Wanting to breed a CA/SA Cichlid

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cjam93

Gambusia
MFK Member
Sep 20, 2015
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Hey guys so I am not wanting to start this up right away I have plenty of research that I know I need to do. I am just wanting to right now look at my options. The tank that I would be using is a 75 gallon. What are some cichlids I should look into that I would be able to breed in a tank this size without any tankmates?
 
Off the top of my head, more common ones would be jack dempseys, convicts, thorichthys species such as fire mouths, salvini... Those are the more common ones I can think of but I'm sure there are plenty more.
 
Ok thanks. I had thought about fire mouths, salvini, and I was wondering about green terrors but I wasnt sure the tank size needed for that. If I went with fire mouths couldn't I probably get more than one breeding pair and just do a species tank of only fire mouths?
 
Can't say because I haven't personally had meeki, but I believe that's possible. I'd be very wary of doing GT. Aggression is hit or miss with them but when breeding I'm gonna guess that they're gonna be hyper aggressive and you'll need more room.
 
Ok thanks. Ive read people using 75s to breed GTs before but I wanted more opinions on that because it seemed either right on the edge of just big enough or to small and I wasnt sure tbh.
 
You could do a thorichthys species tank.
any of the thorichthys group would work.The only one I would not try in a tank your size is maculipinnis (formally ellioti) They tend to be more aggressive than the others.
Firemouths would work well.You could aim for a group of around 8.
Ideally you will want more females than males.
It will be very hard to sex them when juveniles but this is the is the best time to add your group while they are still young.
It may be worth buying a couple more than you actually want.As they mature you will be able to distinguish the sex easily.If you have more males than females you will be able to rehome the extra males.
I have found tanks like this just housing one group of the same species much more interesting in the long run.
Firemouths show incredible character and interesting behaviour when kept in groups of their own kind.
Try it,you won't be disappointed.
 
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Ok thanks. Ive read people using 75s to breed GTs before but I wanted more opinions on that because it seemed either right on the edge of just big enough or to small and I wasnt sure tbh.

In most cases too small.
You will get away with it while they are still quite small.Eventually I think your female will have a very hard time.
 
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You could do a thorichthys species tank.
any of the thorichthys group would work.The only one I would not try in a tank your size is maculipinnis (formally ellioti) They tend to be more aggressive than the others.
Firemouths would work well.You could aim for a group of around 8.
Ideally you will want more females than males.
It will be very hard to sex them when juveniles but this is the is the best time to add your group while they are still young.
It may be worth buying a couple more than you actually want.As they mature you will be able to distinguish the sex easily.If you have more males than females you will be able to rehome the extra males.
I have found tanks like this just housing one group of the same species much more interesting in the long run.
Firemouths show incredible character and interesting behaviour when kept in groups of their own kind.
Try it,you won't be disappointed.

I currently have one fire mouth and I really like it a lot. That very well maybe what I end up doing. How do you sex fire mouths?
 
They are not easy to tell apart until they mature.
Males tend to have longer dorsal and anal fins.
Observing a group, males are easy to tell by their behaviour.
 
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Guppies, Jack Dempseys, young Flowerhorns, even young Umbees. Many options, as it can be a breeder tank
 
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