Wet pet in a community tank.

[burntrubber]

Hi, sort of a cichlid noob here. My last encounter with a group of Sevs ended in disaster. I now have a tank with Lima catfish, Angelfish, Festivus , A large Black ghost knife and a Adonis pleco. I'd like a single birghtly colored Cichlid to go with the mix. Thinking along the lines of a GT or EBJD. Any thoughts on that any other recomendations? It's a 225G tank on a sump filter. Thanks. **Edit, also added a bunch of marbled headstanders recently.

 

[Fishnerd360]

Green terrors I think would be too aggressive with the angelfish. But I think a EBJD would be ok, but that is from my experience. Look into earth eaters, there are some pretty colorful and big peaceful species of them out there. Wait for more replies before buying.

 

[burntrubber]

Thanks. Not in a hurry. I don't really want more than one fish because I can't handle the drama from pairings.

 

[Serpentine]

You have a lot of peaceful fish in there. You would do best with a gentle community cichlid. Yours are also mostly South American species. A green terror would be several steps up on the aggression scale. So would even an EBJD, which is a Central American cichlid. An electric blue Acara would add a nice pop of color to your tank. They are usually pretty laid back and they stay manageable at around 4 inches.

Eartheaters are fabulous but you are looking for a single fish. Geophagus abalios and G. sp. "Red Head Tapajos" are laid back and very pretty even though it takes a couple of years for them to come into their full glory. However they do best in schools of at least 6 and preferably 8. The more you have the more gregarious they are. At first I tried keeping fewer and they hid all the time until I wised up and got them enough friends. They require sandy substrate and they keep it sparkling clean. They do uproot plants as they "graze" for goodies in the sand though.

Wet pets are typically large, aggressive cichlids that don't play well with others. They are kept by themselves and you become their sole companion, thus the "wet pet" designation. Because they have no other buddies they tend to be very interactive and eager for attention from you.

We have a couple of wet pets in solo tanks. One is a red devil and the other is a red Texas, big aggressive Amphoplilus / Amph hybrid species respectively who would happily shred any fish we dared to put in with them. They are great with people. They enjoy coming up to the glass to visit with us and playing with toys that we put in for them (though they still bite hands... hard). They're almost like aquatic dogs. They're also the exact opposite of what you are looking for.

If you don't want a gang of eartheaters, I would recommend an electric blue Acara. Just one, so you don't have to worry about pair drama or conspecific fighting. They are smart and interactive. They won't hang out with you to the same degree as a wet pet but they also won't murder your other fish.

 

[tlindsey]

You have a lot of peaceful fish in there. You would do best with a gentle community cichlid. Yours are also mostly South American species. A green terror would be several steps up on the aggression scale. So would even an EBJD, which is a Central American cichlid. An electric blue Acara would add a nice pop of color to your tank. They are usually pretty laid back and they stay manageable at around 4 inches.

Eartheaters are fabulous but you are looking for a single fish. Geophagus abalios and G. sp. "Red Head Tapajos" are laid back and very pretty even though it takes a couple of years for them to come into their full glory. However they do best in schools of at least 6 and preferably 8. The more you have the more gregarious they are. At first I tried keeping fewer and they hid all the time until I wised up and got them enough friends. They require sandy substrate and they keep it sparkling clean. They do uproot plants as they "graze" for goodies in the sand though.

Wet pets are typically large, aggressive cichlids that don't play well with others. They are kept by themselves and you become their sole companion, thus the "wet pet" designation. Because they have no other buddies they tend to be very interactive and eager for attention from you.

We have a couple of wet pets in solo tanks. One is a red devil and the other is a red Texas, big aggressive Amphoplilus / Amph hybrid species respectively who would happily shred any fish we dared to put in with them. They are great with people. They enjoy coming up to the glass to visit with us and playing with toys that we put in for them (though they still bite hands... hard). They're almost like aquatic dogs. They're also the exact opposite of what you are looking for.

If you don't want a gang of eartheaters, I would recommend an electric blue Acara. Just one, so you don't have to worry about pair drama or conspecific fighting. They are smart and interactive. They won't hang out with you to the same degree as a wet pet but they also won't murder your other fish.

I also like the EBA as the centerpiece specimen.

 

[ryansmith83]

Maybe consider one of the blue-spangled Satanoperca. They grow 10”+, probably do okay as singles, and won’t likely bother your angel or Mesonauta. A lot of the Geophagus species are social and would appreciate being in loose shoals, at least growing out. Plus the really large, showy goes like altifrons get pushy.

Geophagus sveni are beautiful blue and red.

I wouldn’t call either of these examples brightly colored, but they’re nicely colored for SA cichlids. Electric blue acaras are nice but only get to around 5 - 6” max and so I don’t know that it’d stand out as a centerpiece fish. Also, mine were very aggressive with angels. My 4” electric blue acaras shredded some adult blue ghost angels I mixed them with. I have seen other people have success with them, but that’s the nature of acaras. Some are fine and some are not.

 

[Zanzag]

A regular blue acara could work well too. My male comes right up to the glass anytime someone goes near the tank.

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Chocolate cichlids are large and normally peaceful. They get nice colour with age.
They also have a nice character and are very greedy fish.
They are not very predatory and generally won't harass other fish.

 

[Serpentine]

Chocolate cichlids are large and normally peaceful. They get nice colour with age.
They also have a nice character and are very greedy fish.
They are not very predatory and generally won't harass other fish.

I like chocolate cichlids too.

 

[burntrubber]

Lovely fish as they are, I've never seen Acaras or Chocolate cichlid in my neck of the woods. Maybe it's me, Earth eaters look best in groups. How about a Red Severum? Or a Crenicichla?