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Does anyone have any large fish (6"+) besides discus in their planted tanks?

4K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  guppy 
#1 ·
I have yet to come across any tanks with central/south american cichlids (besides discus), piranha, arowanas, gars, knifefish, catfish, sturgeons, bass, etc. on a planted tank forum. I understand that these fish dont always lend themselves perfectly to planted tank environments. But I know there are some out there! Similar to how fish forums have sections for "planted tanks", maybe planted tank forums could have a section for "planted tanks with big fish". Anyway if anyone has any I'd love to hear about them and how its working out. Pics are never bad either!:)
 
#2 ·
i had 24 jack dempseys ready to go and I was about to put half of them into a 180 gallon. Unfortunately, my school upped the tuition and I couldn't buy the tank. Otherwise, I would have had a planted dempsey tank!! I was looking at crypts, etc. protected from digging with rocks, floaters, moss, etc. to allow the plants to be "movable" so that the dempseys could rearrange some plants to their pleasure.
 
#5 ·
I've always wanted a tank with some Sorubim Lima (they are more of a mid water fish that don't mess up the bottom) and swordplants. I now have a collection of swordplants but can't find S.Lima in this part of the pond!:mad: I've seen people mixing arowana(that's been trained to eat pellets and frozen food) with plants and small fish. I also have a friend that owns a nice 'biotope' of anubias, bolbitis and ropefish.
 
#6 ·
#7 ·
I'm interested in this topic, too.. I'm putting together a planted 75 at the moment and would really love some sort of largish CA cichlid as a 'centerpiece'. Unfortunately, I think Viejas will be a bit big (maxing out at 14"), and I'm not that interested in Jacks or Texas.

I think I've settled on trying to find some Sajica or maybe Multispinosa.. Not too big, but bigger than the schoolers and certainly a beautiful focal point.
 
#8 ·
Yes, thats one of the reasons I was wondering. I have a 125 running Co2 and 276 watts, mostly from t-5s, with ten piranha in it that I am about to plant. I am kind of anticipating an exercise in frustration at the beginning, trying to make the plants stay rooted and what not, but it can be done.
 
#9 ·
With mine, I plan on planting first and letting the plants set some roots down. I think I'll be waiting a couple of weeks before putting any cichlids (or any other diggers) in there.

I wouldn't want to move all those piranha while I 'scaped, though! I helped a friend redo his 125 (I think), which houses this massive black piranha.. Most nerve-wracking fishtank experience of my life! Expensive fish, squishy human fingers, carpeted floor... oh my!
 
#11 ·
I have 2 large Silver Dollars in my 125, but I'm defying all of the odds doing it since they are known lawn mowers. I guess I just overwhelmed them with a bunch of Anubias and they finally got tired of it. I also had some 1' + Bala's in there, but they finally died from old age.

My latest addition to the tank will be Frontosa's (after quarantine), so we'll see how that goes.
 
#12 ·
Funny you mention that about your Silver Dollars, Jan. I have a young one (about 1.5") and it has not touched my plants yet. It eats whatever I feed the rest of my fish. In fact, I've had more trouble with rainbowfish nipping at fresh plant tips.

Is there a Silver Dollar look-alike that in not a herbivore? All the fish in that genus that I've read about are all herbivores!
 
#14 ·
I tried to change my fish tank to a planted fish tank with my 6.5" eclipse catfish and three 4" clown laoches but they kept up rooting everything as soon as I would plant it. So I would recommend letting plants get well rooted before any large fish go in. The cat fish would simply swim across the tank at night and his tail would send plants all over the place. I have moved the large fish to another tank now. Plants are all were they are supposed to be.
 
#17 ·
I have the 5 (woops, did I say 6??) in a 72. They could use more room. You have to have a bunch though to disperse the aggression. I don't want to tell you how many to get, but I'd say 3-4 adults would be filling up a 55.

With altums, though, you are probably going to lose a few by the time they are adults. They are wild fish, and although I don't consider them delicate, they can have unforeseen issues because they are wild. If it were me with a 55 I'd get 5 juvies. You lose a couple, it's OK. If they all grew to adults and it was getting crowded, you'd have no trouble selling a couple.

Will they eat otos? I don't know but they ate all my cardinal tetras!

You may or may not be aware- they are hard to find, and expensive...
 
#19 ·
You may or may not be aware- they are hard to find, and expensive...
Right, I knew they were more expensive, didn't know how much! :rolleyes: Anyway, maybe I'll just try to find some 'normal' looking scalare. I'm not a big fan of the marbled, veil-tail, etc... I want an angel that looks natural. (Still may be a few months down the road anyway...).

Thanks for the info.
 
#18 ·
I have a single P.scalare (regular angel) in my 46. She's not 6" long yet, but she's at least that tall. She "cleans" long leaves now and then before laying on them.
 
#21 ·
I have a long-finned bichar in a 30 gallon that's around 8 inches (and almost needing a new tank) that seems to love cruising through the foliage to hunt. He has occasionally uprooted things while shrimp-hunting, but generally only poorly-anchored new additions. He doesn't bother the plants much at all.

Cliff
 
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