Largest cichlid for my tank

[Azedenkae]

It's only 8 inches... less even, haven't seen any grow to that length really.

[EDIT]

Yes I know that a cichlid needs space, and I agree completely. Just saying, y'know, that they don't grow too large for a 3ft. Because well if an 8" carpintis won't work I don't see why a 7" Thorichthys would. )

 

[Chrisplosion]

I have seen a 12" one before and an 8" female. They do get larger than 8" if kept in large enough tank.

 

[Azedenkae]

And I've seen a 10" firemouth before. So yes, that's true, under good conditions - good water quality, huge tank, good food, basically great care, any fish would grow larger than their average. But on average, no they won't grow that large. Chances are more likely that they won't even reach 8", is what I'm saying.

 

[rrcoolj]

And I've seen a 10" firemouth before. So yes, that's true, under good conditions - good water quality, huge tank, good food, basically great care, any fish would grow larger than their average. But on average, no they won't grow that large. Chances are more likely that they won't even reach 8", is what I'm saying.

You have seen a 10" meeki? Yea ok

It's a very common misconception that carpintis stay so small. I found this out when researching to get some of my own. After searching many other forums and just basically "looking around" I have found the average carpintis will surpass the 8" mark especially males. There are more 12" carpintis than you might think. Even so I think an 8" fish would be pushing it for this size tank. A pretty good rule of thumb I read on the cichlid room companion by Willem Heijins is that a fish should be able to swim 6x before reaching the end of their tank. By that rule a 6in fish should be housed in a 36" tank, 8" fish in a 48" tank, a 10" in a 60" tank, a 12" fish in a 72" tank and so on.

 

[HybridHerp]

a 10" texas is much more common then a 10" fire mouth though, I don't think that's a fair comparison. aside from that, they need the space for territorial reasons as well, and I doubt they'd ever act right in a 3 foot tank, but you are open to try it if you want.
anyways, in a tank that size, I wouldn't keep a single fish that got more than 8"
but that tank seems perfect for a pair of something and some dithers
I saw the height and thought immediately of a breeding pair of angels, or even a breeding pair of the underrated keyholes or rainbow cichlids
its tough for me to think of any solo fish because any that fit the size range that would be best can be done as a pair due to the width and height of this tank

 

[Azedenkae]

You sure you guys are not confusing carpintis and cyanoguttatums? They are both called texas sometimes, so it's easy to confuse the two, and cyanoguttatums definitely grow to 12" or more. But yes seriously a carpintis that grows larger than 8" is probably as rare (or common) as a meeki growing larger than 7"...

I honestly reckon that a carpintis would do fine in a 3ft, because it is small enough (just pushing the limit but imo still small enough), and isn't something crazily aggressive/destructive, so yes. That's my opinion, and is my suggestion to the OP.

Thorichthys, Amatitlania, or H. carpintis. My suggestion.

 

[Chrisplosion]

I can tell the dif between the two and no I'm not confusing them. Given proper care, a Carpintis will grow larger than 8".

 

[Stramn]

dump the lima, put an RTC in there, just because you can, BE A REBEL!!!

Okay on a side note, above is sarcasm:

If you want to stock that tank with a Carpintis, there is nothing we can do to stop you.

If it was my tank, I'd probably ditch the lima, toss in 4-5 pictus cats, and maybe 2-3 Blood parrots or a couple convicts.

 

[Azedenkae]

I can tell the dif between the two and no I'm not confusing them. Given proper care, a Carpintis will grow larger than 8".

Sorry, wasn't talking about you in particular. I know you know A LOT about texans, red texans and green texans. Was more referring to the others.

Though again imo it's more than just proper care, you REALLY have to know how to take care of these things for them to grow huge, but then again it goes for all the other species out there.

 

[rrcoolj]

I can tell the dif between the two and no I'm not confusing them. Given proper care, a Carpintis will grow larger than 8".

And as fish keepers we should give our fish nothing but proper care. And there is no confusion I am very much aware of the difference between carpintis and cyanoguttatus they IMO are not that difficult to tell apart. Could he keep carpintis in this size tank? Yea He could keep oscars in this size tank. Would I recommend in it? No, because there is a difference between what we CAN do and what we SHOULD do. To the OP at the end of the day you can do whatever you want with this tank but to provide an optimal environment I honesty wouldn't get anything that grows over 6-7".