Making territory for new tank...

[MudFrog]

I am planning on putting 3 pairs of "Triple red" SA Cichlids in a 50 gallon. The fish are still small... 1 inch up to 2 inches... the females being the smallest.

The tanks is parcially planted now with a few swords etc... but I had the dojo loaches in there so nothing lasted long. I know that with pairs I need to carve out little territories... how do you think I should attempt this? Just divide into thirds... ???? use plants and wood?? I have pots for breeding.... I also have lots of slate...

Any advice? Things you might have tried that worked or didn't?

Also there are three little Ituglanis amazonicus cat fish in there... any problems that you can for see...??? They are slick little buggers!! Three stooges in action! Can I leave these in and still have fry?? They are about 2.5 inches long.

Any advice would be wonderful. i hope to start this weekend getting the tanks set up and adding fish next week. I am sure they will appreciate the extra room...lol

Thanks much,
Lisa

 

[nc_nutcase]

I tried an ‘Apisto Colony’ in a 55 Gal tank with 3-4 males and 8 females. One male grew to be the largest and strongest very quickly and killed off all the other males. The tank was heavily planted with a fair bit of driftwood, more small pots than there were fish, a shelf that extends the fill width of the tank (front to back) x 16 inches approximately half way up the tank (from top to bottom).

About a year later I stocked a 125 gal with 16 Apistos (approx 1M/2F ratio) and for the last 2-3 months things have gone very well. There is a thread about 10 posts down describing it.

Take that bit of experience however you want. I’m not suggesting your attempt will not work, just sharing what I did.

I have always heard that catfish are not good for any tank where we want to raise fry. I also have a few breeding pairs in smaller tanks and can see how their fry would quickly fall victim to even small catfish.

 

[ragmansrams]

i've had both experiences

i've had 5prs coexist and i've had the one male kill all the others also. it's like going to the casino. your more than likely to loose.