Green Terror Care Guide

[TheReefer]

These are some of first links that come up on google when a new fishkeeper searches “green terror cichlid care”. So yes they are being set up for failure. I’m not sure why you thought it would be good info on this forum when their is already plenty of proper info and care for them on it. It appears you did the same thing for other cichlids aswell. So now when people search it up they may come across this thread before other ones and it will be spewing the same bs as the links above. When people search up “green terror care” they should look to mfk for the expert advice not the same bull on other sites.

is it really bull though if it works? It still works, but it may not be ideal, and I was saying that as the minimum tank size, not the ideal tank size. Just because someone disagrees with you on the minimum tank size doesn't make what they say bullcrap. Also note that a 40 breeder has more room than a 55, would you say a 55 is too small for one too?

On this page on post 10 a MODERATOR says a 40 gallon is great for a full grown green terror https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/green-terror-in-a-40-gal.28671/

On this one on post 4 and 5 they say a 40 gallon is good

Whats the minimum tank size for a single Green Terror?

Never kept one before.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Battery hens "work" its still regarded as a very cruel practice.
Green terrors are very energetic fish. They are not slow moving or lurkers like some others.
A 40gallon is a tank I would recommend for apistogramma or rams. Not an active 12 inch cichlid.

 

[fishhead0103666]

That first thread was back in 06’ and views on stocking has changed a lot then.

That second one, two posts said its fine. How many posts disagreed though?

 

[RD.]

The moderator was wrong...............

Forget biolode, water changes, Filtration and all that....

Agreed. I didn't even mention diet, which IMO is also incorrect. GT's are best suited a diet that is more on the omnivorous side of the equation. Plant matter is key in keeping this species healthy long term. In fact one of the most common ailments that I have seen over the years with GT's when young, are gastrointestinal related, often leading back to an improper diet lacking in quality aquatic plant matter. Add some stress to that, and you have a perfect set up for IP's taking off.

Again, minimum standards invite minimum conditions, which I like to think for the most part is NOT what this forum is all about. Why not start at a size that is more ideal, like a 75 gallon. If someone can't afford that, then IMO they should be guided towards considering a smaller less robust species.

 

[TheReefer]

We can just agree to disagree on this one. A 40 breeder will work, as to whether or not it's something you feel comfortable doing, that's up to you. Let's just leave it at this since this isn't going anywhere. And in the future I'll just add in what is more ideal, not what you can get away with

 

[Rocksor]

Flash forward 7+ years of experience later... folks have learned what is a better quality environmen for life for fish.

I woulnd't classify GT diet as carnivorous. It's omnivorous, probably closer to the "plant" matter side of the spectrum. If you feed a primarily protein diet, it will show signs of stress with clear transparent poo from time to time. Switching to a less protein rich pellet will produce normal looking "long" poo similar to a pleco, but not as long. For example, "vegetable" diet based pellet like NLS algaemax has sufficient amount of aquatic plant matter and protein ratio to produce normal looking poo for a GT.

 

[TheReefer]

Flash forward 7+ years of experience later... folks have learned what is a better quality environmen for life for fish.

I woulnd't classify GT diet as carnivorous. It's omnivorous, probably closer to the "plant" matter side of the spectrum. If you feed a primarily protein diet, it will show signs of stress with clear transparent poo from time to time. Switching to a less protein rich pellet will produce normal looking "long" poo similar to a pleco, but not as long. For example, "vegetable" diet based pellet like NLS algaemax has sufficient amount of aquatic plant matter and protein ratio to produce normal looking poo for a GT.

I didn't think they were more towards the herbivore side of that. Would you say pike cichlids are like that too?

 

[PYRU]

We can just agree to disagree on this one. A 40 breeder will work, as to whether or not it's something you feel comfortable doing, that's up to you. Let's just leave it at this since this isn't going anywhere. And in the future I'll just add in what is more ideal, not what you can get away with

I'll admit I'm wrong if need be. Show me a pic or vid of a full grown gold saum in a 40b. Lets go from there

 

[Rocksor]

I didn't think they were more towards the herbivore side of that. Would you say pike cichlids are like that too?

Mouth structure of pike cichlids and GT's are dramatically different. Pikes have a different mouth structure than GT's, which indicate their feeding behavior. Also, the pike's poo "shape" is dramatically different than a GT. It's not long.

 

[Hendre]

No offense to OP but there are 100 care guides like this out there. For people to really appreciate an article you must put more effort in than simply amalgamating information from a few bread-and-butter websites. Especially for something as common as Green terrors, sorry to burst your bubble but for something to really stand on this site you should really dig deep.

As an example; I wrote this article on African knives in 2017 (When I was 15 by the way) by researching online for some deeply hidden articles on their reproductive systems, which to my knowledge is fairly rare information. By digging into some German forums I found information on potential courtship information which I threw in too. Lastly I found articles from field research on the diets of wild fish, lo and behold the knives were there too. This was the end product:
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/african-knife-fish-2-1.695091/

I implore for all members to really dig deep for information to share if making threads like this. What is in the thread has been regurgitated 1000 times all over the net, let's add some new info. Some links to perhaps consider:

http://www.senckenberg.de/files/con...z59-2/02_vertebrate_zoology_59-2_musilova.pdf
Some nice info

http://www.scielo.org.co/scielo.php?pid=S0122-02682016000100010&script=sci_arttext&tlng=en
Study on the diets, which seem to mostly be vegetable matter and other fish


Just something I could cook up on the fly. Hope this helps