What can I do?

[Glasstapper]

My tank looks empty because I have all shy fish. The tetras swim out once in a while, but they always stay at the bottom. The salvini only comes out to eat. the guppies were removed due to the salvini hunting them. And the corys...well, they're on the bottom, too, and blend in with the gravel.

My tank constantly looks bare of fish, and I'm afraid I've just chosen the wrong fish. I want to be able to look over at my tank and see activity (other than feeding time).

I was considering giving my tetras to the LFS being as how they're all adult healthy females.

Any suggestions on which fish will swim on the upper regions of the tank and be compatible with the salvini? If not, I can give him back, too, but I kind of wanted to give him a chance.

What do you think?

(45 gallon tank 48in x 12in x 19in, pH is 7.2, temp kept at 80F, nitrates always below 10, weekly 30% water changes)

[Glasstapper]

oh, and I'd like to keep the corys.

[Drumachine09]

Most Barbs are very active, however, i do not know if they are compatible with your tank that you have set up.

[Glasstapper]

Well, I did find this:

Search Results: The Salvini Cichlid should be kept in groups of pairs or more and is compatible with Blood Parrot, Featherfin Squeaker, Firemouth Cichlid, Green Terror, Leopard Pleco L114, Peppermint Pleco L030, Pleco (Common), Severum, Silver Dollar, Texas Cichlid, Tin Foil Barb,

so maybe the salvini hides so much because he's by himself? I've read elsewhere that they should be kept alone. I just don't know.

Ooh, severum would be cool. I'll probably have to change decorations, though.

*frustrated*

[Drumachine09]

The tinfoil barbs sound like the easiest addition.

[Glasstapper]

tinfoil barbs get way too big for my size tank. A 13 inch fish would be miserable in only 45 gallons.

[Drumachine09]

I didnt realize they got that big in a tank

[Slinky_Bass]

Sounds like a tough one Glasstapper.

You could maybe go with a smallish, semi-aggeressive loach species. I've got 6 skunk loaches with my mega territorial angels and they hold their own just fine. If you give them lots of hiding places and planted areas they will be very bold and active. Rather than just dwell along the bottom they will swim and chase eachother mid level too. Skunks should ideally be in a group of 4 or more, to keep their aggression mostly confined amongst themselves.
What I've read about salvinis is that they also like bogwood/caves/cover, so you won't need to add to your decor to accomodate them.

While tinfoil barbs certainly will get too big, maybe a shoal of 6 or so tiger barbs will fill that 'activity' gap in your aquarium. In a nice shoal they will be suitably occupied with eachother and so shouldn't get in your corys or salvinis space too much. They're a pretty attractive fish and they don't get much bigger than 3" so the Salvini won't feel challenged.

I hope this helps :)

[Glasstapper]

Thanks, slinky bass. I do like the tiger barb idea. I have no doubts those guys could probably hold their own.

Another thing I'm considering is maybe a species only tank with salvinis. I'm getting conflicting information on whether or not it's a good idea to keep many or just one. I'll continue researching all I can on the species and see what they say. He's my first cichlid, and I'm fascinated at how he picks up a piece of gravel and carries it in his mouth to another spot. I guess he's redecorating? LOL

[Severus]

haha. A lot of cichlids redoecorate to their liking and i am also going to have to recommend a small school of barbs for your aquarium. They are very active. Mine swim all over the tank and the dont mess with anyone but themselves.

[Glasstapper]

Well, it seems the salvini won't really get along with other salvinis, so what I've decided is to donate my tetras to the fish store and get a school of 8 tiger barbs. I'll also have plenty of room for one more cichlid the same size, and after some reading, it seems my setup (only eventually replacing my sunken ship with a cave because they will grow out of the space in the ship) will best suit a convict cichlid. I believe the barbs will do a great job distracting the two cichlids from fighting too much. I do expect some quarreling and flaring, but hey...that's cichlids for you.

Looks like I'm leaning towards an aggressive community tank now. My tank will be slightly understocked, but with territorial fish, I think this will be perfect.

Wish me luck on catching those tetras. I just know that is going to be one hell of a hard time.

thanks for the advice, guys! I would have never even thought of tiger barbs. It's going to be an excellent tank!

[Severus]

Sounds like you are going to have a very cool tank. Hopefully it all works out well. Good lUck!

[blue fin]

Good luck catching those tetras, that will be some marathon session getting them.

[Glasstapper]

I've been thinking of a strategy to catch them. I'm thinking I'll do a large water change (maybe 50%) and before I add the water back, I'll remove all but two decorations (one on each side of the tank so they group there). I have two nets, one small and one large. I'll usher them with the small net towards a decoration where I'll be holding the large net. It will still be quite a challenge, but I can't think of a better way to catch them.

[jeffs99dime]

to catch my tetras i "cut" the tank in half using a divider. then i corral them to one side of the tank by sliding the divider across the tank making it a lot easier to catch them. my columbian red fin tetra are lightning fast. lol

[Drumachine09]

Another way to catch them over night is to take a small pop bottle, cut it in half at the point where it starts to narrow out, turn it around, and stick it in, then tape it. poke holes in it so it can fill up with water, bait it, and drop it in for 30 minutes. Check it every 10 minutes after the first half an hour soak.

[Glasstapper]

excellent suggestions! I wonder if there's a thread already on strategies of catching fish in a tank?

[Drumachine09]

http://www.instructables.com/id/EDLCFKOYY8EPLK0ED1/

Theres a link i found with a picture if you didnt get my design. It could be scaled down to 1 or .75 liter bottles even.

