190 gallon vieja tank

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thomas79

Jack Dempsey
MFK Member
Jul 9, 2010
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San Jose
hi,

I currently have a 190 gallon tank (60” x 27” x 27”) and I’m getting a male 9” male vieja syn in about 2 weeks. Do you think i can have a community of 5 male vieja cichlid (maybe some bifa, syn, black belt) in this tank or should i look for another female syn?

Let me know what u think.
 
Veija are not the easiest fish to sex until very mature.
I would raise a group of 6 juveniles and find yourself a pair,then let the rest go.
 
I agree with Stanzzzz7
Once you put the large male in the tank, it may be hard to add anything other cichlid, because he will take the entire tank as his territory (unless of course it is a copasetic female).
And.....This is just my personal bug-a-boo,
I know people love to combine different species of Vieja together in the same tank, but in nature one seldom finds different species living together. The tendency is either to hybridize, or compete.
In nature the one that is best for the habitat, usually drives the other out.
But this is not simply Vieja, same goes for Parachromis and other genera, each tend to claim specific habitats, trophic areas and/or locations, and when they meet, it is often not on the best of terms.
 
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duanes said:
I agree with Stanzzzz7
Once you put the large male in the tank, it may be hard to add anything other cichlid, because he will take the entire tank as his territory (unless of course it is a copasetic female).
And.....This is just my personal bug-a-boo,
I know people love to combine different species of Vieja together in the same tank, but in nature one seldom finds different species living together. The tendency is either to hybridize, or compete.
In nature the one that is best for the habitat, usually drives the other out.
But this is not simply Vieja, same goes for Parachromis and other genera, each tend to claim specific habitats, trophic areas and/or locations, and when they meet, it is often not on the best of terms.
Click to expand...
Duane’s- do you hold this true of former vieja types as well?
I’ve seen videos of rusty wessels fish house where he stocks like you are suggesting- in 180’s and 265’s- he has Freddie’s & bifas together or bifas and helleri but he also has a tank with argentae and pearsei and I’ve seen others With bocourti mixed with vieja.
I know they have a new genus but they seem to occupy the same trophic space-
Or like Chuco and vieja together.

Sent from my phone please excuse type-o’s
 
I guess the best way is to get a smaller female vieja syn (about 4") and some dither fishes with places to hide.

Thanks
 
Although Chuco may work, it may be a risk in that size tank.
I try never to keep similar body shaped, or similar mouth shaped species in the same tank. Those shapes usually mean similar food types, so competition.
Even though in captivity they may eat the same pellets, its not the actual foods, but the instinct that matters.
If I had a large Vieja male whatever, I would try to get not one, but 3 or 4 females and let them work it out.
And in terms of former Vieja like argentea, or regent, I have found unless you have 300 gallons or more, the tank is too small for a community or those similar species.
There is a chance yours could be the exception, but in my experience, things can turn bad overnight.
I was able to keep Chuco intermedia, and Cincelichthys together comfortably until the bocourti outgrew my 150, and had to be moved to a tank double that size.

but as you can see, the mouth shape is very dissimilar
 
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Given the right aquarium setup- I imagine a argentae/ Godmani tank or bocourti/macracanthus would be a real show stopper
 
I have a 540 Gallon tank with various types of Vieja, and there is LOTS of aggression, all the time. I can't imagine trying to keep full grown adult Vieja together in a smaller tank.

And then ..... your tank is 5 feet. It would be a better setup if it were 8 feet long, or at least 6. Your tank dimensions make it pretty close to a cube.

What I think would be really cool in that tank is some smaller Central American Cichlids. They look better, they stay smaller, and they're just as mean to each other as the full size Vieja.

Some of the very BEST fish in the hobby are in the 6-8 inch range, and would be a great fit for that tank. Consider:
1. Sajica -- first and top of the list, get 6-8, drop em in that tank, and enjoy the show.
2. Bartoni -- when they breed, their black and white "tuxedo" colors are very cool. Very active.
3. Labridens (Media Luna) -- Yellow Labridens are very cool, very rare, and endangered in the Wild. If you can breed those, you'd be an elite aquarist.
4. Carpintis -- I think they're 10 inches, big for that tank, but the Rio Hondo are electric blue.
5. Multispinosa -- Bright yellow fish, aggressive and very territorial.
6. Clown Loaches -- They'll go in that tank with any of the fish above, they school (kinda), their behavior is fascinating, and there are several different types of loaches besides the Clowns--but Clowns are the best. Clown loaches play dead sometimes in the tank.

Get plenty of stumps and rocks, mix and match some of these species, maybe you can get by feeding sparingly so you won't get a bunch of algae on your plants, you could grow some Anubias in that tank, too?
 
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