Gold saum setup

[jstoj]

I'm setting up a planted tank for a gold saum, is a 200litre 55g tank big enough for a single male to get to full size if water quality is kept clean and high quality pellets fed.

Also would I get away with adding a bristle nose aswell to keep algae down?

Thanks

 

[duanes]

Although a 55 gal tank is quite small for a cichlid that can get 12", you may get away with it, if frequent anough water changes are performed.
This would mean (to me) something in the minimum of at least two 50%v water changes per week, that would hold nitrate down into the single diget range.
Without that kind of maintenance routine I would expect the male would be scarred up with HITH disease by the time it was 2 years old.

 

[jstoj]

I plan on having a heavily planted tank which I thought would keep the nitrates down. Is this correct?

 

[duanes]

Being heavily planted can keep nitrates low.
I use a 125 gal planted sump, to hold nitrate to undetectable levels, although this doesn't eliminate the need for water chanhges.
Below is the sump, used to filter the 180 gal cichlid tank.



It hold nitrate to undetectablle levels (the post above), along with regular water changes.
The sump is heavily planted with Vallisneria, Nymphea (water lilies), Salvinia (a floater) and some mangrove trees (right side), and Dieffenbachia .

Mangrove Trees

The trick seems to be to have the plants, far outweigh the fish to actually eat up the number of nitrates, in the limited space the fish produce as waste
.

 

[Morti]

Plants are great for filtering the water but remember that a big fish needs plenty of swimming room which will limit the available space for plants. Growing plants out of the water is a good option but upgrading the size of tank is the easiest way to improve conditions straight away.

 

[jstoj]

Would you recommend lower growing plants such as crypts to give the fish more swimming space. The tank is 122lx35wx50h cm how long would I be able to keep the gold saum in there for before I would need to up grade to the 5x2x2 that I have.

 

[jstoj]

Being heavily planted can keep nitrates low.
I use a 125 gal planted sump, to hold nitrate to undetectable levels, although this doesn't eliminate the need for water chanhges.
Below is the sump, used to filter the 180 gal cichlid tank.


View attachment 1552869
It hold nitrate to undetectablle levels (the post above), along with regular water changes.
The sump is heavily planted with Vallisneria, Nymphea (water lilies), Salvinia (a floater) and some mangrove trees (right side), and Dieffenbachia .
View attachment 1552872
Mangrove Trees
View attachment 1552874
The trick seems to be to have the plants, far outweigh the fish to actually eat up the number of nitrates, in the limited space the fish produce as waste
.

Would you recommend having crypts so that the gt has open swimming space?

 

[jstoj]

Although a 55 gal tank is quite small for a cichlid that can get 12", you may get away with it, if frequent anough water changes are performed.
This would mean (to me) something in the minimum of at least two 50%v water changes per week, that would hold nitrate down into the single diget range.
Without that kind of maintenance routine I would expect the male would be scarred up with HITH disease by the time it was 2 years old.
View attachment 1552867

I was going to have the tank fully planted with crypts to keep the nitrates low but still do 50% water changes once a week would this be ok?

If not then:

What cichlid would you recommend that is human interactive for a 200litre tank?

 

[Morti]

I'm not a big cichlid keeper because I keep planted tanks, so take my advice with a pinch of salt and wait for someone more experienced but I would concentrate on plants that can't be easily uprooted. A cryptocoryne can develop a really large root system which would make it hard to did up but they are slow to establish and might be uprooted before they can get big enough.
I would look at either growing plants out of the top of the tank with their roots in the water, classics like pothos, peace lillies or monstera would work. Another way to go would be a fast growing floating plant that can just be pulled out if it gets to dense. You have the classic amazon frogbit, water lettuce etc but hornwort would be good as it provides cover, is really easy to keep and grows so quickly that it's a great nutrient exporter.