# Compatibility question



## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

So I am going to be upgrading my 55 gallon to a tank 6ft x 2ft x 2ft and thought that I can make it a cichlid tank. However I want to make sure my current fish would be compatible with cichilds. I have

1 Sengel Bichir - almost 1ft long
1 Blind Cave Fish
3 Bala Sharks - 4-6 inches long
2 Pictus catfish
6 Rosy Barbs - 2 males 4 females the smallest about an inch - 1 1/2
1 Pleco - about 14 inches long
2 unidentified fish - pics included
I also have 3 Dojo Loaches in QT right now since i was treating the tank for ich and have been there for the last few months
and a bunch of feeder fish

When I build the tank I will be adding another driftwood piece I took from my cool water tank and am cleaning it now. I will also be building some rock structures with slate and other kinds of rocks, not sure yet since I can just stack them and I would have to order them rather than just going to some stone place just down the street from me. I do have a bunch of plants and I don't plan on getting anymore. The Jungle Val I currently have has grown and spread out a lot where I have taken some out and placed in my cool water tank and transition to brackish. I also have 2 Amazon swords that are over 1 ft tall, one about 8 inches, and something else that grows with red splotches on it's leaves. 

The fish pictured I found in the med feeder fish tank and I knew they weren't feeder fish and looked more like cichilds but I can't be 100% since I can't find it where i have looked over the last couple of days. It just looks like a chiclid but is weird because how would they get in with the feeder fish. 

So that is where I am at, just an idea looking for solid experience in keeping these fish with cichlids. I have kept cichlids but only by them selves with a pleco. 

Thanks for any help you guys can provide


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## Botiadancer (Dec 30, 2013)

What are you looking to add?

First check out

Polypterus senegalus senegalus (Senegal Bichir) ? Seriously Fish

for more information on the Senegal Bichir - especially how it has a bit to grow and likes to eat fish for lunch.

I would move the balas to the 180 and the pleco if you really want to keep it. The Dojos need to go to the 180, but they are hyper and the bichir is not. 

Weather Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) — Loaches Online

If you add a cichlid, add something big enough to not be be eaten, but not something aggressive. (oscars, chocolate cichlids, true parrot cichlid, severums in... jack dempseys, red devils out) Or add a convict pair or two as a constant source of live food.

As for the other fish and the 55, add 6 or 12 more rosy barbs, a bushy nose pleco or two and another 6 blind cave fish.

IMHO - 180s are not as big as you think - you'll see a lot of 180s on youtube with redtail cats, shovel noses, dovii etc, but you don't see the same tank very long. Don't think big fish - think more fish of the smaller ones... or less fish and less water changes. Your bichir should be the star of the show. Just my two cents.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

You are already overstocked for a six foot tank, I am sorry to say. One bala shark would do that, and you have three. 

African lakes cichlids in there? I would not do that. They are territorial, as is the bichir, the pleco and your sunfish. The end result would be one surviving species. They do not mess around. They kill.

If you weren't overstocked, a little group of Aulonacara (Malawi peacocks) might work, but you have a softwater group of fish and Malawis are from very hard water. You would have to sell the Balas, the bichir and the pleco. As is, you have fish for 2 6 foot and one 12 foot tank...

BTW, keeping sunfish is illegal in many jurisdictions, as it is a 'gamefish'. I don't know where you are, but you might want to check...


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## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

I did some digging and I couldn't find restrictions on keeping sunfish in GA. It is not like I caught it at a lake or anything, they were in the feeder tank at the pet store. 

As it is I thought a few jeweled cichlids And something blue. Now that I know what temps these sunfish need I can move them to my other freshwater tank, that one is subtropic and doesn't need a heater. Nothing much is in it now except and African Clawed Frog, 2 lg feeder goldfish, and small feeder fish. 

I know I am going to have to get a larger tank because of the Balas. The other option would be to sell them but that would be irresponsible because there are a lot of people out there who, like my husband, won't/don't do research before getting the fish. As soon as I told him how large they get he looked dumbstruck but he loves them. 

I guess I can wait until they start getting old before I switch over to a cichlid tank. Metal Snake has been pretty good at not eating my other fish outside of the feeders so it might be a long long time. 

Also why would i want to get rid of my pleco, Lollipop, Botiadancer? Other than size that is. Lollipop is like 3-4 years old.


