Members Login
Username 
 
Password 
    Remember Me  
 

Topic: 30 and/or 55 gallon freshwater aquarium

Post Info
PC
LIFETIME MEMBER
Status: Offline
Posts: 307
Date:
RE: 30 and/or 55 gallon freshwater aquarium

Part of the reason this works for me is that the Convicts I have are a male and female so they naturally get along most of the time. The others are all different species, different looking and therefore not as much of a threat to the other's natural instinct. There are still aggressions but they are more territory issues where one fish gets a little close and gets chased out. If they were all the same species they would try to kill each other for mating rights. The fish can see body types and when they see one that looks like itself it is automatically hostile towards it because it is competition for it. The seperate species help. I do think in short time the Red Devil will need to be moved or something as he is outgrowing the others at a high rate and may start seeing them as food, which is normally decided by mouth size vs. fish size.

Another helpful factor is having enough room for each to have it's own space. In a smaller tank they will constantly be on top of each other and by running a fish will end up constantly in bad spots and then end up picked to death.

As for the convicts, they are indeed the smallest fish in the tank. They are very territorial and being they are mating in the tank it makes them more aggressive. These are the fish the Pike has most fueds with. I have seen the Pike grab a convict's entire face in his mouth and they still come out swinging. I can not guarentee that my set up will last forever since they are still relatively small and hit mating ages at different rates. It works for now though. I am personally okay though with natural selection in the tank. If I lose a fish to another fish I am okay with that, I just don't want to lose one to illness.

Listening to what you had in your tank, Rebecca, you most likely ended up with all males in a 20-30 gallon (your estimate) tank. The first to go was likely sick or skiddish and would have been torn apart fast. After that point it was just the constant problem of wanting mating rights even without females they would be instinctually pushed to become the dominent one. Odds are the one of each left killed off the others of their own species. Either that or constantly chased them to the other's forcing them to kill it.

Either way there is nothing that can be done to determine the outcome. Sometimes it will work, sometimes you lose your fish and you end up with one fat happy one. I had a tank with one Oscar, 2 Jack Dempsey and some other fish that became food. I put a poisonous fish with spikes in the tank hoping it would be safe enough to handle the spot. Turns out all the food I put in went directly to the Oscar who ended up getting big fast. The two Jack Dempseys who should have been enemies teamed up in an effort to eat and decided to eat the poisonous fish, spines and all in effort to survive. It just depends on each fish and how they feel in the long run.

__________________

2008 4Dr. JK Sahara 
Air Assault!!
Http://www.militaryjeepers.com

Supporting Member
Status: Offline
Posts: 523
Date:
wow, thanks for all the info!!biggrin i am still very interested.  probably in a least the cichlid tank.  maybe the other 55 too..... maybe.

couple more things.

what kind of filtration do you use on the tanks?

how often do you do cleanings, partial water changes, etc?

in the cichlids tank, how long (approx) are all the fish?

oh also, all the pics that you took, is that all the bigger they are? or could you send me the full size pics to my email maybe?

thanks again! smile

__________________
SCORE!: 1996 Cherokee Sport, bone stock, excellent condition, one owner, with currently 47,000 ORIGINAL miles!!
CURRENTLY:  2001 Cherokee Limited 4-dr, 33" Uniroyal Liberator A/Ts, 6-8" well built custom lift (sorry, i haven't measured yet).

SOLD: Project Rig: 87 Cherokee Pioneer 4dr.  bone stock now.  coming soon: 3" budget lift, go completely doorless and chop the rear cargo area out.

SOLD:  '98 Cherokee Sport 2dr, 3" SkyJacker w/ 2" budget boost, 31" Truxxus meats, Protofab off-road bumpers & rock rails, KC Highlights


PC
LIFETIME MEMBER
Status: Offline
Posts: 307
Date:
The tanks all have a filter that hangs on the back of the tank and is a contained unit as well as a powerhead with a filter on it. They are pretty well designed to be non invasive in appearance. In the cichlid tank I would say they all range in size from 2" to 5". Most are roughly 3" long. They will all end up being around 5-8" maybe bigger depending on how well they are kept and how many are in the tank. Too many fish can stunt their growth without enough room or water per fish.

As for water changes they usually reccomend 10% per week, so basically a 5 gallon bucket will suffice in the 55s. Cleaning of the gravel I probably do every two to 3 weeks and this also takes care of the water change at the same time. Usually takes about 10 gallons of water removal to get all of the gravel clean. It can vary though depending on what you feed them and how often. I usually also scrape algea once a week because one of the tanks is setting by a patio door and also has the sunlight recreation light on top. 

Things to keep in mind is you will need a product to remove chlorine and stuff from your tap water when doing water changes. I use one called Prime and it is very good. Food can be expensive depending on what you get. Feeding live food, although the cichlids will have fun with it, has inherent risk of bringing disease and parasites into the tank. Feeding frozen is good but you will want to give a variety not just stick to one thing. Dry food is good, like cichlid pellets. Floating will help keep the tank cleaner. If you take or get into saltwater the salt can be expensive if you are not expecting it. Also the salt tends to "creep" out of the tank due to condensation. You also have to really watch your salinity level (salt amount) closely, not enough and fish will not be able to breath, too much and they will die.

I am not sure how to get you full size pics of the fish and no the pics I put up are not accurate sized. The cichlids as I said go from about 2" (probably a little more and that is only a couple) to 5" which is the Red Devil. The others are running around 3" They are sized well for the tank and the tank does not look empty and also does not look overcrowded. The 90 gallon itself has only 3 fish in it and they look dwarfed. You would be surprised at the size look difference between the 55 and 90 even though the dimensions seem similar or close.

Not sure if I got everything but I hope I did, again any other questions, let me know.

__________________

2008 4Dr. JK Sahara 
Air Assault!!
Http://www.militaryjeepers.com

Supporting Member
Status: Offline
Posts: 523
Date:
sent you a PM

__________________
SCORE!: 1996 Cherokee Sport, bone stock, excellent condition, one owner, with currently 47,000 ORIGINAL miles!!
CURRENTLY:  2001 Cherokee Limited 4-dr, 33" Uniroyal Liberator A/Ts, 6-8" well built custom lift (sorry, i haven't measured yet).

SOLD: Project Rig: 87 Cherokee Pioneer 4dr.  bone stock now.  coming soon: 3" budget lift, go completely doorless and chop the rear cargo area out.

SOLD:  '98 Cherokee Sport 2dr, 3" SkyJacker w/ 2" budget boost, 31" Truxxus meats, Protofab off-road bumpers & rock rails, KC Highlights


 
«First  <  1 2 | Page of 2  sorted by
Quick Reply

Please log in to post quick replies.



Create your own FREE Forum
Report Abuse
Powered by ActiveBoard