# Noob to South American Cichlids please help



## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

Hi I pretty much have just had cons but i'm getting a another tank 55gallons. I really want angel fish because I think they look really cool but idk. So could some one tell me what i could stock in it and how i should set it up.


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

i would do a heavily planted angle tank with some rams and schooling tetras.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

+1 , and I'd go with a taller bodied Tetra over the slimmer species. The long thin Tetras can (depending on the size of the Angels) be eaten easily by the Angels. However if you can find them large enough Black Neons , Emperors , rummy noses and such can work.


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## HiImSean (Apr 5, 2007)

some rummy nose would be sweet


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

black neons are under rated as well, so id like to see someone use them for a change


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

Is it possible to mix the tetras? I plan on getting three or four angels and hevily planted i heardd thats what they like. from hiimsean and local fish stores.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Sure, you can mix them. The only issue with the tetras is size of tetra relative to the size of the angles mouth. You just want to try and make sure they wont get eaten. Other than that it's really up to you . One note on having multiple Angels. They are cichlids so some consideration should be made for aggression among themselves. if you see a pair form from the group, you'd probably want to find new homes for the others as the pair will make life hard on the unpaired fish.


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

That makes since thanks. would two rams be okay


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Yes they would, however the Angels are going to get bigger and tend to stay more visible , where the rams tend to stay near the bottom and their small size makes them less of a show piece for that size of tank.


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## jcushing (Apr 6, 2008)

rams are ok, they occupy totally different parts of the tank comapred to angels. its best to get 1 type of tetra so they all school together. other good fish would be cory cats and a smaller pleco.

oh and lots of plants and driftwood..... :thumb:


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

You can mix tetra species. In most of my tanks I've had atleast two different species of tetras, and slected ones that will school with thier own species. It's all about selecting the right species to mix together.

Quite often selecting two different body shaped tetras is the way to go. Also making sure that they are large enough not to be eaten by your Angels.

The one tetra species that I have kept, that didn't school together are Black neon tetras.

Tetras I think you could look at are, Rummynose tetras, Black Phantom tetras, Lemon tetras, Blackline or Hockeystick tetras, and Hatchetfish.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

DeadFishFloating said:


> You can mix tetra species. In most of my tanks I've had atleast two different species of tetras, and slected ones that will school with thier own species. It's all about selecting the right species to mix together.
> 
> Quite often selecting two different body shaped tetras is the way to go. Also making sure that they are large enough not to be eaten by your Angels.
> 
> ...


your black neons never schooled? they must have felt to safe LOL, whenever *** had them they schooled, weird.


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## a7oneal (Dec 30, 2004)

I've got 10 black neons right now that are always together...

If this were me, I'd get a pair of showpiece angels, some Corydoras, and then a large school (or a couple of smaller groups) of some of the tetras.

If I wanted more cichlids, I'd look at Bolivian rams (just a small group), and if I wanted some sort of Loricariid, I'd look at a small Ancistrus or Peckoltia, like P. vittata.

My personal preferences for tetra species are black phantom, red minor/serpae, lemon, black neon... though there are certainly many more that would work fine. I also happen to have a soft spot for head-and-tail light tetras, since they were the first fish I ever had.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

serpae tetras are beautiful, but if you want your cichlids to have nice long trailing fins dont go with serpaes! i warn you now, they are EVIL LOL.

i agree though, my favorites are Black Phantoms and Black Neons.

if you have room for 2 schools of at least 6 in each school lemons contrast really nicely with the black Phantoms, just a thought.

another pleco to look into would be the all so common clown pleco (Panaque maccus)! they have spunky little attitude that makes them fun to watch!

if you like Ancistrus spp, Ancistrus dolichopterus is beautiful as well, heres a pic:









they can supposedly be tricky to keep, i havent found this with mine, he seems hardy enough.


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## a7oneal (Dec 30, 2004)

I've heard that about serpaes quite frequently, but I've never found it to be true... maybe it's just my experience, but if I kept them in appropriately sized groups, they pretty much just worried about intra-specific interactions, and didn't worry about the gouramis or whatever I had with them. I suppose it's buyer beware.

