best tankmates?

[smeats]

Hello All,
I have got too many fish in my tank right now but I am only stocking up for my new tank which I should be getting tomorrow... I have:
3 angel fish
2 pink gouramis
1 red tail shark
3 pink convicts ( 1 male)
1 pseudotropheus gracilior
1 nimbochromis venustus
1 pseudotropheus sp "zebra cobalt"
1 male & 1 female astatotilipia latifasciata
1 yellow labidochromis
1 Tetraodon nigroviridis (green spotted pufferfish)
they are all getting along fine now but I have to split them up soon, before they get big, they are all between 1-1.5 inches at the moment, except for the gouramis that are 2inches.. I kinda got sucked into cichlids ( not that I'm complaining) but I bought half of these fish without researching them first, If anybody has any comments on what's best to mix with what when I seperate the tanks it would be greatly appreciated. One tank is 29gl and the other is 40gl.
Thanks

[Adam]

The gouramis will be systematically assassinated by the cichlids if you put them together, and the convicts and labs have different water types, so I would think that you have a lot of uncompatible fish together. Your best bet would be to take the angels and all the other tropical fish back to the lfs, and keep the 29 gallon as the south american tank for the convicts, and the 40 for the africans. Correct me if I am wrong please.

[smeats]

Sounds good to me, I have been amazed as to how well all my fish have been getting along so far. Maybe I'll give my 15 tall to my girlfriend with all my tropicals since I'm not using it now. Are the convicts the only species in there with major water compatibility problems or are the others also a concern, because if it's the convicts then I have no problem giving them away ( if anyone will take them ).

[WorldNation]

well, the prblem is your mixing, S.Americans with Africans, and with Tropical. They all need diff water conditions, and have different personailities. once your africans get to maturity. they'll pretty much slaughter everyone else in the tank there.

Adam made a great sugegstion about divinding your fish up.

[jonah]

In the 29g with plants and soft, low pH water (5.9-7):

3 angel fish (if two pair up, one will probably be killed in a small tank). Fry are actually easy to sell if you can breed them.
Maybe the red tail shark.

In the 40g with lots of rocks and hard, high pH water (8+):

1 pseudotropheus gracilior
1 nimbochromis venustus
1 pseudotropheus sp "zebra cobalt"
1 male & 1 female astatotilipia latifasciata
1 yellow labidochromis

I'd get rid of:
1 Tetraodon nigroviridis (green spotted pufferfish)
1 red tail shark (maybe)
2 pink grouramis
3 pink convicts (1 male)

Puffers get nippy and are usually brackish, which doesn't work with the angels. Red tail shark may be all right with the angels, I'm not 100% on that one. Pink gouramis can get pretty darn big (12"?) for the 29g and they'd get killed in the African tank which has to be the 40g because of the venustus (big fish). Convicts are cool fish, but it's a pain getting rid of the fry and when they pair up the extra will get killed off.

Eventually you'll want an even larger tank if you're keeping the venustus. Even a 40g is small for an adult.

[Adam]

It is the rare pink kisser (pink gourami) that can reach 12", but you are right, there is no room for them in any of your aquariums. I think my next aquarium will be a soft water planted tank with either discus or angels. Good luck on the choices, and remember, it's all up to you in the end, but splitting them up will be the best choice.

[jonah]

It is the rare pink kisser (pink gourami) that can reach 12".

I was assuming perfect tank conditions as I would provide. :roll: :lol: :lol:

But seriously, I think 8" is more likely. Although they'd probably get shredded by most of the cichlids you mentioned before they got that big. Even angels can turn into hellions when they start breeding. That's one of the cool characteristics of cichlids. 8)

[merlyn2221]

You could keep the red tailed shark if you give it a secure place to hide. Angels when breeding are extremely aggressive and will bite the tail right off the shark.

When I kept
Angels, going back years ago, they took the eyes right out of all the other fish in the tank, including the supposedly aggressive red tailed black shark! :eek: Not a pleasant thing to say the least.

I like Jonah's choice for the tanks. South Americans are nice, but should stay by themselves.

And not to be a pain in the butt, but didn't anyone at the lfs remind/tell you all these fish were going to be incompatible, especially in the future?
(I'd try a different lfs!!) :confused:

[smeats]

well actually, I bought my 29 gallon tank out of the classifieds and it came with everything, including the tropical fish. I'm not stupid enough to buy tropical fish to put in a cichlid tank but I got a great deal on my 29gl ($50. with flourescant canopy, slate rock, lava rock even all of the filters and heater ) so I guess I've just been waiting for a way to give the tropical fish away. And I also read that puffers can do rather well in a cichlid tank and he is one of the most freshwater puffers out there.