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## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

I did know about the Bichir's deal with eating anything that fits in his mouth, the Pictus do the same thing.. Lost all my Neon Tetras that way. I had a dozen Swordtails originally so that their fry would be food for everyone in the tank outside of the flake and frozen food I feed out. When I got Metal Snake back in 2013 he was still small, 4 inches, so it was a good deal with the Swordtails, they had fry, the fry got eaten, those that didn't would grow up have more fry etc. Now he is larger and ate the older Swordtails, mostly the males, and now they have been transitioned to brackish in preparation for the Frog Fish I am hoping to get. For the same reason why I got the Swordtails in the first place  The Swordtails have been doing well in brackish and have/still are having lots of fry. They colors on them came out well too, they are black and orange with green flecks across their bodies. Those have grown up and every month or so I find new fry that are mostly eaten by their parents. 

There are 2 reasons why I don't/can't go bigger than an 180 gallon tank. One is money wise, buying a tank larger than that is kind of expensive, it is cheaper for me to buy the acrylic and build the tank myself. It is less than half the price to build it myself than a glass tank of the same size. The other is space, we live in a condo/town house/apartment place there is not a lot of room down here in the living room for 2 large tanks. I already have plans on building another tank of the same size for my brackish water tank. More misinformation and cross information on fish before I joined this community. I am kind of torn which tank will be upgraded first. Oh yeah, it is hard for me to find the sheets already cut in the size I need/want and still save money for proper plumbing. About the only thing I can't do with acrylic is get straight cuts. I have found other places that charge per cut to make a larger tank but then there is placement. I either have to look for a stand for it, place it on the floor or build a stand for it myself, something I can try to do but haven't because of the weight of a filled tank. Part of the deal for upgrading 2 tanks was i sell one of my 3 tanks so that is going to be the subtropic freshwater. It has the least amount of pet fish and I don't think I will be sad to see it go. 

Thank you guys for the feedback, I really appreciate it. If you have any other info you would like to share I would love to hear it  Putting Cichlids with my Bichir was just an idea I had to put more colorful fish in the tank, mostly blue for my husband it's his favorite color, but if it is not going to work with the size of tank I am looking to build and with the fish I currently have it will just have to be put ont he back burner until we move back to Cali. 

Also I am not sure what I can do with the sunfish if I eventually find out they are not legal to keep in GA. To return them to the wild is just as irresponsible as having them in the first place because as far as I know they were tank raised in the first place, maybe to keep mosquitoes from reproducing where they keep their feeder fish. I can't build a pond for them since I rent, otherwise I would and move them outside. Although I am not sure if that is less legal than keeping them in a fish tank... At least if my friend buys the land he is planning on buying I could move them there, after the water is tested, and if it s mating pair he could stock his own pond. I do know it is legal to fish from bodies of water on your own land without a permit and there are no restrictions on catching them. Thanks for looking out for me on that Nav.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

Once you have a native fish, you can never return it. In an aquarium, it has been exposed to the diseases of the world, and a few of them might be the new plague for an environment that has not met them before.
You either keep it, or euthanize it. That is harsh, but that is... 
I know where I am, a store with sunfish in a feeder, or even a bait tank would face hefty fines. I had some from when I didn't know the law, or the logic behind the law (it actually makes sense), which is how I learned about keeping them and their aquarium behavior. They lived out their lives here and I never replaced them. 
The tank size thing is difficult, and I understand. Unlimited money is not what I have. Space even less. 
Blue, blue, blue - here is an unorthodox suggestion that would not put a huge extra strain on your bioload - Melanotaenia lacustris, the blue rainbowfish, or Melanotaenia kamaka. In groups of six, they hit around 4 inches and have a basic blue colour. M lacustris is getting very cheap around here, after having been an expensive fish for a very long time. Look up some pictures - both are lovely fish (to my tastes).


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## sagespyder (May 21, 2013)

Either look alright to me, in the end it would be up to my husband. He liked the german blue rams at the store and i think the larger danios since they shimmer blue.  At least he isn't bringing any home anymore, since the Balas. It looks like temp wise they would fit the tank, size wise as well. Color for me is fine. I saw the Boeseman and I think he might like that one as well. If any of them fit and he picks one then I just have to find a supplier. I am not sure if my LFS will be able to get them and i haven't seen any but the smaller ones there.


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