Possible Dovii tankmates?

[Stanzzzz7]

Males grow to at least 10 inches and are pretty deep bodied.
It is a pretty risky thing to try with no guarantees but dovii do tend to have a natural tolerance for this species.

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

It would be interesting if you had a large enough tank to have some Dovii fry grow up with some adult Nicaraguense, would be very cool to see if the Dovii are genetically predispositioned to be tolerant of the Nicaraguense.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

It would be good to watch if it did work.
Aquarium conditions are a completely different scenario to the wild.If the same behaviour works in captivity or not is another story.

 

[MP_cichlid]

i would definetely stay away from other large male cichlids, like a umbee or jag or big amph. it would be a constant power struggle, thats if they last 24 hrs

 

[Stanzzzz7]

i would definetely stay away from other large male cichlids, like a umbee or jag or big amph. it would be a constant power struggle, thats if they last 24 hrs

Agreed

 

[kewpiefishypewpie]

It would be good to watch if it did work.
Aquarium conditions are a completely different scenario to the wild.If the same behaviour works in captivity or not is another story.

Oh definitely, it would have to be a huge tank I'd imagine (1,000 gallons) and even then it would only pale in comparison to nature. Regardless it would be an interesting experiment.

 

[dan518]

I read that in the wild male dovii will breed with 2/3 females and let them stop in there territory about the size of a tennis court then go back to there solitary life, they don't partake in the raising of the fry, don't know if this is true or not I will have to try and find the article I read, but it would explain why male dovii won't except any tank mates

 

[justarn]

Big stripped Raphael's have a good chamce, you will never see them though, that's why they will survive... Mel currently has an 18 inch male dovii in with amphs.
Really depends on the dovii tho.

 

[robham777]

I personally don't think you stand much chance of keeping anything with it for life.Sooner or later I think the dovii will kill anything you keep with it.
The only fish I would risk trying is nicaraguense due to the strange relationship they have in nature.I believe nicaraguense are the only fish dovii will allow in its territory in the wild.
I still feel this would be a risky move but the only fish that may or may not be tolerated by a large adult Dovii.
People do keep other fish with dovii and it works only for so long.

I really like the nicaraguense idea and it is a fish I would like to keep even if it did not work out with the dovii. I definitely agree that adding anything even a female dovii would be a risky proposition. If I were to try it, do you think a single pair would be better than a group?

 

[robham777]

it could work, i agree that lots of rock and wood work would be necessary, you could also try some sort of schooling fish

I thought about possibly red hooks. I can get them locally and who doesn't like a nice group of SD. They don't really fit the CA biotype, but I could call it a south Florida biotype.

again, lots of rocks, caves, wood, and pipes and hide-spaces, but I like the ideas of oversized Catfish, specifically Giant Raphaels, however my input of possibilities (which anything mentioned at all is just a possibility) is Tilapia Buttekofferi, Umbriferum, an adult male Jaguar, a large male Amphilophus, a Tigerfish, a Stingray, a Gar, a Bowfin, a Snakehead, a Wolffish, a Payara and maybe large Datnoids?????

Any of that stuff sound cool to you?

I'm sure with an appropriate basking spot and proper lighting some turtles would make ideal tankmates as well, perhaps a Mata Mata.....or a Pignose, or perhaps something as simple as a Redear Slider

Thanks for the suggestions. Most of them sound very cool to me, but are a little larger and more aggressive than what I had in mind. If this build works out, I may try a second larger one and you got some good candidates for it there.