Suspiciously peaceful - calm before the storm?

[Last Triumph]

They are all great looking fish, your JD is amazing, not seen an Electric blue Acara that big, you are obviously taking good care for the fish to reach that size and condition.

Thank you.

I'm concerned about the Central vs South, hard vs soft points raised above as I want the fish to be happy.

I've just done some research and drawn up a table of the various parameters I can find online to see if I'm wildly off the mark with any of the fish and from a chemistry perspective, nothing looks too far adrift, i.e my parameters seems to pretty much fall within the window for the various types...



The only ones that fall outside my parameters are the Severums by 0.5 pH, yet they are the fastest growing and seemingly healthy fish I have.

Do I need to be worried if they are all growing and appear to be healthy?

[Ric]

Perhaps you can just remind us how long you have had the tank and fish? If you have had them for quite some time and they have all been doing well, then I agree, something is working. If it has all just been put together, then any of the concerns raised are re the long-term welfare of the fish.

[Last Triumph]

The tank has been set up for just over two years now. The longest inhabitants are the Golden Nugget Pleco and Electric Blue Acara who were there on day one.
The rest of the fish have been added slowly as the tank matured and filter capacity grew.
The most recent additions are the Uaru and Jack Dempsey who have been in there about 6 months.
The rest of the fish anywhere in between.

[Stephen]

Hi Andrew

The 4 foot, 300L aquarium will still be over-stocked at some point in the future.
At the moment it appears calm and will hopefully remain calm for quite a while whilst the fish are still fairly young but they will grow.
You asked the question "Suspiciously peaceful - calm before the storm?" obviously based on your own concerns.

5 months ago you have almost twice as many fish but you have thinned out those numbers and kept to one fish of any species (except the severums) which was a sensible move.
You have also considered upgrading the filter to a Fluval FX6 in the future, which is another sensible consideration.
The next consideration (for the future) would be to get a bigger aquarium, maybe a 6x2x2 foot which would give twice the water volume (600L) or better still a 8x2x2 would give three times the water volume (900L). That bigger aquarium is still a little way off but something to consider.
The aquarium is calm & peaceful, the fish appear happy, so you're definitely doing something right

Going back to a previous thread of yours; I hope you have stopped feeding beef heart to the fish (some LFS give bad advise).

All the best



Stay safe & healthy everyone

[plankton]

I'm amazed you've kept the nugget for two years, they are one of the fussiest plecs generally available on the market and don't often do well in any water above 6.6ph or 5 dGH.
I would have thought that the food would get taken by all the large cichlids before he had a chance as well.
So you have done well for two years.
The problems, if (or when ) they arise, are likely to happen later on with the wrong water as lifespans are cut and the osmotic system problems break down the immune systems.

[Last Triumph]

Hi Andrew

The 4 foot, 300L aquarium will still be over-stocked at some point in the future.
At the moment it appears calm and will hopefully remain calm for quite a while whilst the fish are still fairly young but they will grow.
You asked the question "Suspiciously peaceful - calm before the storm?" obviously based on your own concerns.

5 months ago you have almost twice as many fish but you have thinned out those numbers and kept to one fish of any species (except the severums) which was a sensible move.
You have also considered upgrading the filter to a Fluval FX6 in the future, which is another sensible consideration.
The next consideration (for the future) would be to get a bigger aquarium, maybe a 6x2x2 foot which would give twice the water volume (600L) or better still a 8x2x2 would give three times the water volume (900L). That bigger aquarium is still a little way off but something to consider.
The aquarium is calm & peaceful, the fish appear happy, so you're definitely doing something right

Going back to a previous thread of yours; I hope you have stopped feeding beef heart to the fish (some LFS give bad advise).

All the best



Stay safe & healthy everyone

Thanks - a bigger aquarium is on the cards, but I'm limited to space so might need to be imaginative with depth, as 5 foot is about as long as I can cope with as our house is very small and it;s the only free wall.

