If you want active then you want personality.  And what better personality than a Amphilophus.  Midas, RD, Isletas, Trimac  etc....

If you decide to part with the Butti 'gold dust', let me know.

Check out the ghost rider flowerhorn in aqua craze..... Yes a bit steep at $200
Dollars for 2.5" of fish, but the colors are amazing ( just a little hybrid jab for my non hybrid loving friend).

I know an amp is the way to go but I feel the 72g would be small for some of those. Trimac and midas seem pretty big bodied, but maybe not. The Isletas would probably work, they dont seem like they get huge. RD seem a bit slimmer too.

I just need more activity in that tank. The del is cool but after seeing yours I realize it really deserves to live life in the 210g when it puts on a couple more inches. Maybe I need to keep the del and move him to the 210g and sell off the rest and then do a single wet pet in the 72g..... decisions, decisions.

lloyd378 wrote:Check out the ghost rider flowerhorn in aqua craze..... Yes a bit steep at $200
Dollars for 2.5" of fish, but the colors are amazing ( just a little hybrid jab for my non hybrid loving friend).

Too funny, I was looking at flowerhorns online today! Not that its the way I want to go but they do have a ton of personality.

the thai silk?

This is the ghost rider:
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Pretty awesome, too rich for me.

Not a plain old Thai silk but cool
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They are so shiny it just looks wrong

I have a few juvenile growouts that I have bought from a couple of different sources hoping to get one with the color I want.   If you really do decide on one.ill give you one of mine! Mine aren't the Thai silk they are the king kamfa and the srd

Green Terrors maybe? How about a 72g Planted Ram or apisto tank? That would be pretty epic.

one nice cichlid will make your tank pop! but as you bichirs get bigger they start gliding around the tank more. You should keep them until they get bigger! How about female red terror ? something with color.

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Gold Saum

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anthony wrote: as you bichirs get bigger they start gliding around the tank more. You should keep them until they get bigger!

The only real active one is the del.... I really dont know how much change in activity I will see.

I do need to see pictures of the bichirs..... For reference sake(or my personal enjoyment)

  Its all about the pictures

Always was/is/will be!!!!!

DMD123,

Have you ever considered perhaps a simi planted tank with a different type of predator? Just suggesting plants for something different. Like bog woods and ferns. Then perhaps Asain needle nosed gars (Xenentodon cancila) hovering the top of the tank. Then maybe some spunky Asian simi community fish that will go with this species? Would require some research but would be interesting.

A planted tank would not be out of the question. But really want a 'wet pet' with some personality. Would love to try a puffer but none of the smaller species excite me. I want a Fahaka but this would not work with the 72g for life. I would need at least a 24" x 48" footprint and 120g. Not that I dont 'want' another tank but I have to answer to a 'higher power'..... my wife!   

Started in on a change, decided to sell the 'gold dust'. That leaves me with three bichirs to still figure out what I want to do with. The del and albino sen are both very active and good eaters so they could stay if I could find something to live with then and be a good center of attention type fish. The weeksii is shy compared to them and will need more space so the decision is to sell him or move him to the 210g......

Any other ideas would be appreciated.

True green terror....or acara, or festae

I had a true green terror (stalsbergi) for a while in the 210g. He lived up to his named and was a terror. Got rid of him and dont want to go back down that path.

What is the personality like on a festae? Are they as much a wet pet as a midas or red devil?

Funny thing is I really already have a 'wet pet' in Pork Chop but thats down in the 210g. I just need something with some personality in the bowfront.

No, no where near the personality. I have a beautiful Midas just calling your name! Tons of personality. Always out and about greeting you and also looking for a date. My female midevil is super peaceful and also personable.... Not as much as the Midas, but would be completely cool with the bichirs

My favorite is the red isletas female I have, but she's not going anywhere anytime soon. Though I'd like to get her back into a larger tank..... She's in the 56 cube right now..... Just got some fish staffing issues I need to shore up to find her a great place! I'd love to have her in my bed room but that would require moving tanks.

I think Nate had some red isletas available of you wanted to go that route

I have loads of Isletas fry, 1-3" or I have a 6" male that looks like it wants to spawn with one of my female Festae.

I would consider that wc midas of yours Llyod but I dont think it would like a bichir tankmate.... or would it?

I remember that Isletas of yours madness, cool little guy. How do you think it would do with bichir?

I think that they are more mellow than RD's and Midas.  Mine hangs out with some Geos and loaches.  I have notice that my Cichlids and Bichirs coexist very well.

You also have them in bigger tanks. A 4ft 72g may change things...

My Midas is more aggressive than my red isletas, but if there aren't any female tankmates, he usually chills more

Girls are nothing but trouble.

Said every male Midas in the world haha

Ive decided to get what Ive been missing... an amphilophus. I really have missed the personality that these fish bring to a tank. So I will be removing the gold dust from the 72g and adding a Red Isletas. Not sure how the fish will act with its bichir tankmates but we will see. I do know I wont have to worry about a lack of personality!

