It's city water and no major maintenance has been done. I can't really say much more about the parameters other than that's what I had. Nitrates are near zero and I dont have a test for ammonia.
75 gallon stocking ideas
- Thread starter SCM_2123
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(Threadfin "acaras" are closer to eartheaters, both them and blue acaras are not small, the latter I can confirm regularly hits 6-8"... Which still fits in a 75 I'd say but yknow, just so you're not expecting small)
So you like the idea of acaras, you could do a couple of South American cichlids together. Options would be cichlids like the electric blue acara with angelfish or festivums or a Severum.
Severum will get too big for a 75. Angels and festivums are not the nicest to dithers.
A single severum would be fine but they do behave more natural in a 6ft tank with others of their own.
Columbian tetra could work with angels and festivums but I definitely wouldn't do neon/cardinal tetra
I have kept angelfish before. I had them with lemon tetras and hatchetfish. I can't remember what else was in the tank. The only one I had trouble with was when I attempted to mix them with guppies. The guppies didn't last long.
How well do angelfish and acara species do when kept as single specimens? Maybe I'm too picky about not wanting to breed.
You might be overthinking the breeding issue. I think if you got a nice group of thorichthys, a couple bristlenose plecos, and some dithers, you'd have a nice setup. When the eggs or fry get picked off, it's not a violent predatory scene, they're tiny and just tend to dissapear overnight or while you're at work etc. I may be wrong but I think with most breeding projects, it takes time and work to collect the fry and move them and grow them out in their own tank. I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong but I think it's mostly the amatitlania species that breed uncontrollably.
As I said before the medium acaras are fine
Genus Cichlasoma and Andinoacara excluding the three green terror species
Aequidens will kill things and hide
Laetacara may be something of interest if you're looking for a smaller acara to keep solo ish, but it's gonna be pretty small in a 75 for awhile if you're looking for a centerpiece
Keyholes are on the more social side
A group of keyholes would fit perfectly fine in a 75 though
Good news, it looks like on Live Fish Direct you can buy sexed fish like electric blue acaras and various rams, and on Imperial Tropicals they sell sexed apistos and I inquired about buying sexed firemouth and other Thorichthys species so maybe that could be an option. So there are possible options if I dont want to breed and still keep some cichlids. Would it be nuts to keep a single sex group of the fish I mentioned, whether it's all male or all female?
I can't really say, haven't had a lot of experience with these species, but with social groups you may not see their natural behavior, or full coloration if kept in single gender groups would be my concern. Even in the all male african tanks, it's usually 1 display tank with a few backup tanks to move fish to that have been injured from aggression, or discolored and stressed from being at the bottom of the heirarchy, or get too aggressive and violent trying to be the alpha male. It's just not a natural condition, and hard to maintain long term. The species you've discussed are much more social and less aggressive, but if you put 6 or 8 male cichlids in a 75 gallon tank I would still expect territorial disputes.
