# Possible Addition of Top Dwelling Fish



## Telsiph (Feb 19, 2015)

Good Evening!

First I'd like to thank everyone for the great information that has been given to me in the past on this forum. The tank has been running smoothly for the last month and I'd like to think that I'm on the last steps to having everything in a position that the fish can just grow and thrive.

A little information on my setup, the tank is a 110 Gallon tall tank (so it is only 4 feet long) that is currently stocked with

4 medium silver dollars
Large green severum
Small green terror
Small salvini
Large pleco
Fully grown Red tailed shark
Fully grown Raphael cat fish

There are no current issues and everyone is living in harmony (for now). Part of me thinks I should leave the tank be, but I figure it is best to get any additions handled now rather than down the line. I am using an in tank filter, an Emperor 400 HoB filter and a SunSun 525 Canister Filter for cleaning as per recommendations on this forum.

Basically I'm wondering if there are any fish that tend to swim near the top of the tank that I could add to this setup. The Red Tail and Raphael never leave the bottom, the 3 Cichlids mostly stay near the bottom and have various territories but they do hang around the middle from time to time, and the 4 Silver Dollars consistently stay along the middle but rarely go towards the top. This being a very tall tank unfortunately leaves little room for territory claiming Cichlids at the bottom. While there is tons of space for big mamma Severum when she decides to swim about, I'd love to have something that stays near, or at least heavily frequents, the top. Ideally this would be my last addition as I do not believe the tank can support anything else once they are all fully grown, but feel free to let me know if I'm wrong in that regard.

I've got plenty of hiding spaces around the bottom, some massive drift wood to swim through, but from then on to the top it is pretty much empty to give everyone plenty of swimming room. Unfortunately this just makes the top look barren unless it is feeding time. I have not found anything that seems like it would be a good match for this particular tank, but it's possible I'm missing something. The tank was a steal so I can't complain too much about running into this issue, but I'd love to find some way to maximize it without stressing the fish!

Thanks!


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## Telsiph (Feb 19, 2015)

I took a quick cell phone video showing how barren the top looks. The salvini and raphael are not shown because they are camera shy.


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## Fishnut71 (Dec 7, 2014)

How about rainbow fish? This may be an issue though once that GT reach maturity, but for now they will be fine


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## Telsiph (Feb 19, 2015)

Yeah I'm keeping my eye on the GT. I've seen such a massive range of GTs from docile to insanely aggressive. If he turns out insanely aggressive he'll likely go back but I'd like to move forward with the hope that he ends up manageable.

I've done some research on rainbow fish and they do appear to be beautiful, but I'm seeing a few things. They appear to be schooling fish, so I would need multiple yeah? I'm concerned about the bioload in that case, for example my nitrates are at 20 PPM right now and my next water change is scheduled for Wednesday. Live plants would be an option if the nitrates were to go up from adding some more schooling fish, but I'm not sure there are any that I could add without the Severum gobbling them up!

I really love the look of these Boesmani, absolutely beautiful fish (though apparently I have to go searching for a healthy one to get that good color). This video here






Made me swoon as they are amazing and are swimming at the top of the tank. Would they be an option? I'm not really seeing anyone posting about keeping a GT and a school of them in the same tank, so that concerns me.

Thanks!


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## Fishnut71 (Dec 7, 2014)

Yes, they are schooling fish but that doesn't mean they won't thrive in a small group or even as a singleton. Like you've heard, GT, like other fish, have their own personality. Some are terrors and some are kittens. You stand a better chance of being able to house them together for life if you raise them together while the GT is still a baby. You can also put the odds in your favor by keeping the GT well fed. Still, its a crab shoot.

I have a lone 4"+ roseline barb in my 180 with large Central American cichlids and nobody bothers it.


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## Telsiph (Feb 19, 2015)

Gotcha, well I might give it a shot!

I know this is the eternal question and is based on a hundred different variables that no one can agree on, but how many do you think I can add until I'm max stocked? As they are a schooling fish I'd like to add a couple, assuming I can find them as I'm not sure I've ever seen them before, but I'm definitely concerned about waste. I'll talk to one guy and he says calculate using the inch per gallon rule but double the inches of large fish, and then I'll talk to another who says that the green terror needs 10 gallons per inch of fish, so he should really be the only fish in the tank.

What is your opinion? Thanks!


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## Fishnut71 (Dec 7, 2014)

Telsiph said:


> Gotcha, well I might give it a shot!
> 
> I know this is the eternal question and is based on a hundred different variables that no one can agree on, but how many do you think I can add until I'm max stocked? As they are a schooling fish I'd like to add a couple, assuming I can find them as I'm not sure I've ever seen them before, but I'm definitely concerned about waste. I'll talk to one guy and he says calculate using the inch per gallon rule but double the inches of large fish, and then I'll talk to another who says that the green terror needs 10 gallons per inch of fish, so he should really be the only fish in the tank.
> 
> What is your opinion? Thanks!


This is a heavily debated topic. Personally, for a 110, I feel you will have to ultimately decide on either the group of SD or the GT. There's a very good chance the GT may one day become intolerable of any tankmates. I don't feel your stock will be able to coexist for life......but who knows. If you remove the GT then you should be good since its the "dark horse" of the group.

If you decide you want to add rainbow fish, I don't see any issue with adding 5-6 to your stock. If you do adequate water changes and have adequate bio filtration, waste won't be an issue at all for that stock in that 110.


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## Telsiph (Feb 19, 2015)

Yeah in the end the GT is going to be up in the air. I've seen videos of him co-existing with a ton of tank mates, and then I've heard stories of him slaughtering entire tanks. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for the moment because I'd love to have a fully grown GT as they are absolutely beautiful, but I've got no qualms yanking out a hyper aggressive fish. Had a Firemouth that bullied my Oscar to death and that was the end of my patience for hyper aggression. Aggression is fine but there's a limit.

I've had a recommendation from a user on another forum to try out a pink tail chalceus. Sounds like an aggressive fish which stays at the top and can put up with the Cichlid craziness without trying to kill the SDs, but he gets awfully large so the bioload concerns me. Gonna do some research on both of these options and go from there.

Thanks!


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