iiiidiots...

[angelfish83]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/view ... 820#823820

Damned imbecile african cichlid people...

"Ive always had two clown loaches with my yellow labs and they get along just fine"

[newshound]

I like the line -- "I CAN fudge it, but does that make me a good fishkeeper, or an idiot? I'm pretty sure its the latter"

[chefkeith]

I have a question. What Cichids would be good in a clown loach tank? The tank will have lots of water flow and many caves for shelter, Parameters- TDS about 145, Alkalinity 80, Hardness 100, pH around 7, temperature 79 - 83F.

I was thinking maybe Steatocranus casuarius ( Buffalo Cichlids) ?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1353
But I'm not sure they can handle the temps.

edit-
This site say's temps 75-82F, and 81-84F for breeding, so I got my one of my answers.
http://fish.mongabay.com/species/Steato ... arius.html

[angelfish83]

How long how tall and how many clowns of what size?

That'll help me tell you whether to get a top mid or bottom dwelling cichlid- but yes, there are a few that work well.

Emma would also be very helpful in choosing.

You're obviously stuck with CA/SA stuff, and maybe the odd african riverine cichlid... but I don't suggest those they may 'stress' your clowns

In an exceptionally large tank, say six, seven, eight feet by two feet wide or more, you might be able to do Nicaraguense cichlids. They're a gorgeous yellow black and blue cichlid that gets about ten inches long. Given their own space they wont bother your loaches much.

In a reeeeally big tank you could try a slightly larger fish but I really don't suggest it as loaches seem sort of razzed by fish several times their size, so I'd try to keep cichlids that dont really get any bigger than clown loaches...

i say no to the buffalo as it prefers calmer water
I'll think about this some more and get back to you

[chefkeith]

This is for my water-bridge tank system that's in the video in my signature, but I'll be adding a new 160g river tank, and be getting rid of the old 90g river tank. So it will be about 465 gallons of water total.

I have 25 clowns that are about 2" and 25 that are 4- 6". I have 50 clowns total. An indoor pond is in the plans in the future.

What I'm looking for in particular is some medium sized river fish, no greater than 4".
What I'd really love to get is some denison barb's, but there is no way I could afford a nice group of them ($18- $35 each here!) and I'm not sure they would like the temp in the 80's.
Anyways, I'd also like to have some cichlid's, but I definately don't want any big messy cichlids. So far Buffalo Ciclids are the only ones I've seen that I might be interested in getting. I've read that they like rapid moving water.

Thanks for helping.

[angelfish83]

Are you asking someone or are you making fun of a post on that thread?

[angelfish83]

Someone in that thread posted this:

had several loaches in my african tank. They got along just fine, one got eaten by my butterkoferi who's about 6", but I wasn't feeding him quite enough. One died from starvation, he'd stay inside this holey rock for weeks at a time. The other I think caught a disease if I remember right.

I had them for a little over a year though and they were fine. Although I would put them in with less aggressive fish too if I get some again.

[Hurricane Charlie]

to bad I don't feel like registering just to read that thread, it sounds very informative and fascinating!

[angelfish83]

All the people who keep africans with clowns, to quote michael richards,

should be 'hung upside down with a fork in them'

[chefkeith]

Are you asking someone or are you making fun of a post on that thread?

Just asking for opinions. I don't care to ever make fun of people. I've made my share of mistakes learning the hard way over the years. I respect most people here and at Ciclid-Forum.com. The DIY section there is one of my favorite forums, even though I haven't had a Cichlid in many years.

Back in my college days, about 12 years ago, I shared a Jack Demsey and an Oscar with my housemates. I can't remember the tank size, but it was probably a 55 gallon at most. We didn't keep them long, sold them after about 3 months, and bought an alligator instead. We were a bunch of idiots in that house. The internet didn't exist back then either, so atleast we had a good excuse for our complete ignorance. I remember we'd do 100% water changes and we never used any dechlor. We didn't even know what dechlor was. The fish would always look dead for about an hour after we changed the water, then it would seem fine after that. Nitrifying Bacteria and cycling a tank didn't exist in our minds. We were clueless. I don't remember if we even had a filter on the tank. I'm not sure how the fish survived when we had them, but they did. I wish I could go back in time and make things right. It's amazing how the internet has made fishkeeping such a great educational experience.