Yes, I no longer feed beef heart thanks to your advice.

They get Omega One pellets, Betta Catfish pellets (just a few), Tetra mixed wafers, Gamma frozen blood worm, Gamma frozen brine shrimp with garlic and frozen 'Cichlid Mix'.

[Last Triumph]

I'm amazed you've kept the nugget for two years, they are one of the fussiest plecs generally available on the market and don't often do well in any water above 6.6ph or 5 dGH.
I would have thought that the food would get taken by all the large cichlids before he had a chance as well.
So you have done well for two years.
The problems, if (or when ) they arise, are likely to happen later on with the wrong water as lifespans are cut and the osmotic system problems break down the immune systems.

Yeah, the GN has had me concerned once or twice, hence I use a feeding tube now to drop pellets and wafers behind the rock work whilst the other fish are munching away on the stuff in the general environment. He's not the brightest fish in the tank, but gets the hint when needed.

As for the water chemistry, hopefully I'm not far away from ideal parameters for any of the fish - upper end of the spectrum for some, lower end for others?

I artificially harden the water with crushed coral in the filter to stabilise the pH as we have precious little, if any kH out of the tap - less than 2kH at best and sub 6.0 pH crashes were a common thing, hence I now keep it circa 4-6kH and a neutral pH.

It's not like I'm trying to keep discuss in a Malawi tank or Pseudotropheus in an Amazon pool.

[Stephen]

Hi Andrew

The 4 foot, 300L aquarium will still be over-stocked at some point in the future.
At the moment it appears calm and will hopefully remain calm for quite a while whilst the fish are still fairly young but they will grow.
You asked the question "Suspiciously peaceful - calm before the storm?" obviously based on your own concerns.

5 months ago you have almost twice as many fish but you have thinned out those numbers and kept to one fish of any species (except the severums) which was a sensible move.
You have also considered upgrading the filter to a Fluval FX6 in the future, which is another sensible consideration.
The next consideration (for the future) would be to get a bigger aquarium, maybe a 6x2x2 foot which would give twice the water volume (600L) or better still a 8x2x2 would give three times the water volume (900L). That bigger aquarium is still a little way off but something to consider.
The aquarium is calm & peaceful, the fish appear happy, so you're definitely doing something right

Going back to a previous thread of yours; I hope you have stopped feeding beef heart to the fish (some LFS give bad advise).

All the best



Stay safe & healthy everyone

Thanks - a bigger aquarium is on the cards, but I'm limited to space so might need to be imaginative with depth, as 5 foot is about as long as I can cope with as our house is very small and it;s the only free wall.

Yes, I no longer feed beef heart thanks to your advice.

They get Omega One pellets, Betta Catfish pellets (just a few), Tetra mixed wafers, Gamma frozen blood worm, Gamma frozen brine shrimp with garlic and frozen 'Cichlid Mix'.

Good to know.
Sounds like a good feeding routine.
A 5x2x2 foot aquarium would be about 500L, height is less important as length for swimming space.

All the best

[Last Triumph]

Update time:

I'm starting to notice some signs of aggression develop as the fish begin to grow - exactly as predicted above so it's time to start thinning the group out.

Some of them will just guard their space - JD, Green Terror and Geo Tapajos, where others are starting to be actively aggressive, chasing the other fish about, specifically the Geo Heckeli, Firemouth and Green Severum which i wasn't expecting.

From more research the Firemouth could benefit from re-homing and the Heckelii can also be moved on. I do love my Severums, so it will be hard to move one of them on, but if needs must.

As much as it breaks my heart, I might consider re-homing my Golden Nugget, as gorgeous as he is.

I'll see how it goes without them, and see if/what needs to be done next as a larger tank will be some time away.

[Ric]

Sorry to hear that, of course, but at least it wasn't completely unexpected. Main thing is that you can decide on which one(s) to rehome now and not end up with injured or dead fish.