Best Large Cichlid for 135 gallon

[sevs and sajicas for me]

A piebald citrinellus would be cool. Any leads on finding one yet?

COTA seems to have them. I've dealt with COTA in the past..but would need to meet his 100$ minimum so not a cheap investment for sure.

Backfromthedead I love the argentae's and breidohri's from the vieja group but I have a tank of Oscura Heterospila that i've been growing out for 2 years and my patience is running thin with them. I wonder if an argentae/breidohri would be too similar in that regard of slow growing and not quite as personable as I'm looking for. I've put a little over 2 years into these guys and the largest one i've got is pushing 5 inches.

 

[Backfromthedead]

COTA seems to have them. I've dealt with COTA in the past..but would need to meet his 100$ minimum so not a cheap investment for sure.

Backfromthedead I love the argentae's and breidohri's from the vieja group but I have a tank of Oscura Heterospila that i've been growing out for 2 years and my patience is running thin with them. I wonder if an argentae/breidohri would be too similar in that regard of slow growing and not quite as personable as I'm looking for. I've put a little over 2 years into these guys and the largest one i've got is pushing 5 inches.

Ive heard argentea are among the most aggressive of the vieja/maskaheros complex. Generally ive noticed a trend in territorial aggression and personality in cichlids. The few large argentea ive seen in person seemed quite intelligent and expressive and one was quite a glass banger. duanes would know more.

 

[DMD123]

I have a tank of Oscura Heterospila that i've been growing out for 2 years and my patience is running thin with them.....
I've put a little over 2 years into these guys and the largest one i've got is pushing 5 inches.

lol, I feel you. My male got up to 10" and was 5 years old. I go away for a weekend and come back to it dead. Still not sure to this day what took it out. Then my Pearsei passes away soon after (old age-she was at least 10yrs old). I just couldnt go down that path to raise either again.

So Ive been growing out a bunch of amphs. trying to find a combo that I want to keep. So far my favorite is the Petsmart red devil mutt. Very calm and outgoing. Of course in typical amphilophus behavior this could change.

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

DMD123 Yep. Petsmart red devil mutts seem to be popular hybrid midevils. I see a ton of people keep them and are very happy with them.

I see a few people have some citrinellus on aquabid as well.

 

[RD.]

If you are considering any of the larger Amphs, my suggestion would be to get a male and allow it to fly solo. Spare the life of a female, or two.

 

[DMD123]

DMD123 Yep. Petsmart red devil mutts seem to be popular hybrid midevils. I see a ton of people keep them and are very happy with them.

I see a few people have some citrinellus on aquabid as well.

Its been interesting with the mix Im raising out. I did get 10 true Midas fry, 3 Sagittae, 3 Hoga and 4 Petsmart RD's. Have done the first round of rehoming but another round coming soon. Just to see the difference in personality has been interesting. The Petsmart fish are very 'domesticated'. The true breeds like the midas, sagittae and hoga definitely a bit more on the wild side. Been interesting to see it.

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

If you are considering any of the larger Amphs, my suggestion would be to get a male and allow it to fly solo. Spare the life of a female, or two.

Probably would buy a group as buying a single adult male would likely be hard to find/ship and expensive. More than likely would just rehome the others once a dominant male developed.

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

Its been interesting with the mix Im raising out. I did get 10 true Midas fry, 3 Sagittae, 3 Hoga and 4 Petsmart RD's. Have done the first round of rehoming but another round coming soon. Just to see the difference in personality has been interesting. The Petsmart fish are very 'domesticated'. The true breeds like the midas, sagittae and hoga definitely a bit more on the wild side. Been interesting to see it.

When you say wild side, my experience with wilds are typically they are more aggressive to their own kind while being more shy towards their humans. Is that the case with yours?

Bought 5 wild bolivian rams last year from Rapps before he went out and the dominant male killed 3 females and the other male in a matter of 2 weeks. But the little prick rarely came out of his hiding spot when i was around. I had to hide behind the couch to see him in action.

 

[DMD123]

When you say wild side, my experience with wilds are typically they are more aggressive to their own kind while being more shy towards their humans. Is that the case with yours?

Bought 5 wild bolivian rams last year from Rapps before he went out and the dominant male killed 3 females and the other male in a matter of 2 weeks. But the little prick rarely came out of his hiding spot when i was around. I had to hide behind the couch to see him in action.

Yep, pretty much it. The Hoga is really is not very people interactive, the midas and sagittae are better but much more aggressive and the mutts are easy like a Sunday morning.

 

[sevs and sajicas for me]

interesting. well i've got some time to figure it all out. i've got to do some tank shuffling and make some hard decisions before i make a final decision on the right wet pet.