I've had my RTS for at least 2 1/2 years. My 3 year old son loves him. He was part of my 29 gallon community tank(crazy huh), but he actually helped the cardinals and rasboras school together and wasn't hostile, just chased them a little. Eventually i upgraded my planted community tank to a 45 gallon. I decided to keep shrimp in this new setup...so no RTS. He stayed behind in the 29 gallon. The shark is about 3 inches long now. He's probably stunted being in the small tank, but his colors are amazing and dark. When i transplanted all my plants to the 45 along with most of my driftwood the p.h. rose to 7.6 in the 29 gallon, making it more suitable to cichlids, enough so that i'm willing to give it a shot.
In the tank also are 3 kuhli loaches, with a white sand substrate over black flourite. I have a lot of rock caves, and coming soon some driftwood covered with java ferns( i have to have some live plants, i'm addicted). I will be tying the java fern to the driftwood. I am religious about my water changes, and am filtered heavily. I've been researching a lot on cichlids and stocking. I've read success stories on keeping the RTS with cichlids and i think i've isolated some useful information on keeping the peace. I need to avoid cichlids with red colors and would like to stick with ones that will stay under 4-5 inches, but if when they get big i may have to upgrade to a larger tank ;-).
I would appreciate opinions on
how many cichlids to stock?
which ones to stock?
male to female ratio?
algae eater(s)?
Thanks everyone.
In the tank also are 3 kuhli loaches, with a white sand substrate over black flourite. I have a lot of rock caves, and coming soon some driftwood covered with java ferns( i have to have some live plants, i'm addicted). I will be tying the java fern to the driftwood. I am religious about my water changes, and am filtered heavily. I've been researching a lot on cichlids and stocking. I've read success stories on keeping the RTS with cichlids and i think i've isolated some useful information on keeping the peace. I need to avoid cichlids with red colors and would like to stick with ones that will stay under 4-5 inches, but if when they get big i may have to upgrade to a larger tank ;-).
I would appreciate opinions on
how many cichlids to stock?
which ones to stock?
male to female ratio?
algae eater(s)?
Thanks everyone.