105 gallon wet pet suggestions

[mindstate]

I hear Cincelichthys pearsei is a gentle giant and would fit in a biotope w/ hets & meeki.. I had C. bocourti from juvie to sub adult and prolly would still have at least 1 or a pair if I had a 300G..

Another option would be a Chuco.. I had a young group of F1 C. microphthalmus that I had to rehome because I just had no space for them long term.. C. intermedium is the biotope correct one for hets.



2 V. melanura "Lago Peten" (M 10-11" / F 9+")
5 O. heterospila (Largest 6+" / smallest 4+") (I think 2M / 3F)
8 T Meeki (Largest 6+" / smallest 5+")

No problemas lots of meeki spawns.. one big melanura spawn.. nada from the hets yet..



I love both species and have kept and bred both.. I rehomed my breeding colony of Nics (F1 San Juan) earlier this year but I know I'll get them again.. they were great in my tanks. I had a harem (1 M 4 F) and kept them in 125 w/ A. nanolutea and C longimanus and had no problems except during spawns.. Also kept them w/ A. lyonsi & C. rostratus (and a P panmensis pair for a bit) in a 210. They were still great in the 210, but they really did not like the lyoni so decided to move them to avoid drama.. They're great fish.. If you're not going for strict biotope, i think they can work well w/ heterospila.. Both seem tough but not psycho.. at least ime.. but if you have pairs of both you'll want to manage aggression..

Re: meeki, I've bought dozens of meeki from different vendors over the years before I found the one I really liked in terms of color and appearance. it can be hit or miss since they're farmed everywhere... I'll always have meeki in my fish room..

If choosing between the 2, ime one difference is, you can get a good size group of meeki and they'll coexist and breed.. they have small territories.. when not breeding they swim at all levels of the tank. but for Nics, you can start with a group, but ime you'll need to pull any subdom males as they mature.. When nics breed they'll try to defend at least 2 to 3 feet.



no worries, I've been there.. happy to share my (limited) experience with the CAs I've kept and keep..

This was a very valuable reply, thanks a lot! I'm going to look into your suggestions for a gentle giant and have a bit of thinking to do regarding Meeki vs Nics.

Regarding the meeki, he did have the group he ordered for me but from a different vendor than usually and he advised against taking them because they were very small and he didnt know the origin and how they would color up. He normally only sells the variant from Rio Candelaria which show some of the brightest colors. So if I'm going with Meeki, it will be from that catch location or their offspring.

 

[bkfamus]

That's great that you get meeki catch location.. I'd hold out for the variant you prefer.. Can always add the meeki later..

Another alternative to Thorichthys would be Cribroheros robertsoni or Rheoheros lentiginosus. Both biotope correct with hets.. You could go with a group of either w/ the hets.. I've kept C. robertsoni.. They grow slowly, but when they finally color up they look great.. I haven't kept any Rheoheros species, but other members have posted their experiences with them which have been positive. Note they are rheophillc so would need some water movement..