[jeffs99dime]

excellent suggestions! I wonder if there's a thread already on strategies of catching fish in a tank?

i think this is it! lol

[kes]

I love tiger barbs but I've always been put off cos they say they're really aggressive.. I think the green tiger barbs are just gorgeous. The Odessa's are beautiful too.. how big do they grow?

I have three Rosys and they are really amusing (if not a little bossy..) - they're always at the front of the tank in the hope you might feed them and they spiral around each other.. I could watch them for hours!

[Cichlid_Man]

I would add another Salvini and silver dollars.
silver dollars usually swim mid-tank and are compatible.

[kimmers318]

Good luck with catching the tetras....I have found that the double net method works best for me. Do you have plenty of hiding places for your cory? Sometimes the more places they have to hide the more likely they are to come out. Although with my laser cory they are still shyer than my albino or bronze who will flit in and out all day.

[Glasstapper]

I think it's safe to say the corys have plenty of places to hide. In fact, I could probably stand to thin out my decorations a bit. The corys aren't really the ones hiding so much, though. It's just that they tend to blend in to the dark gravel. The tetras are the ones that aren't behaving like I wanted them to.

Silver dollars could also be a striking fish, but I didn't realize they were aggressive. I always thought they were a little timid. Can anyone confirm that they can really hold their own with aggressive cichlids? The convict and salvini are biters, and I want a fish that won't stand for it. Also, with silver dollars growing to an average of 8 inches and like to school, I think my bio-load would be too heavy for my tank. Even with just four of them, I'd be going over my limit.

[Severus]

Silver Dollars are actually a very peaceful fish and should be fine with your convict and salvini. They are also very fast and a lot of other fish cant even catch them. Thats why a lot of people put them in tanks to placate aggressive fish. I used to have 3 SD's in with my Oscar and my Oscar never even bothered them. As you said, your only problem might be their size...

[jeffs99dime]

i think they're going to be too big as well

[Glasstapper]

Well, I donated my tetras to my LFS and took home 8 baby tiger barbs. So far, they are acting exactly as I had hoped. They are swimming back and forth at all levels, swimming through the plants, they even ate a little! The salvini looks at them, but doesn't approach them. I'll wait until both the salvini and tiger barbs get bigger before I try introducing the last fish...the baby convict. I've heard some sites say all of these are compatible, others say not compatible. I'll give it a try and see what happens. I do have some options if things don't work out as planned.

[Glasstapper]

they sure are some pretty little buggers!

Even one of my corys tried to steal a kodak moment.

[nikipate]

Hey glasstapper..... those are great pics. We just added 6 tiger barbs to our tank last Thursay and they are fighting with each other a little bit but generally are leaving everyone else alone. I also wanted to ask you what kind of camera you were using to take those pics. We have had trouble getting our small digital camera to "stop" the fish... everything is blurry. I love the tiger barbs too.... they are cool!

[jeffs99dime]

nice pics glasstapper!!!

[Glasstapper]

Hey glasstapper..... those are great pics. We just added 6 tiger barbs to our tank last Thursay and they are fighting with each other a little bit but generally are leaving everyone else alone. I also wanted to ask you what kind of camera you were using to take those pics. We have had trouble getting our small digital camera to "stop" the fish... everything is blurry. I love the tiger barbs too.... they are cool!

My camera is a Canon PowerShot A520. It has a Manual setting where you can manually set the shot to give you different results. You won't get pictures like that just using the automatic setting. you have to play with it a bit and see what works for what you want. also, the faster the shutter speed, the more it prevents blurriness from moving objects.

[Lady Hobbs]

Glad you got the Barbs. Silver dollars like to be in groups of 6 or more and with their sizes all getting to 6 inches along with the size of the salvini, you would be having too many large fish in a 45 gallon. I rather think the tetra's may have been hiding from him a bit. He may have chased them at night and keep them holded up and stressed.

[Abbeys_Mom]

Too bad you didn't have more room. If it was a 55g you could have gotten a Festivum instead of a convict. Festivum stay at the top, they look similar to Angels. That way you could have a bottom cichlid and a top cichlid. I had a pair in with my Nics, and they looked great. Fascinating fish.

[Severus]

Festivums are very cool. They almost remind me of a severum and an angel together... That is a cichlid i am considering adding to my tank. Good luck with your Barbs Glasstapper.

[Glasstapper]

all I have in there right now are those tiny barbs, corys, and the little salvini. I haven't gotten the convict yet. I did look at the festivum, but it seems they can be timid towards more agressive species and they are not really hardy. That kind of scared me off of them. Then again, I don't know if that convict will too aggressive. My last cichlid to occupy the tank will just take time to decide being as how all of my current fish are so young. I'm just not sure yet how my salvini's personality will turn out once he's older.

Or do you guys think i should get another cichlid soon before the others grow up? Hmmmm, to wait or not to wait. I've been doing a lot of reading for weeks on cichlids, but it's just not as good as personal experience. Should I wait for the salvini to get larger or add the other young cichlid now? (whichever one that may be)

[Abbeys_Mom]

I had my Festivum in with Nics. The were a breeding pair and were extremely aggressive. The Festivum I had held his own. He seemed hardy to me, I had him for 2-3 years with no problem (he didn't die, I gave him away).

[Glasstapper]

Also, the salvini is supposedly compatible with the jack dempsey and the green terror.

Tough decisions, indeed. I love them all.

*edit* bleh. nevermind. they get too big, as well. :(

[nikipate]

My camera is a Canon PowerShot A520. It has a Manual setting where you can manually set the shot to give you different results. You won't get pictures like that just using the automatic setting. you have to play with it a bit and see what works for what you want. also, the faster the shutter speed, the more it prevents blurriness from moving objects.


Thanks for the info.... The camera we were trying to use doesn't have a manual setting so that's the problem. Hopefully we are going to upgrade soon.