180g Stocking Ideas - Large, Aggressive Cichlids

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Dom84

Feeder Fish
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Jul 8, 2018
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I'm picking up a 180g (72x24x24) tank sometime next week and like the idea of starting out a tank with some large cichlids. Thinking either 4 or 5, and growing them out from the beginning as juveniles. I would one of the fish to be a buttikoferi and would like some ideas what else could keep up with such an aggressive fish ?. For filtration, I have an old FX6 collecting dust in my garage that I could use. Would that be enough filtration? If not, I can probably get a new 407 or even a FX4. TIA for input.

Btw, wasnt sure where to post this thread so if it needs to be moved to the appropriate subforums, please go ahead :)
 
Buttikoferi probably wouldn't tolerate any tank mates in that size of a tank honestly you need a massive sized (300gal+) tank theres a member here DMD123 DMD123 whose trying to do an aggressive (amphilophus) community tank and its proved a bit of a challenge. Aggressive cichlids especially large ones don't usually do the tankmate thing
 
Im trying my amphilophus community in an 8 foot 300 gallon. The real challenge has been when one of the fish becomes sexually mature and I get a female in the mix. So far keeping it an all male tank has been working pretty well. A few choices have proven too aggressive and had to be removed (hoga’s) but my current mix of red devil, midas and Sagittae seem to be working.
 
Cichlids are great and you can certainly try a community in a 180, but I would scale it back a bit though on size and aggression. Have you ever kept a Butti, or attempted a large aggressive cichlid community? Buttikoferi is eventually going to need to be a solo fish in a 180 gallon, no matter which way you slice it. You won't get 4-5 fish of the size and aggression of a Butti (would be hard to find that many species that could keep up with it anyway) in a 180 long-term.

A cichlid community is honestly kind of a delicate balancing act that will only be made more difficult by going for the meanest fish you can find, which don't lend themselves well in this kind of a setup. A 180 gallon may seem large at first, but to fish like Butti or Managuense, it's a small tank to attempt tankmates. I think going for fish that are more middle of the pack in terms of size and aggression is going to be your best bet at having an enjoyable community, and keeping it males only like stated is a good idea. Fish like Carpintis, Lyonsi, Loisellei, Jack dempsey, will give you a better shot at success. You will want your water on the hard side with higher pH for these central american fish.
Or, you can go the South American route, which will be far easier in general as the fish are more tolerant of each other. Large geophagus, crenicichla, severums, many choices for large cichlids in a 180. This will be a less stressful setup for sure. pH and hardness should be lower for this setup. So, which direction you go may be dictated for you by your water type.
 
I have not kept a Butti before but I saw a person keep one with other large cichlids on YouTube so it gave me the idea. So yesterday I went to a LFS and got a Blue Carpintis, Butti and a Managuense, all about 1-1.5". The territorial aggression from the Butti is already evident at such a small size. It was chasing off the Carpintis during the morning feed. If I traded in the Butti, would I be able to attempt a community around the Managuense?

 
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I have not kept a Butti before but I saw a person keep one with other large cichlids on YouTube so it gave me the idea. So yesterday I went to a LFS and got a Blue Carpintis, Butti and a Managuense, all about 1-1.5". The territorial aggression from the Butti is already evident at such a small size. It was chasing off the Carpintis during the morning feed. If I traded in the Butti, would I be able to attempt a community around the Managuense?

Once the Buttikoferi is gone the Carpintis and Managuense will compete for tank boss but it will be a challenge to keep two Cichlids species known to be aggressive.
 
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I have not kept a Butti before but I saw a person keep one with other large cichlids on YouTube so it gave me the idea. So yesterday I went to a LFS and got a Blue Carpintis, Butti and a Managuense, all about 1-1.5". The territorial aggression from the Butti is already evident at such a small size. It was chasing off the Carpintis during the morning feed. If I traded in the Butti, would I be able to attempt a community around the Managuense?
Managuense can be a tricky one as well, an adult male jag may claim the whole tank, but better shot than with a Butti i would say. And I agree with tlindsey tlindsey , two is not a good number usually, I would get a couple more cichlids with them to spread around aggression. Mid sized and tough enough to hold up to the others would be my recommendation. Or, convicts work pretty well as "cichlid dithers" for larger fish.
 
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