Specifics:
Welcome to the fun group! lol.
)My tap water PH is roughly 7.5 and is the same PH that my LFS keeps all of their freshwater fish species. So the transition from there would be a large one initially, but my PH does drop over time to the more acidic range (~6.0-7.0). If it settles in the more acidic range, what would your thoughts on an Oscar, a chocolate cichlid, a group of geos, and a school of dithers?
Thank you for the welcome and all of the advice, under stocking is definitely preferred with the larger species. I will check out the video you mentioned with the larger Oscar.Welcome to the fun group! lol.
I would not recommend all of those together in the same tank. I would do one of the following combinations:
1 Oscar, 2-4 Striped Raphaels
2-3 Blood Parrots, dithers like emperor tetras or diamonds, and a striped Raphael.
1 Red Devil with Raphaels (or another breed of armored catfish)
One of my favorite ideas: 1 Green Terror, 1 Jack Dempsey, 1 Convict, and maybe 1 Striped Raphael. I saw this combo on cichlid bros in a beautiful 125 (I think that was the size; I know it was over 100 gallons). The fish didn't bother each other, and it looked fantastic.
I would also recommend you find your absolute favorites, like the ones you can't live without in your mind. Let that be the centerpiece and put appropriate fish with it. If you are worried about having a singular fish or having 2-3 fish in there, I promise you, those fish will take up that tank space. Check out FINWIN@"s Oscar in his 200-gallon. It is the biggest Oscar I've seen.
Also, I'm just saying that with those blue lights, a massive school of African yellow labs cichlids would look epic in there with some extensive rock work. It would look saltwater-esque and be a very vivid setup. (Don't mix with American cichlids
One last piece of advice: Understocking is way better than overstocking, even when the tank is mature.
Good luck with your tank!
Thank you for the welcome. I’m happy to be here.
The Oscar is not a video, it is the pet of one of the members FINWIN@. He can tell you more about his Oscar, Brick, if you're interested in the Oscars, he has a lot of great info on them. There are plenty of pictures of his prized Brick around the site, though. I believe there is one in one of my old threads called "Gutsy Mix."
What would your thoughts be on an Oscar, a Chocolate Cichlid, a small group of Geos, and some dithers like either SDs, Buenos Aires Tetras, or Giant Danios? I think you mentioned the possibility of two different types of dithers as well?
