Dicrossus filamentosus ?

[joestreich]

A little background. My boss wanted to set up a fish tank in the office. He had a 20 gal at home so he brought it in. He wanted me to help him set it up and help him with fish selection. that might have been a mistake on his part. i will take this oppertunity to put fish in there that i am interested in. If it were up him he would have neon tetras and a red tailed shark. I quickly let him know that that was not going to happen.

Would Dicrossus filamentosus with a school of small tetras be alright in a 20 gal tank? I know you guys and gals have and have seen a lot of setups so if you had another suggestion I am all ears.....or eyes in this case.

Water Parameters are pH 7, TDS 140, planted aquarium, nitrate 0, nitrite 0 just set up so i do have to cycle it yet.


Joel

 

[Mud Pie Mama]

Hi Joel, is this a 20 regular, 20 long, or 20 tall. Each one has a different footprint.

For my own experience, I started w/ three D. filamentosus in a 35g planted hex, one became a bully and relentlessly chased the other two. One of the chased cowered in the underbrush and almost never would come out; the other endlessly zipped away from Mr. Bully. I then purchased all the rest my LFS had, giving me eight total. But, I moved them into a 75g planted, and they all did well w/o any more obvious bullying.

How many were you planning on housing in this 20g? That may influence how they interact. And, again, any species of cichlid can show quite a range of individual personalities. Meaning, sometimes you can just end up w/ a BRAT!

 

[joestreich]

thanks for the info mud pie mama, the foot print of the tank is 2 foot by 1 foot.

I am not sure how many i was thinking of putting in there. I was waiting to hear personal experience of people who have dealt with this fish. I really was thinking more of a pair, but that doesnt sound like a good idea, after hearing what you went thru. There are always apistos!

Thanks again for your reply

Joel

 

[Mike Wise]

If it were me, I would put in a less demanding but colorful species like A. borellii Opal or a domestic red variety of A. cacatuoides. This is supposed to be a community tank. People will want to see pretty fish. Successful breeding is optional.

 

[joestreich]

ok, i do have a pair of Apisto panduro that ia m looking to move. i could use these guys in htat tank. The big question now is what to put in with them any suggestions?

Joel

 

[Gillie]

Although panduro are a very attractive fish they probably would not be the best choice for such a small community tank. They would probably end up spawning in the tank and anything else would probably die. This is just from my experiences with them though.

 

[Bev N]

I'd be afraid they would be a problem too. I have put borelli, cacatuoides, hongsloi and rams in community tanks. Some have spawned and have even gotten fry to freeswimming. Even defending their young they have not done damage to the angelfish, discus, barbs and whatever else I've tossed in there.

 

[chris1932]

Hongsloi, cardinals, and dwarf corydoras.