Well I dug this one up from the grave to update and think about a different route to go.

I got the Red Isletas and he is just a strange fish. He is not a good solo wet pet but does good in a larger tank with others he can pick on. He would fixate on one bichir in my bowfront and bite and nip at it all the time. When these same fish were put into my 210g there was no issue. But then he had an issue with a regani and just would not let the fish eat and bullied it. I move the Isletas back into the 72g bowfront and he then went after my L114 pleco and chewed up its top fin and tail. I have decided to rehome him after his aggressiveness.

So my bowfront has been a growout tank for the past few months and a time out tank for the Isletas and I still am not happy with the stock. I am over the bichirs for sure because they are just plain boring but they do add a bit of weird in the 210g. I love my new little hairy puffer and he would love the bowfront to himself but it seems like a waste of tank on a fish that only gets 5" and sits most of the time....

So kind of back to square one here. Still trying to get a stock I am happy with in the bowfront.

APFP has in some rare fish in called Barilius Bakeri, they also have one other kind. A cool active somewhat schooling fish, probably no more than 3-4 in your tank. Add some colorful corys like laser green or laser orange and wallah.

Ive seen those, they really are cool looking. I have the Australian rainbows in there which are cool but zero personality. I was hoping for a cichlid that would be part of a small community tank and still outgoing without being a bully.

Maybe what I need to consider is just a good old community tank with no cichlids.    Cant believe I could even type that out.

The problem is... I like having cichlids.

DMD123 wrote: I was hoping for a cichlid that would be part of a small community tank and still outgoing without being a bully.

Unfortunately when it come to Cichlids, thats a very difficult task at times.    

DMD123 wrote:Maybe what I need to consider is just a good old community tank with no cichlids.    Cant believe I could even type that out.

Traitor!!!   

Madness wrote:Unfortunately when it come to Cichlids, thats a very difficult task at times.    

It's a challenge with even the more mild ones ... how you huge cichlid guys do it is an art, really.

Madness wrote:

DMD123 wrote: I was hoping for a cichlid that would be part of a small community tank and still outgoing without being a bully.

Unfortunately when it come to Cichlids, thats a very difficult task at times.    

How true. Even my 'peaceful' Pearsei has its moments with its tankmates and will chase the regani a little. At least the regani is not as stressed now that the isletas is out of the tank and will eat food.

dwarfpike wrote:

DMD123 wrote:Maybe what I need to consider is just a good old community tank with no cichlids.    Cant believe I could even type that out.

Traitor!!!   

It was a joke!   

I really do want to keep a cichlid in there, they just wont cooperate with me.

Maybe step down to a medium sized cichlid instead of one of the big boys? Or even down two steps down to say a pair of dwarves it mix in with the more community fish.

The funny thing is I could totally see a African cichlid tank happening in there or some dwarf type pike.

Some of the dwarf pikes would have the personality you are looking for no doubt.   

I had some of the Colombian Cr. wallacii (note the correct spelling WetSpot!!!) and the male would glass bang despite being only 2.5". Really cool to watch. I can only have smaller tanks atm, so they provide all the attitude of the big ones but in more managable sizes. Just keep in mind the size of the other fish, they will kill fish too big to swallow ... I've had several dwarf pikes munch down on the heads of tetras that were clearly way too big to eat whole. It was like watching someone suck the heads of shrimp or crayfish down South.

*looks at my handle* I could be biased though.  

I guess what Im looking for most is personality. Not necessarily a glass banger but a fish that comes out and interacts. This is a bit tough since this is not a high traffic area like my living room tank. The puffer has been a pretty ideal choice in the office because he is an ambush predator and will just sit most of the time. He will interact and beg for food when he sees me. I am just looking for something in this 72g bow that will do the same....

I don't know if something like this would work for you, but one of the neatest 'community' combos I able to put together was a Delhezi Poly, JD, a school of 5 clown loaches , and a school of adult Congo Tetra. I also had a marbled sailfin pleco, and for a time raised a speckled bull headed catfish in the same group. It was a lively bunch.the Poly was chill. The JD brought the cichlid personality. When he matured - called a hollow log his home but still came out when I came near. The clown loaches frolicked pretty much the whole time. And the school of Congos was a constant splash of color swimming to and fro. I have to say though it took a long time , patients, and introducing each pet at the right time. This to greaten the chance for the survival of the Congo's, and to establish a preexisting community for the small JD. The JD did well with all except the Bullhead cat. They would fight over territory (hollow log). And the Poly left the Congos alone because they where already 3.5" and too crafty for his lazy butt to catch.

I have my rainbowfish housed with Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor victoriae and tetras and kribs and my lone L. robertsi in my 125G tank.  You could probably add either the kribs or the victoriae to the 72G with the rainbowfish and have a nice mix.  Neither the victoriae or the kribs are big plant eaters so your plants would still do well.  I would not recommend both of those in the smaller footprint.  Just a thought.  If you try to add mbuna cichlids your plants will suffer and become dinner.

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