# My 6ft Lipton Tea South American Tank



## Donnixd (Sep 13, 2009)

Hi all, 
I just completed setting up my SA cichlid tank, itâ€™s now cycling and now Iâ€™m wondering which cichlids to keep.

Firstly I always get Black Beard Algae in my tanks so I want an efficient algae crew. One BN pleco, 5-6 SAE and 1-2 catfishes?

I wanted to keep an Oscar because they have the most personality and intelligence 
but decided not to. So now im aiming for a fishstock with *colourations*. I was thinking:
2 red 1 gold Severums (as the dominate cichlids)
1 Firemouth (they look nice)
10-12 Schooling Tiger barbs (i love these fish, never a bore watching them)
2-3 Rams (never had them before)

This is just a brainstorming list. Im also interested in JD and GT. 
My filtration system is two canisters. One solely for bio filter and the other is has chemi and pads. Two internal sponge filters(OTTO 160gph) and a sponge filter system in the hoodie. The water is pretty tannin by the wood. I keep the light low and it looks really calming, but from birdseye view dwn to the bottom. Looks like a big cup of tea..

Anyways iâ€™ll be going overseas for DEC and let the tank cycle, so please fire out lots of suggestions on which cichlids I should keep. I look forward to reading the replies when I return..

Regards Donnie..


----------



## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

Did I miss what size tank it is?

...Bill


----------



## Donnixd (Sep 13, 2009)

The dimensions.. 174cm long (~6ft), 60 cm high (1.9ft) and 44cm wide(1.4ft).. itâ€™s quite narrow, itâ€™s prob 450L (120G).. but the gavel and decor takes quite a percentage in space


----------



## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

An aqua-scaping tip (my personal opinion - take it or leave it);

I'd either remove the clay pot (because it looks 'unnatural' in an otherwise natural looking set-up), or if you are using it as a potential spawning site I would add one or two more and hide them behind the wood and at either end of the tank (this would give your cichlids options, and if you do get a pair claiming a territory I find it is better for the rest of the fish if the parents claim one end of the tank instead of the middle).

If your keeping Rams I would suggest dropping the Firemouth (which is CA anyhow) as they occupy the same space as the Ram but are larger and arguably more aggressive.

If your keeping Rams I would suggest Bolivian over German/Blue... Bolivians are typically more accepting of a wider range of water parameters - including temperature (German Rams prefer higher temps then a lot of other fish species like).

Your heater - I'd move it lower (and placed horizontal), or more towards the middle so it's sort of hidden behind the stump.

Nice looking chunks of wood by the way! I like them a lot!


----------



## gnomemagi (Jun 13, 2009)

For the bottom cleaning crew, I would avoid SAE. As they mature, they'll latch onto cichlids and eat their mucus coat. And they aren't efficient algae eaters to begin with.

I would go with several bristle nose plecos (3-4) and a troop of cories (also SA - perhaps 8-10 of the little guys).

I like Serpae Tetras (South American). I would do a school of about 15-20 of them.

For cichlids, Severums are good and won't eat your cories/tetras. I would go with a male/female pair. Chances are if you get three, one will be outcast. So either male/female or female/female.

You could keep the Firemouth (since you are probably rather attached... even though it is CA).

For more SA, then I might consider some Festivum in there, or perhaps a Blue Acara.


----------



## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Hey *Donnixd*,

Nice setup your got going there. I guess one of the pieces of driftwood is still a floatie, hence the rocks holding it down. :lol:

I agree with *illy-d* about the pots and the rams. With your substrate, I'd skip on the rams totally, as they a sand shifters and your substrate looks a little large.

I have another idea, and as your not opposed to mixing SA and CA cichlids, have a look at the profile for Hypsophrys nicaraguensis. They are available in Australia (through the aquarium supplier Bayfish - ask your LFS if they don't have them in stock) and would mix well with Severums. I think you could do two males and four females in your tank.


----------



## eric (Jan 1, 2002)

Nice setup!! 

