Jan, your opinion?

1301 Views 8 Replies 5 Participants Last post by vancat, Mar 2, 2005

vancat

Discussion Starter · Mar 1, 2005

Hi Jan,
Here I go again thinking about getting some new fish. I'd like to get some Emperor tetras- I know these are peaceful fish. (even the Kerri Blue?)

I have a 72g heavily planted & wooded tank with the following:
2 small SAEs, 2 small clown plecos, 3 harrisoni pencilfish, 5 small apistos, about 15 elderly rummynoses, and about 20 large cardinals (and a bunch of amanos). All small fish.
Anyways- here is my question. Do you think I have room for a group of emperors? I do weekly 25% water changes.

Thanks for your opinion,
penny

Save

1 - 9 of 9 Posts

Raul-7

· #2 · Mar 1, 2005

Please use the PM function in the future if you only want Jan to answer your question.

I don't mean to bud in, but I'd like to help out. When you're looking to add new fish you have to ask yourself "Does my tank already look full or does it need something extra?" Your tank looks like it has all the levels full(bottom, middle, and top), but your Pencilfish school may need expanding(add 5 more). Personally, I don't see room for adding a new school, but that's just me.

Save

vancat

Discussion Starter · #3 · Mar 1, 2005

woops, sorry, but thanks for butting in!
yeah- the harrisonis are hard to find, i bought all 3 the LFS had. can't find any more. I've been on that search for a very long time.

well, now you give me pause- i guess that's why I asked the question. Maybe I shouldn't until the rummys are gone.

thanks!

Save

JanS

· #4 · Mar 1, 2005

Hey, it's not butting in to give other opinions. The more the merrier, especially considering I've never kept Emperor's.

I agree, that you have a pretty filled out, well balanced tank, but if the Emperor's are something you've had a hard time finding, or really want, I don't think it would necessarily overload your tank. You might have a bit of a crowded looking tank, and you may need to step up your water changes a bit, but that's about all I can see that would be a factor.

Save

vancat

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 2, 2005

my faux pas for calling you out by name.

Anyhoo- yeah- I've wanted some Emperors for a while, and there are some really nice ones available, possibly. So I got the fish-adding fever. After quarantining of course.

I have a few weeks to decide. Anybody know what a good size group of Emperors is? I may end up with "Kerri blues" or just the regular garden variety emperor. I like 'em both. Opinions on Kerris vs regular are welcomed also. I've never actually seen the kerris.

The aforementioned rummynoses are like 6-8 years old, and look pretty elderly... a few have gone to the big fishtank in the sky, but I can't believe how long they are hangin' in.

and of course the apistos only live 2 yrs max, and these are halfway there.

Save

C_perugiae

· #6 · Mar 2, 2005

Thought I'd chime in because I have some experience with Emperors...
From what I've seen, they can act pretty obnoxious, even to the point of being nippy and chasing fish from their "territories". I talked to a guy with a 29 the other day, who said his male (he has one male and two females) bosses his praecox and mollies around. The male, who beat up the other male in the tank (that's why he only has a trio) has become rude enough that he's considering giving him away, even though he is so gorgeous.

I've kept them in a smaller tank a while back and didn't like the way the males acted toward each other or toward the females, so they got moved after a few months. I got sick of noticing that all the fish in the tank had to hide except one, who kept everyone else hiding in the bushes.

Not saying you shouldn't get them, since you have a big enough tank... they may do just fine in there. Keep in mind, though, that you should probably get a few more girls than boys to keep them from getting too territorial and rough on the ladies. In a 72, you could probably get a few males and a small group of females... they don't usually school after they're settled in, in my experience, but a ratio heavily weighted toward females would probably be easier on the tank.

See less See more

Save