Lemons and black phantoms would be nice (I think serpaes and black phantoms would be nice, too). I've been thinking about that combo myself for my next tank.

The Panaque suggestion is a good one, as well, though, if I'm not mistaken, the "clown plecos" we commonly see are often really Peckoltia vittata. Common names! That's a gorgeous Ancistrus, too.

Gage, we're on the same wavelength! We probably like the same fish...


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

*gage* awesome looking dolichopterus. We don't have them down here and they are the one ancistrus species I really want to keep. Very jealous.

I forgot about Head & Tail Light tetras. Some times they look pretty ordinary in the LFS, but get them home and feed them properly for a month and thier subtle colouration really does stand out.

Another tetras to also checkout is the Glow Light tetra.


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

How many tetras make a good schoolong group.


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

Oh also what kind of plants would work.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

The more the merrier with 8-10 for each type (for a total 16-20 between two species) to get things going would be good IMO. You can adjust numbers (and species) as conditions dictate.


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

a7oneal said:


> I've heard that about serpaes quite frequently, but I've never found it to be true... maybe it's just my experience, but if I kept them in appropriately sized groups, they pretty much just worried about intra-specific interactions, and didn't worry about the gouramis or whatever I had with them. I suppose it's buyer beware.
> 
> Lemons and black phantoms would be nice (I think serpaes and black phantoms would be nice, too). I've been thinking about that combo myself for my next tank.
> 
> ...


lol, *** never seen a peckoltia vittata in person, i was looking for them, couldnt find them lol.

youve never had that with serpaes? i will never keep serpaes with nice finned fish again, as the fins were gone within 2 days of getting the little "things" LOL, i only had a group of 6 though.

as far as the clown plecos, here is a Panaque maccus:









and this is Peckotia vittata









it probably depends greatly on where you live, but i always see the Panaque as clown pleco in my LFS, and they are one of my favorite plecos!


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

DeadFishFloating said:


> *gage* awesome looking dolichopterus. We don't have them down here and they are the one ancistrus species I really want to keep. Very jealous.
> 
> I forgot about Head & Tail Light tetras. Some times they look pretty ordinary in the LFS, but get them home and feed them properly for a month and thier subtle colouration really does stand out.
> 
> Another tetras to also checkout is the Glow Light tetra.


not actually mine, looks identical, but that one isnt mine lol

EDIT: this is the best pic i could find of mine, terrible pic:


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

I like both of those.


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Those are some nice plecos . It's so hard to come by those localy. Hmmm, might be a good reason to end my self imposed ban on ordering fish online. Great fish though :thumb:


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

I have an idea of what fish i want but not plants. what kind of plants should i get?


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## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

Vallisneria, Amazon Swords, Riccia, and maybe some duckweed or water lettuce for drowning out the lighting a bit.


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

okay should the gravel be natural looking?


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## Joels fish (Nov 17, 2007)

Check your local laws first with duckweed and water lettuce, I believe they are illegal in some parts of the country. If I remember correctly water lettuce is banned from sale in Texas or at least it was when I lived there though that may have changed in the last few years .


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## lam man48 (Jan 14, 2007)

okay i will check the laws


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## samericantank82 (Nov 5, 2008)

i have a s. american tank with blue, gold and bolivian rams, glowlight tetra, pygmy cory and oto catfish. what i noticed about plants is that they all love to hide in the cabomba and under the anubias nana. if you get a big enough group of nana, that could be like a "cave" for them. the cabomba is nice for any planted aquarium. keep in mind that this plant likes a lot of light and be careful when planting them. make sure that they form roots into the substrate or else the plant will quickly rot. as for substrate, seachem flourite (a bit messy when planting, but good source of iron, especially for anubias) or ada amazonia (a bit pricier) oh yeah, if you get amazonia, get amazonia 1 not amazonia 2. have fun with the tank. :thumb:


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