I like the advice by illy-d on losing the firemouth. Besides being a CA fish, they are not a fan of the water that the rams will thrive in. I like sand as well. Here's are some tanks as an example http://www.cichlid-forum.com/eric/mytan ... ry2005.htm

If you want to keep it SA, you may want to lose the barbs and choose a tetra or rasbora instead of the barbs. Not there is anything wrong with keeping barbs with your SA's.

Keep your project moving forward! Looks good!


----------



## Darkside (Feb 6, 2008)

gnomemagi said:


> For the bottom cleaning crew, I would avoid SAE. As they mature, they'll latch onto cichlids and eat their mucus coat. And they aren't efficient algae eaters to begin with.


This is incorrect, you're thinking of Chinese algae eaters. SAEs are the best algae eating fish I've come across in aquaria. They are peaceful fish that will only eat the smallest of fry (my checkerboards  ) and they eat almost every type of algae including hair and BB algae. I have them in all of my tanks with fish from Asia, Africa, CA and SA, I've never witnessed a case of them eating the slime coats of other fish. In fact they are one of my favourite all time fish, when I put my hands in the aquarium to clean it they're friendly and even come to greet me.


----------



## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

Yes there are definite differences between SAE and CAE. My SAE experiences are much like *Darksides*, where as my CAE experience is just as *gnomemagi* describes... The two species (and a third if I recall) are often mislabeled at the LFS...


----------



## eric (Jan 1, 2002)

Actually there are four! The hardest to to tell is not the "Chinese algae eater" but the "false siamensis" from the true siamensis or Siamese Algae Eater (SAE). Here is a great article http://www.thekrib.com/Fish/Algae-Eaters/

When you know what to look for in a shop, you can save a bunch of money purchasing this fish when it is mislabeled. Great fish!


----------



## Donnixd (Sep 13, 2009)

Im back,

Thanks for all the replies guys, and welcome to the new yr 2010.  

I took ur aqua-scaping tip illy-d

To be clear, I want to keep Siamese Algae Eater because they eat the dreaded Black Bead Algae.
DeadFishFloating, i did some research on Hypsophrys nicaraguensis, 
they seem to fit nicely what IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢m looking for.   
I rang some LFS and one shop sells small size for $7AUD each, iÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll check it out within this week.

In Aust. they donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t sell RED severums, which I am disappointed.

I want to keep salvini cichlids, but researching on the internet, some sites say they have mild aggression and good community others sites say they are unpopular because they are so aggressive, difficult to keep. Anyone share their personal experience keeping Salvini. :-? 
..my list is moving more to Central Cichlids now, i should move this post of CA?


----------



## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

^You could always start another thread in CA - and ask about the Salvini in that one... There are a few members here with spectacular looking Salvini that would be able to give you more info on them...


----------



## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

gnomemagi said:


> For cichlids, Severums are good and won't eat your cories/tetras. I would go with a male/female pair. Chances are if you get three, one will be outcast. So either male/female or female/female.
> 
> For more SA, then I might consider some Festivum in there, or perhaps a Blue Acara.


You can certainly try to have multiple severums in the same tank, but you might not like the results. I started off with three females in a 135. Then one jumped out, presumably fleeing from one of the others. The remaining two females battled, and eventually the smaller went back to the LFS. I know many other people have had issues with conspecific aggression in Severums. I'd definitely have one, but having any more than one may cause problems.

In addition, hungry severums WILL eat smaller tetras. Depending on the size of the severum, and the size of the tetras...they may all disappear.

I like the Festivum and Blue acara ideas.


----------



## Donnixd (Sep 13, 2009)

Today I brought 1 male (~7 inc) 1 female (~5inc) Nic cichlid & 4 small Blue acara from my LFS (just a little advertisement to melb AUST members, the shop is All Aquarium & Pet Supplies..itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s small shop but itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s great, has exciting cichlid stock for a good price and very knowledgeable staff).

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ll try post pics, they shy atm.


----------



## anntaylor (Sep 3, 2010)

Donnixd, which type of fishes u have now, can u tell me that from where I can see all the fish types in CA?


----------

