# will this stocking in a 55 gallon work?



## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

6-juli corys 
2-cockatoo apistos 
1-bristlenose pleco 
1-firemouth cichlid 
1-angelfish 
1-bolivian or gold ram 
1-Geophagus balzanii (this is what i dont know about) if it wont work then a blood parrot will take it's place. 
it'll be soooooooooooo cool if this all would work out, but im new with cichlids and even though none are really that aggressive and aqadvisor says it'd be ok i want a cichlid expert.


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## Adrian101 (Jan 24, 2011)

not sure about your geo but rams should be kept in groups really. They are a social fish. Hopefully some one else can help more.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

G'day *allaboutfish1996*,

The Firemouth will be too aggressive for the apistos.

The Balzani needs a winter period and should be kept in a species only tank, or a Uruguayan tank.

The Blood Parrot will be even worse than the Firemouth, and has no Business being kept with SA cichlids.

What type of tank do you want to set up?

Can you also tell us about your setup. What equipment you are using, what is the substrate, how is the tank decorated. Also what is your waters PH.

Have you explored the Library here at C-F? It has lots of good articles about lots of different things. One place you might like to start is the Cookie Cutter setups for a 55 gallon tank.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/c ... er_55g.php


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

actually blood parrots are not aggressive at all and cant hram a fish bc of it's small deformed mouth you might be thinking of the parrot cichlid. 
actually im doing one of these
6-juli corys
2-cockatoo apistos
1-angelfish
1-blood parrot
1-bolivian ram
1-albino britlenose pleco
1-pearl gourami

or

6-juli corys
2-cockatoo apistos
1-angelfish
1-blood parrot
1-albino bristlenose pleco
1-blugill sunfish

both of the setups should work i just have to pick.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

I'm sorry *allaboutfish1996* could you please watch the following videos and tell me again that blood parrots are not aggressive.
















Blood parrots can be aggressive. Just because it can not close it's mouth, does not mean it can not inflict damage.

Cichlids are "relatively" peacefull as juveniles, but once they reach sexual maturity, they kick it up a few notches. When we keep cichlids in a community setting we try and reach a balance amongst the different species, in essence matching species with similar aggression levels, and in the same "wieght class" so to speak.

_My opinion_ is that the Blood parrot and the firemouth do not belong in the same tank as the other cichlids. You asked for other peoples thoughts, well these are mine. At the end of the day they are your fish to do with as you please.


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

video 1- seemed to me like it was a pair against pair defending territory.

video 2-that's how blood parrots spawn.

video 3-it even says theyre spawning.


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## Adrian101 (Jan 24, 2011)

*allaboutfish1996*
You asked for peoples opinions. If they have different experiences to you just respect that. Profiles tell me things but *** learnt that individual fish can be the complete opposite. I have a bgk that is the most active thing i own and a full grown gt Thats scared of Danios lol. I suggest not keeping rams individually as from experience they dont do well. If you dont agree with *DeadFishFloating* then Thats fine to but respect his experiences dont try to prove him wrong. And if you know about the fish you want why ask in the first place. We are all hear to learn and share knowledge, lets try and play nice


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

ill agree with the ram, but not the parrot bc i know someone who has a parrot


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

how about this
6-juli corys
6-green fire tetras
2-dwarf gouramis
2-cockatoo apistos 
1-albino bristlenose pleco
1-angelfish
1-parrot cichlid


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

and if the parrot gets aggressive *** got a 29 gallon i can put him in


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## Adrian101 (Jan 24, 2011)

id say fine. Not sure how big the tetras get so they be be angel food. But if they get big enough it should look good.


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

they get 2 inches is that small enough for them to eget eatin


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

what about white skirt tetras instead


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

or bleedinh heart tetras.


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

Blood parrots get pretty big and I don't think that a standard 29 gallon tank would be long enough. Have you cycled the 55 gallon tank yet? If you do a fishless cycle, you can add your whole stock list at once as juveniles. That would give you a better chance of the tanks inhabitants getting along with each other.


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## Adrian101 (Jan 24, 2011)

two inches is fine. Its just things like neons that become snacks.


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

the 29 gallon has about 4 of these fish 2-apistos and 2-corys tha 55 gallon i wont get until around june 4th, and ill be using the filter and all the substrate from my 29 gallon plus some new black sand over the sand in the 29. could i really add the whole stock list at once? i thought that would cause a huge mini cycle.


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## mlancaster (Jul 24, 2009)

allaboutfish1996 said:


> how about this
> 6-juli corys
> 6-green fire tetras
> 2-dwarf gouramis
> ...


Hi allaboutfish1996,

I think the list above looks pretty good. As you noted, the concern would be the Blood parrot. However, I have seen temperaments from extremely peaceful to as aggressive as a red devil with these guys. So you will just have to try it out. Personally I think a 29g is fine for a single blood parrot, so you have a backup plan if the blood parrot starts to get "too" aggressive towards the angle. I have not kept green fire tetras, but their body shape looks pretty slim (i.e. easily eaten). You other choices of white skirts and bleeding hearts are much better options. My 10 inch Geo lives with skirt tetras and during feeding time will lunge at them, but they turn sideways and sprint off as a defense to his attacks.

As for cycling the new tank, just get a test kit (API liquid drop master test kit) set up the new tank with the stuff and fish from the 29g and test the water. If there is ammonia or nitrite add prime and do water changes every other day until it is cycled. Then you can start adding your new fish. Make sure to continue to test you water after you add new fish to identify a mini cycle.

Keep us posted with pictures when you set it up.

