Help me stock my 180, thoughts & suggestions.

[eyebedam]

 So a little info, tank is a 180, plumbed down to my basement, has a 60 gall sump & a 150 gal Rubbermaid tub before it comes back upstairs to the display. Not 100% sure which way to go with it. In 1 way I'm wanting to go with a bunch of Festae Juvis, let them grow out & have a pair form & try to raise the fry. I think it would be a cool thing for the kids to see & possibly make a good science project for them. If I go that route what else could I keep worth he final pair?

If not that way maybe some EBJD's & what else would be a really good mix with them? Oscars, convicts, firemouths? I would like larger fish & a lot of movement in the tank if that helps.


Or & this is way way way out in left field & prob last resort but could turn out cool. A huge small fish community set-up. I'm talking at least 100 small neon tetras & other small community fish... It may look cool but I think this set-up would bore the crap out of me. 
Thanks
jason

[davidtcb1]

Tough call! Would look great with Central/South Americans. But if you're wanting to focus on one breeding pair, then you've got a 180 gallon tank for a pair of fish and their offspring (devil's advocate lol).

100 cardinal tetras and a bunch of rainbows, etc. would also be cool!

Justin, look back at posts by "jgentry" and "reagan" on here. They deal a lot with the Central and Souths.

[jgentry]

Festae are pretty fish and readily available right now. For what ever reason a lot of people are currently breeding them so now is a good time to get them cheap.

If you want to have an adult breeding pair of any of the larger aggressive sa/ca cichlids tank mates will be limited. You can get away with some tank mates while the fish are young but once the mature to full grown adults a 180 suddenly isn't very big. Silver dollars, clown loaches, and many types of plecos and catfish are your best bet for tank mates. Other cichlids will all be harassed and slowly killed off.

I'm personally not a festae fan as they have never been overly interactive in my opinion. Look through some online cichlid lists and you will see tons of colorful options.

Just my opinion, but your tank with all of the extra filtration would be very well suited for a male only ca tank. You could probably have 6-8 different adult males if you choose your stock wisely that live pretty peacefully.