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Hi, new here, I'm Jon

I've got a Juwel Rio 240 (~60 UK gals), with the current stocking:

6 praecox (dwarf neon) rainbows
7 cory schwartzi
3 festivum
2 apisto cac. (cockatoo dwarfs cichlids)
2 nanacara anomala

I think I've still got some space left for further fish. I'd quite like to have a few larger, but still peaceful fish to act as centre pieces. I'd like to stay away from angels and gouramis (as I've had bad experiences with both!).

My water stats are 0 ammonia and nitrite. Nitrates are nice and low too. PH is at 7.9 to 8 and the water is hard. The tank is filtered by both the internal Juwel hardware and a Fluval 304 external.

If anyone has any recommendations, I'd be very interested. Thanks.

Live it like you love it.

A nice large peaceful centerpiece bottom dweller would be a striped rafael pleco, not the spotted. The striped variety grows faster to its full size and is more peaceful. He will leave all of the fish in your stocking list alone and really be quite the knockout in the tank for looks and coolness factor. They also tolerate no hiding places without the stress that most bottom feeeders have if out in the open.

Koi

Empty chairs at empty tables, the room silent, forlorn.

what about a school of congo tetras, whjen they get older and have great fins, they make a wonderful center piece.

Hmm, with the corys, cacs and nannas I'm pretty good for bottom dwellers (coupled with the fact that big plecs are quite scary!)

I've never seen truly settled congos (only in the LFS and expensive at £5 each) - how big do they get and what do they look like.

I thought about a pair of firemouth cichlids, but I wasnt sure how well they'd get on with the other cichs in the tank, and also how much room I have left...

Live it like you love it.

How about any of these options?

Banded Leporinus (Leporinus affinis)
Blue Acara (Aequidens pulcher)
Rainbow Cichlid (Heros multispinosus)



Live it like you love it.

I'll leave comments on the cichlids to somebody else, but I'll say that I don't think Leporinus would be a safe option. Not only do they grow large (over twenty cm), but they're very nasty fish. A single specimen would be capable of wiping out all of your other stock. Not nice.

Congo tetras look pretty decent when they're happy. These fish grow to around eight cm and are schooling fish. For looks, you can decide for yourself whether or not you like them. Google Images has a link here: Congos

Welcome to the boards.

---

And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Hmm - guess I'll leave the Lepers then! The congo's look quite cool. Quite expensive here though.

Thanks for the welcome!

Live it like you love it.

Re the possibility of using the Leporinus...great looking fish but I've never seen one that wasn't harassing his tankmates.

I personally like the black ghost knifefish; alot of people like it because it is so different; it looks like a big feather swimming around! The thing is you'd have to keep a close eye on the pH to make sure it doesn't get much higher.

a banded leporinus(leporinus fasciatus) will look nice, however these fishes get huge and too large for a 60.

a BGK i would be careful with, as they get big and i wouldn't trust it with small fish.

If/when you add anything in your tank - watch your Apisto's because they are very sensitive to tank changes.
Firemouths and Blue Acaras wouldn't be any good as they're the wrong temperment.
Have you considered a Geophagus Jurupari, they are fairly peaceful, quite colourful when older and slow growing.
I've had a few over the years and they go in with just about anything - I have a small 4-5 inch M+F pair at the moment in with Lake Tangyanikan Shell-dwellers (Neolamprologus Ocellatus Gold + Neolamprologus Brevis) and another single male who's about 5 years old and approx. 8 inches long who's happy in with a load of Lake Malawi Cichlids.
We've also housed them in with Tetras (their natural food in the wild) - when single they won't catch and eat them but they will stalk them in pairs.
You can get them from 5 pounds upwards - I saw a full grown wild-caught for 40 pounds and I wished I had the money it was magnificent.

I would go with cichlid crazy Geophagus Jurupari are a wonderful fish

http://www.greenspersonalprinting.com/

Funnily enough, my apisto's have been incredibly hardy, they even survived a nitrite spike when I managed to kill my filter. Must have just gotten lucky.

The Geophagus J looks a cool fish, I'd never heard of or seen those before, so I'll have to check on-line and such like. Would it have trouble with the pH - the profile suggested soft acidic water?

Live it like you love it.

We have naturally hard water and our Jurupari's are fine - we sometimes add a couple of bits of Mopani wood as this helps make the water softer and colours it slightly for a more 'natural' look, But as long as you do a weekly 30% water change they'll be fine.
They also love a sandy tank bottom as they sift it through their mouths and really clean up - even with other bottom dwellers they sift away their days at a chill-out pace.
Availability of the Jurupari around the UK is varied and prices vary from region to region.
Our best buy was recently at a shop at Swindon (we took a wrong turn and found it accidentally) So I bought a male and female 4-5 inches for GBP7.50 each which is a good price.

We also got a male Geophagus Heckeli (Threadfin) - he's magnificent and approx. 5 inches long and peacefully living in with a load of tetras x20, corys x4, clown plecos x2, harlequins x4 and an odd female Tropheus Bemba Orange Flame (looking for a male) - the Heckeli is also another fish you could consider but they can be boisterous as our 'Mrs Bemba' found out - she now has her end of the tank and he has his end and when they get bored they wind each other up.

I'll have to check my LFS then!

I looked at Trimar, and for once it seems to be a fish they dont have in stock - they have GEOPHAGUS ALTIFRONS TROMBETAS and GEOPHAGUS BRASILIENSIS (apols for caps!).

Live it like you love it.

Geophagus Brasiliensis wouldn't be any good to you as they are a different temperment to the Jurupari's.
I hadn't heard of the 'ALTIFRONS TROMBETAS' so I looked on Google - the only pictures up there look very similar to a Geophagus Surinamensis, what with people changing the names of fish all the time it might be the same fish?? - if it is then it may also not be any good for you.
I've had a couple of Geo Surinamensis and they are bullies.
If you can get to a Maidenhead Aquatics store they seem reasonably priced, check out: http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/ and it will show you where your nearest store is - they have a web store and only seem to sell equipment online but sell fish in the shops.

I have a Maidenhead as my second closest shop (in Basingstoke), but I've never noticed any of these guys - guess they could be in the larger cichlid section near the Malawis and that, which I can't be allowed to pay attention to, as I'd want to buy a new tank, again!



Live it like you love it.

a port acara or bolivian cichlasoma may look nice in your tank. i know you dont want gouramis but why not a pair of snakeskins? a school of loaches may also be nice, but you might want to bring the ph down to at least 7.3 (for all the fish i mentioned)

I know what you mean about needing extra tanks. It's sooooo tempting - we ended up with 5 fish just for taking a wrong turn... but when you see what you want, fall in love, and it's the right price you have to have them there and then or
Next time you go in just ask them, if they haven't got any I'm sure they'd get some from another store for you.
GOOD LUCK

Well, I simply dont have any more room for another tank - I'm on my 5th at the moment!

Zach - I'm down on Gouramis as I seem to have terrible trouble keeping anabantoids alive - I've lost a dwarf, pearl and red robin gourami, a paradise fish and a betta since I've been keeping (the dwarf from dropsy, the betta from whitespot but the others for no apparent reason, they just gave up)... All in different tanks as well.
I think bringing the pH down is a non-starter round here, the gH and kH are so high it would just cause massive fluctuations in the pH and kill everything. I'll check out the port and the cichlasoma though, thanks!

Live it like you love it.