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centrepiece fish

robfromdublin

Seedling
Joined
17 Jun 2010
Messages
23
Hey all,

Am currently in the process of stocking my ~150L 4ft tank. So far I have 6 Sterbai corys, 2 bristlenose and 20 rummy-nose tetras. I'd like a centrepiece fish (or a pair). My thinking so far is either angelfish, blue ram cichlids or some form of gourami (dwarf looks best of those i've seen).

Does anyone have any other suggestions that I may have overlooked? It's a soft-water, lightly planted tank with a couple of large bogwood bits in it. Any and all suggestions welcomed!

R
 
angels will outgrow a 150l tank pretty quick...

blue rams are probably the better option.. i have never had much luck with dwarf gouramis.
 
It's a shame that so many dwarf Gouramis are always inbred poor quality fish, well worth looking out for the wilds that have popped up very recently as by catch. Czech produced fish are extremely good quality and worth paying more for.
 
Do you reckon? I thought a single angel would be OK. From what I've read you need a tank at least 18" high, which mine is. Granted only a foot wide though. To be fair I haven't seen a fully grown angel, although I do know the veil versions have longer fins so I was going to avoid them if poss.

Are dwarf gouramis difficult fish to keep?

How do identify poor quality individuals? Also, what are people fishing for that dwarf gouramis are by catch??
 
They're difficult to keep recently because the ones that make it over here are very poor quality, inbred etc. Mainly fish with a higher catch value, darios hara cats, stuff like that I believe.
 
Hi all,
I like dwarf cichlids, and Rams are good if you can get good quality stock, but they are hopeless parents with other fish. I've also seen some very nice Nannacara anomala lately, including the very striking green morph (at Amazon Aquatics in Warminster). Laetacara dorsigera/curviceps would also be good.

But I think it is a perfect tank for some Apistogramma, how about a pair of A. panduro/nijsenii/baenschii or a trio of A. macmasteri/hongsloi/agassizi/borellii/trifasciata or cacatuoides? It is a shame you are in Dublin as I have always have some spare A. cacatuoides that you could have had.

The Apistogramma species also give you a choice of colours with some species largely reds and others blue.

Have a look here for details <http://www.dwarfcichlid.com/index.php>

cheers Darrel
 
I'm not there yet but have been thinking the same thing - and wondering where I could get a good, healthy pair of dwarf gouramis... [spelling corrected on edit]

some folk go for the Chocolate gouramis, which certainly look nice, but are delicate. Honey gouramis are delightful and easier to find and keep

I was also thinking that a trio of female siamese fighters might be interesting - they are apparently more community-friendly and less prone to fighting - tho' not if you want to keep shrimp

a pair of Badis badis can look good, but may be too small for your tank

or the German Rams, which are a delight to watch.

good luck - let us know what you get
 
Garuf said:
It's a shame that so many dwarf Gouramis are always inbred poor quality fish, well worth looking out for the wilds that have popped up very recently as by catch. Czech produced fish are extremely good quality and worth paying more for.


Gareth - if we wanted 'Czech produced' gouramis, how would we go about finding them?

m
 
Cheers guys, especially Darrel. You've given me a lot to go on there.

Just had a quick google and there are some beautiful pics of Apistos! Look forward to doing some reading around them this evening.

I don't suppose you know where in Plymouth is a good place to source dwarf cichlid's? My username is misleading, I'm an immigant ;) !
 
Hi all,
There are no rules about it, but all the fauna is oriented towards south America, personally I would go for Rams"
Rams were my first dwarf cichlid, and I still love them, you need to find some hobbiest bred ones ideally. All the cichlids mentioned are S. American, although it is true that both Rams (and some of the Apistogramma species) naturally occur in biotopes with no true aquatic vegetation.

Rams occur in streams and pools on the Llanos, the seasonally dry grassland in N. S. America, the waters they occur in are shallow and very warm, with submerged leaf litter (often palm fronds) and biofilm which may have no permanent vegetation (there maybe a fringe of Paspalum sp. grass).

"Mikrogeophagus ramirezi Ram Cichlid in their Natural Habitat" from fishfromvenezuela on youtube.
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpGyXBNpERw&feature=channel> and <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7KK1imwh28&feature=channel>

I haven't got the reference with me but I think they were found with Lemon and Pristella Tetras and Apistogramma macmasteri amongst others. If you want a true biotope think A. trifasciata occurs in heavily vegetated habitats and is a real stunner if you can find them.

Trifasciata2a.jpg


cheers Darrel
 
what a beautiful pic

Yeah I think a trip to camborne next weekend is in order. Might be able to have a quick look round the Plymouth fish shops this weekend but don't have much time.

For dwarf cichlids, what should I be doing in terms of water changes? I currently do ~20% once a week but from reading around it seems most people recommend more. What do you guys do?
 
robfromdublin said:
For dwarf cichlids, what should I be doing in terms of water changes? I currently do ~20% once a week but from reading around it seems most people recommend more. What do you guys do?

I change 50% either once or twice a week on my dwarf cichlid tanks (but they're all planted too).

Mark
 
That aspisto is stunning! Makes me think of trying them when my tank gets water in it.
 
dw1305 said:
Hi all,
I do 10% rainwater a day in all the tanks (they are all heavily planted and low nutrient/low tech.).

cheers Darrel

Must be scary when we have 8 weeks without rain...

:)

m
 
Hi all,
Must be scary when we have 8 weeks without rain...
Yes I've never run out, but it has got quite close a couple of times. I've got just over 1000 litres of water at home, and another 2300 litres at work, so it does need to be quite along drought before I get too worried.

This is the back of the house with 3 water butts, I've got 2 more at the front.
back_wall.jpg


and this is one of my 2 IBC's in the glasshouse.
IBC_web.jpg


cheers Darrel
 
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