Congo tetras and African butterfly fish with smaller UJs?

[Wannabe Poly Guy]

Newbie here getting ready to set up my 75 (48Lx18Wx20H). Just need to get the new flooring laid in the room and then I can set up the tank. My plan is to start out with the following stock list:

1x Polypterus delhezi
1x P. Senegalus long fin
1x P. Polli
1x leopard ctenepoma
6x Congo tetras

I recently picked up what I call a 120 “flopped” (72Lx24Wx17H) that will serve as the polys adult home later on. At that point I’ll use the 75 as a grow out and slowly add the following:

1x P. Palmas palmas
1x P. Retropinnis (spelling?)
1x African butterfly fish

I have some questions that I’m hoping some more experienced people can help me out with.

1) Will my Congo tetras be able to graduate to the 120 with the rest of the fish? I plan on not feeding my polys any feeder fish if that helps

2) Will my African butterfly fish be alright with my polys or will I have to keep him in the 75?

3) I’m really trying to stick with a biotope but one species that could potentially be an exception is the clouded archer fish. I’m considering building a sort of turtle topper for the 120 and archers would make it that much more enjoyable. I’m thinking of them as an alternative if I have to put the congos back in the 75 but I’m wondering if they would work out with the other tank mates. I’m not really willing to cancel out my polys as they’re my dream fish and the focal point of my tank.

4) Any other advice, knowledge, and pictures of your set ups is greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

 

[tlindsey]

Newbie here getting ready to set up my 75 (48Lx18Wx20H). Just need to get the new flooring laid in the room and then I can set up the tank. My plan is to start out with the following stock list:

1x Polypterus delhezi
1x P. Senegalus long fin
1x P. Polli
1x leopard ctenepoma
6x Congo tetras

I recently picked up what I call a 120 “flopped” (72Lx24Wx17H) that will serve as the polys adult home later on. At that point I’ll use the 75 as a grow out and slowly add the following:

1x P. Palmas palmas
1x P. Retropinnis (spelling?)
1x African butterfly fish

I have some questions that I’m hoping some more experienced people can help me out with.

1) Will my Congo tetras be able to graduate to the 120 with the rest of the fish? I plan on not feeding my polys any feeder fish if that helps

2) Will my African butterfly fish be alright with my polys or will I have to keep him in the 75?

3) I’m really trying to stick with a biotope but one species that could potentially be an exception is the clouded archer fish. I’m considering building a sort of turtle topper for the 120 and archers would make it that much more enjoyable. I’m thinking of them as an alternative if I have to put the congos back in the 75 but I’m wondering if they would work out with the other tank mates. I’m not really willing to cancel out my polys as they’re my dream fish and the focal point of my tank.

4) Any other advice, knowledge, and pictures of your set ups is greatly appreciated. Thank you all in advance.

Your biggest challenge will be feeding.

 

[SpecialKay]

1) Will my Congo tetras be able to graduate to the 120 with the rest of the fish? I plan on not feeding my polys any feeder fish if that helps

Your congos should be alright with the bichirs. I keep a group of 6 Cherry red congo tetras (Alestopetersius Brichardi) with 9 Bichirs (P. senegalus).

However, there are a few caveats.
-Get the Congos as large as you can (around 2 in+).
-Get the Bichirs as small as you can (around 3-4 in is good).
-Be wary of providing perch spots to the bichirs.
-Observe the behavior of the fish; an overly aggressive/voracious bichir will likely be unable to cohabit with the congos.

The larger the congos are, the less likely they'll be seen as food, and also will keep up with the bichir's growth rate; a Senegalus can potentially go from 4 in. to 10 in. within 1 year (unless stunted or poor genetics). Also, Bichirs hunt by lunging out from an elevated perched position; they'll be more tempted to try and eat the congos if allowed a spot to perch on. You can probably put a perch once the bichirs are used to a feed schedule, but it's still risky.

2) Will my African butterfly fish be alright with my polys or will I have to keep him in the 75?

It should be alright, provided it's growth keeps up with the polys.

3) I’m really trying to stick with a biotope but one species that could potentially be an exception is the clouded archer fish. I’m considering building a sort of turtle topper for the 120 and archers would make it that much more enjoyable. I’m thinking of them as an alternative if I have to put the congos back in the 75 but I’m wondering if they would work out with the other tank mates. I’m not really willing to cancel out my polys as they’re my dream fish and the focal point of my tank.

The archers would do well with the polys. They'll occupy opposite parts of the aquarium.

 

[Wannabe Poly Guy]

Your biggest challenge will be feeding.

Because my polys might get out competed? Or is there another reason?

 

[Wannabe Poly Guy]

Your congos should be alright with the bichirs. I keep a group of 6 Cherry red congo tetras (Alestopetersius Brichardi) with 9 Bichirs (P. senegalus).

However, there are a few caveats.
-Get the Congos as large as you can (around 2 in+).
-Get the Bichirs as small as you can (around 3-4 in is good).
-Be wary of providing perch spots to the bichirs.
-Observe the behavior of the fish; an overly aggressive/voracious bichir will likely be unable to cohabit with the congos.

The larger the congos are, the less likely they'll be seen as food, and also will keep up with the bichir's growth rate; a Senegalus can potentially go from 4 in. to 10 in. within 1 year (unless stunted or poor genetics). Also, Bichirs hunt by lunging out from an elevated perched position; they'll be more tempted to try and eat the congos if allowed a spot to perch on. You can probably put a perch once the bichirs are used to a feed schedule, but it's still risky.



It should be alright, provided it's growth keeps up with the polys.



The archers would do well with the polys. They'll occupy opposite parts of the aquarium.

Thank you very much! With all that in mind archers may be the route I take

 

[HumanBean]

I have kept tetras with delhezi and Senegalus. Both polys were ~6 inches . Unfortunately both dined on my tetras in matter of 3 days. It's all stared when the one of my tetras started belly dancing right next to the mouth of Senegalus . Sad but learnt the lesson as belly dancing is not good.

 

[Wannabe Poly Guy]

I have kept tetras with delhezi and Senegalus. Both polys were ~6 inches . Unfortunately both dined on my tetras in matter of 3 days. It's all stared when the one of my tetras started belly dancing right next to the mouth of Senegalus . Sad but learnt the lesson as belly dancing is not good.

Thank you for the input! I’ll probably go the route of archer fish even though it won’t fit the biotope

 

[Wannabe Poly Guy]

How many archers should I get? Considering the stock of polys I plan to keep and that they will end up in the 125. I was thinking 4

 

[dmyersWv]

As always it depends on filtration and water changes for stocking levels. Polys are a heavy waste producer.

 

[Wannabe Poly Guy]

As always it depends on filtration and water changes for stocking levels. Polys are a heavy waste producer.

My 75 grow out (won’t have all of these fish in it at the same time) is getting equipt with a 40 breeder sump with an adjustable pump with a max flow rate of 520 ish gph (I can’t remember the exact number off the top of my head)

For the 125 I’m thinking I’ll do a 4 foot sump with some kind of refugium and obviously a higher flow rate than the 75. Plenty of bio media and mechanical filtration in both.

Id like to add that while I know there’s a lot of people out there who say you CAN put a lot of fish in your tank, and I respect the people who ethically achieve this, I don’t want any of my fish to feel overcrowded