My 70g Cichlid Community

[brett192]

Hi all, I have been off this site for a while, but heres my tank. I plan on selling the larger jack dempsey (too aggressive) and the oscars because they will grow too large for my 48x15" footprint. I also plan on switching my substrate to sand, but not decided on white or black sand.

2 Albino Oscars - 6"
2 Jack Dempseys - 6" and 5"
1 Gold Severum - 4"
1 Geophagus (Pearl Cichlid?) - 3"
1 Frontosa - 3"
1 Featherfin Synodontis - 5"

Filtered with two Aquaclear 70s and one Fluval 205. The canister is full of bio-max and the HOBs have foam, carbon and filterfloss for easier changing. Any thoughts? Thanks

[charles]

welcome back...

If you don't mind my opinion, you have way too much bio-load for your filters to handle. Unless you change water every other day about 50%, I just can't see how those small filter will be able to handle the amount of fish in there.

[brett192]

Each one of the HOBs is rated for a 70 gallon tank, and the canister is rated for another 40 gallons. I just bought the canister last week and moved the bio-max from the HOBs into it. Then put carbon and filterfloss into the HOBs

Should I have gotten a 405 or FX5 instead? Nitrates are at 20 ppm and no new fish have been added in the past month. Thanks

[charles]

There is really not much area for bio-media for ac70. It is not always what the filter is rated at. For example, ac70 rated for a 70g tank is ok when you have some tetra, cory, and a few rainbow in there. But ac70 rated for a 70g tank is too small when you have even 1 oscar in there. So it is fish dependant.

You would better off getting a FX5 for the amount of fish you have in there currently.

[BelieveInBlue]

Not bad, but I wouldn't keep the frontosa and the syno in there with the SA/CA stuff. It's generally not a good idea to mix fish from different continents with different water requirements.