Thanks,
Matt


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

hmmm now to decide between the skirts and bleeding heart. ill decide when i pick an angel. i have an api master kit already and prime so looks like im set to go. ill definently post pics once thise is setup.


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## Pizzle (May 24, 2011)

> could i really add the whole stock list at once? i thought that would cause a huge mini cycle.


No. With the way you are going about doing it, which is actually a great way to do it, you would just move all of the contents of the 29 gallon, including the water, live stock, filter and decorations, to the 55 gallon and you should not experience a cycle. Then you would want to add a few new fish every couple of weeks, while using a test kit to check on your waters parameters.

I had suggested doing a fishless cycle which is where you set up a new tank and dechlorinate the water. Then add enough ammonia to the water, which is usually used as a household disinfectant, to bring the ammonia, as measured by a test kit, up to about 3 ppm. Fishless cycling is all the rage these days. I just completed my first fishless cycle about a month ago and it works great. When you do a fishless cycle you add much more ammonia than would be possible in a traditional cycle using fish. The bacteria which consume the ammonia form a balance in proportion to the amount of ammonia that is produced in the aquarium. Because you are able to add much more ammonia when you do not have any tank inhabitants and build up a large bio-filter in proportion to the amount of ammonia, you can then add the whole stock list at the same time. Maybe you can do a fishless cycle on the 29 gallon after you empty its contents into the 55.


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

maybe bc i might set it up but i dont know yet. i might use it to breed apistos or convicts or something.


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

6-juli corys 
6-green fire tetras 
2-cockatoo apistos 
1-albino bristlenose pleco 
1-angelfish 
1-parrot cichlid
1-bluegill sunfish
would this be ok also? aqadvisor said this would be OK, but what do yall think?


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

or maybe
6-juli corys 
6-green fire tetras 
2-cockatoo apistos 
4-bolivian rams
1-albino bristlenose pleco 
1-angelfish 
1-bluegill sunfish 
which out of the three *** listed would be best?


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## ahud (Aug 22, 2009)

Pretty sure the bluegill will destroy almost your whole stock list.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

Trolling


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## allaboutfish1996 (May 26, 2011)

would a geophagus pellegrini need groups and a species only tank also?


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

A 55 gallon tank is generally considered too small to keep most geophagus species in. While a 55 gallon tank appears to be quite large to people new to the hobby, it's dimensions can be quite limiting as to which cichlid species you can keep in it comfortably and how many fish you can keep in the tank.

Many cichlids feel much more comfortable in a species shoal. However (most of) our tanks are no where near enough large enough to mimic thier natural environment and provide them the space they need. Even pike cichlids, one of the most aggressive species to keep in an aquarium are seen in shoals in the wild.

If you have the room to keep a single species in a social group, you will be able to witness different forms of interaction that you will not witness in a community tank made up of single individuals from many different species.

As I said before, when looking at your signature I am concerned that the blood parrot will end up taking out the apistos and dwarf gouramis.

If you want to keep the parrot, maybe you should consider some other cichlids that matchup in terms of size and aggression levels. I'm not saying your parrot is (or will be aggressive), but I think it would be better kept with SA or CA cichlids with a similar temperament in the 6 to 8 inch range.

If the cactuoides and angelfish (along with the tetras and catfish) are your prefered cichlids, consider cichlids that better match with them.


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## conoholic (Nov 12, 2005)

ok FIRST of all, blood parrots can get as agressive as a dovii if provoked, *** had a blood parrot ( male ) that bred with my pink female con ( but the blood parrots are sterile ) and he was ( whether breeding OR not breeding ) aggressive towards ME and his tanke mates... so saying there not aggressive is a total lie..... some are nice, but they do have the devils gene ( red devil ) in them. ( some say blood parrots is breed from a severum/red devil mix. so i dont know really yet )

6-juli corys: thats fine 
6-green fire tetras: thats fine 
2-dwarf gouramis: not good for a cichlid tank 
2-cockatoo apistos: pair or two females
1-albino bristlenose pleco: thats fine 
1-angelfish: not with the blood parrots ( to me blood parrots and angels dont mix and just seems odd. )
1-parrot cichlid: either the angel OR blood parrot... and if you choose blood parrot then get rid of the apisto to...

why not do just this:

1 blood parrot
1 con
1 firemouth
12 beuno aire tetras
1 bristle nose and/or rubber lip

then call it stocked?


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## conoholic (Nov 12, 2005)

ok just read the 2nd page and i guess a new stock list was made, a few of them, i think hes trolling now.... already irritated me saying/demading that blood parrots *arent* aggressive....... ever had one to experience yourself? not all blood parrots are the same... and personally i cant see a blood parrot being kept with dwarf cichlids... if you want them, then get bigger cichldis ( for a 55 i would get 2 other speicie that doesnt grow bigger then 6 inches, male convict/firemouth with the blood parrot would be ok. )


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## BelieveInBlue (Jul 17, 2011)

conoholic said:


> ok just read the 2nd page and i guess a new stock list was made, a few of them, i think hes trolling now.... already irritated me saying/demading that blood parrots *arent* aggressive....... ever had one to experience yourself? not all blood parrots are the same... and personally i cant see a blood parrot being kept with dwarf cichlids... if you want them, then get bigger cichldis ( for a 55 i would get 2 other speicie that doesnt grow bigger then 6 inches, male convict/firemouth with the blood parrot would be ok. )


It is best not to get too heated over these things. You can't change someone's mind if they're set and don't want to change. The only thing you can do is give some alternatives that will work, and hope they take your advice. And if they don't, well some things have to be learned the hard way.


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