Best American cichlid pair/single male for 75 gallon?

[HybridFinatic]

So currently I have 3 tanks. A 10g hospital tank, a 29, and a 40. As far as fish go I have several smaller south american grow outs and a 5 inch bichir in the 40 and a small flowerhorn growing out in the 29. Which I know for many on this site that is nothing. But Im almost 18 and a lot of changes are going to be happening in my life very soon and I only have so much time on my hands for the hobby. I'm not thinking about quitting at all but I am going to sell the 40 with the fish in it and I'm going to buy a 75 gallon and let the flowerhorn grow out in it for a while. I will also have to sell the 29 so I only have to worry about one tank. The 10 gallon will stay because it is only a hospital tank so there is nothing in it although it may not be big enough considering since I'm getting into larger fish but I am looking into a single fish tank setup so a hospital tank won't matter so I will probably take the 10 gallon down and let it sit in the garage. Anyways I only have a limited space for my tanks in my moms house otherwise I would get a 125 which would be more adequate for most larger american cichlids. So like I said I'm going to let the flowerhorn grow to adult size throughout the winter, spring, and summer and probably sell it this next fall. I just want to enjoy it for while since it's such an interesting fish but it's not something I want to keep long term. Alright so to the point. So I basically I want to keep it as simple as possible and have 1 75 gallon with 1-2 main fish. My plan is to buy a group of babie american cichlids and let them either get a pair or a have a dominate male and sell the rest. I am considering buying from jeff rapps or wets spot or somewhere online like that. I need help finding a species that can live healthy in its adult size in a 75. I do want a larger species. (being at least 8 inches. With lots of aggression. I think I'm definitely leaning more towards the central americans cichlids. The ones I'm interested in are electric blue texas cichlid, amph sagittae or lyonsi, T-bar cichlid (does appeal to me but not up to par with the size and aggression Im looking for), cuban cichlid, talamancaheros sieboldii, chiapaheros grammodes, parachromis friedrichsthalii. Please me give your input. I'm very open to other suggestions.

 

[TigerTalon1]

Whatever amphilophus you want pretty much

 

[HybridFinatic]

Whatever amphilophus you want pretty much

Even for a pair? I do know some amps do exceed 12 inches so I would definitely not say all amphilophus.

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

75 is a great wetpet tank-
You have the right idea looking for a fish that gets around 8” if you want a pair.
You may also get away with a group of thorichthys type they can be fascinating, easy to breed and are more bark than bite.
Here are lots of midSized cichlids-
Is there a color you prefer, barred or solid?
If you go slightly smaller you may be able to keep swords or sailfin Mollies with them- say your tbars or something in that ballpark.

75’s are great because of the depth, opens a lot of doors have fun

 

[HybridFinatic]

75 is a great wetpet tank-
You have the right idea looking for a fish that gets around 8” if you want a pair.
You may also get away with a group of thorichthys type they can be fascinating, easy to breed and are more bark than bite.
Here are lots of midSized cichlids-
Is there a color you prefer, barred or solid?
If you go slightly smaller you may be able to keep swords or sailfin Mollies with them- say your tbars or something in that ballpark.

75’s are great because of the depth, opens a lot of doors have fun

Yes I agree. I have had thorichthys before in the past and I have seen some pretty cool species that I may want to keep in the far future but like I said I’m mainly looking for one fish dominant male or a large pair. Yes the The Tbar are cool but I’m not sure about them being I mainly want 1 large pair of cichlids. When I say at least 8 inches I mean on a range of 8-12. 12 being the abosolute max a fish could get so not a fish that has sometimes been known to surpass 12 inches.

 

[CrazyPhishMan]

You may want to look into Hericthysis species- bartoni, deppi, tampo.
High bodied fish not quite as big as an amph.
And look into making an incomplete divider.

I’ve bred Nics and young adult amps in 75’s- it’s not a pretty tank with amps. I’d go one male labiatus citronellum or trimaculatum

 

[HybridFinatic]

You may want to look into Hericthysis species- bartoni, deppi, tampo.
High bodied fish not quite as big as an amph.
And look into making an incomplete divider.

I’ve bred Nics and young adult amps in 75’s- it’s not a pretty tank with amps. I’d go one male labiatus citronellum or trimaculatum

What about Saggitae or lysoni. I heard they aren’t so big.

 

[duanes]

To me, most of the cichlids you list get too large, and territorial for a 75, as a pair, as adults long term.
As adults I tried to keep From your list) grammodes, Herichthys carpintus, and Amatitlania sajica in 75 gal tank, and except for the Amatitlania, females were always killed by the male.

not on your list, some other Amatitlania such as nanoluteus nd myrnae, or Honduran Red Points
below myrnae

nanoluteus

Red points

many others from that genus (at least 10 species) are fitting for that size tank

 

[HybridFinatic]

Thank you very much. If I’m going to do that genus and it would probably be the T-bar cichlids. Also from the looks of it almost all the fish except the Tbar could not be successfully bred in a 75 so would you say all those fish could have a single male in a 75 as a wetpet? Cuban, grammodes, Freddie, lysoni, saggitae, Carpintis.

 

[duanes]

I did have pairs of very young grammodes and young Herichthys carpintus each spawn in a separate 75, but after the 3rd spawn of each, when just starting to reach adult size, is when the males killed the females, and ate all fry.


As single fish in the tank, probably any would work, although in that cramped space, normal behavior may be less than what one might expect.