# Central American tankmates with bull head



## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

Hello all,

I used to be quite an avid cichlid man prior to moving to college. I had kept and bred all sorts of africans (malawi and tang) and never really experienced much with central/south american fish. I have been desperate to get a tank and get back into the world aquatic world. A little while ago, i grabbed a craigslist bargain. 4 foot tank

So anyways, *** got a 3.5 inch bull head cat. I know how big they get, how you cant release them into native ponds...etc. The local pond here has a thriving "wild" guppy population, which has been his main food source thus far along with the white bread staple. I just go down and net some here and there, toss then in an airated 5 gallon bucket and treat them with some basic medications a few days before feeding.

Well anyways, my reasons for posting... my roommates are tired of having a 5 gallon bucket sitting around, and im not too fond of catching, treating and feeding these guppies. However i do not want to lose the live food aspect of feeding the bull head. I would like to know the potential compatibility of some fast breeding cichlids. I.E. convicts or whatever else anybody has in mind.

The tank has good cover, rocks and plants and such. Sand substrate.

Let me know what ya think!


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## TheFishGuy (Apr 21, 2005)

Honestly... Feed the cat sinking shrimp pellets. Better for it and it will grow faster... The cons (if in the same tank) Would kill it if they're spawning.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

You think that 2 inch convicts will be able to terrorize something twice their size that badly? The bullhead is fairly nocturnal, he comes out of his cave occasionally during the day, but mainly just starts to lurk and scavenge when the lights go out.


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## cichlidfan16 (Sep 22, 2011)

Cons are pound for pound the baddest cichlids there is, Imho. When they are breeding they can be very nasty and they could wipe out about any tank mates they want. Years ago when I first experienced convict breeding I had to move them out the tank cause they were beating the **** out of my 6" jag. Don't let there size fool you. If your bullhead gets near their eggs/fry, he'll have major issues.


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## Aquatic Aggression (Sep 26, 2011)

I agree cons can be bad little brawlers when they spawn. I must also mention con fry have a fairly slow growth rate. Your bullhead will more than likely eat the entire spawn immediately and still be hungry as the parents bite his eyes and fins off.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

Thanks for your input! Are HRP's pretty much the same deal?

Im was hoping to have some breeding cichlids within the tank to create some food for the bull head just as much to have color and breeding going on.

I had planned to feed to the bullhead other food besides cichlid fry :lol:

Any other fish that would add some color and make good tankmates? They just have to be bigger than the bull heads mouth.

another option is just scrapping cichlids all together and trying to get some small colorful sunnies


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## cichlidfan16 (Sep 22, 2011)

Yeah HRP's are pretty much the same, not quite as aggressive but it'll be the same issues. Your probably gonna run into the same issue no matter the breeding species as far as your bullhead eating the fry before they even have a chance to grow at all, but some species aren't as aggressive as other during breeding. It's probably just gonna be hit or miss. If your looking for easy to breed CA cichlids these are the ones I've had easy succes breeding, cons, rainbows, firemouths, and neets. Neets are very nasty little fish as well though. And another species is nics, which I'm about to get for the first time. Another option, though they're not cichlids is live bearers like swordtails or platys. But your bullhead may eat them. All you can do is try though.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

I kind of question whether or not he can even catch any of those fry. I dont think bubba(the bullhead) is much of a hunter. I dropped a few of those guppies in last night, I watched him dig into the sand a bit and wait for them to come by. A half hour later, and he was unsuccesful in his attempts. Woke up this morning and 3 were still swimming around :lol:


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

Rainbows are similar aggression as well?


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## cichlidfan16 (Sep 22, 2011)

My rainbows are near as aggressive as the cons when they are breeding, they kind of run other fish off but that's about it, never had them attack or pick on any of the other fish. And they are beautiful when they are breeding, the yellow and black in them is amazing. I;m actually in the process of trying to to get some to pair up. Kept 7 out of my last batch. It's really not if your bullhead can catch them, but there are just so many fry and they all stay in one area so he'll have a buffet to feed on at first. Once the fry get a little bigger and stray off from the parents then he may have a hard time catching them but the question is how many will be left to actually grow. Another possibility is get a grow out tank and put the fry in there until they reach a decent size then put them back into your bigger tank.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

Sort of off topic but what pond you speak of? I'm in Mass to, found the guppy thing interesting. Curious.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

Ahh *** since moved to virginia for college. I never updated my location. It is far too cold up there for tropical livebearers to survive id imagine. I expected it to be far too cold around here though as well.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

bac3492 said:


> Ahh I've since moved to virginia for college. I never updated my location. It is far too cold up there for tropical livebearers to survive id imagine. I expected it to be far too cold around here though as well.


There's a lake in Missouri that has had a wild piranha population survive for a few years now & they can get some cold winters there. Interesting to hear these story's for cold weather states.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

Bought 6 HRP's at around 2 inches in length today. To be shipped sometime next week id imagine. If aggression is too high for my liking... i guess ill just have to snag another tank or remove the cat. Im pretty desperate to get back into the cichlid world :lol:

If not a hungry cat, what else can be added with these guys in a 4 foot tank. I had a buddy tell me he kept cons with a small fleet of livebearers. Pineapple swords to be exact.

Seems unlikely to work to me... any dither thoughts?


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## Bruce Haynes (Sep 8, 2010)

Swordtails would be perfect!


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## cichlidfan16 (Sep 22, 2011)

I keep swordtails and tiger barbs with my cons, just try and keep the swordtail ratio to 1m to 3 or 4 fm. Males will pick on each other.


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## bac3492 (Jul 25, 2008)

How well do cory cats do with them? Checked a few lfs and all the swordtails were like 7 bucks a pop for ugly strains. So i will be waiting on getting those for a bit.

Been thinking about some bottom feeders to do some clean up. Are a small pack of cories gonna be able to manage with HRPS?


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