Choice for "wet pet"/ rtm vs gt

[TomWronski]

I have a male green terror I want to keep in a 75 gallon I am buying. However, I was in a pet shop and saw a male rtm mislabeled as a chocolate cichlid and for only ten bucks. I tried to correct the employee but he said "if it says chocolate cichlid, that's what it is."

Amyway, I know it varies from fish to fish, but in general which of these two species is a better fit for the 75 gallon.

 

[joegriggs]

I don't think RTMs are so much glass bangers, but they are however from the parachromis genus. So they look super predatory, grow big, have teeth and can be really aggressive.

 

[Aqualoon]

I love me some saums, my favorite fish so you know where my vote goes.

 

[Rocksor]

I would say green terror would get more benefit from more volume of water per inch since the average size is much smaller than an RTM.

I've never had a saum bite me so I don't have to spend extra effort in putting a barrier between my hand/arm and the saum while doing tank maintenance. With a parachromis, you do have to watch out to not get bit while putting your hand into the tank.

With the saum in the tank, you could also add some dithers, which have less of a chance at being eaten.

 

[Frank Castle]

I have a male green terror I want to keep in a 75 gallon I am buying. However, I was in a pet shop and saw a male rtm mislabeled as a chocolate cichlid and for only ten bucks. I tried to correct the employee but he said "if it says chocolate cichlid, that's what it is."

Amyway, I know it varies from fish to fish, but in general which of these two species is a better fit for the 75 gallon.

I love both equally are in top 5 favorite fishes.....and it just so happens I have a male of each species housed together w/ some Synodontis, a Striped Raphael and a Gibbiceps Sailfin Pleco. Try both as long as you have a back-up plan in case it doesn't work out. 10 bucks is half the price they charge around here for RTMs, but it depends on size I suppose.

 

[TomWronski]

I love both equally are in top 5 favorite fishes.....and it just so happens I have a male of each species housed together w/ some Synodontis, a Striped Raphael and a Gibbiceps Sailfin Pleco. Try both as long as you have a back-up plan in case it doesn't work out. 10 bucks is half the price they charge around here for RTMs, but it depends on size I suppose.
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Both males? Does it seem like an all male tank is more peaceful than all female? All my female fish have been nasty.

 

[Frank Castle]

Both males? Does it seem like an all male tank is more peaceful than all female? All my female fish have been nasty.

Many hobbyists will recommend all-male tanks for several reasons, one is the amount of color (excluding Festae) the males contribute to the tank's overall appearance.

While Harems tend to be relatively peaceful I noticed a pair in a tank is much more aggressive and territorial than a male w/ several females....the harem mentality seems to "condition" them and teach skills for group-living, in a word.

The hardest part about all-male tanks is dominance and the struggle for it that is to be - you as the keeper have to play close attention to the hierarchy and 1.) make sure there are enough males to keep them from putting too much focus on any ONE fish - so while 2 may not work, 3 might be the magic number and so-on.

In my experience aggression can be managed by overcrowding (Yes, overcrowding - I said it) .....and if you scan through some threads of people w/ with "Community" cichlid tanks, you will take notice almost ALL of them have more fish than the "1inch of fish per gallon rule" suggests....

Many members here on MKF are orthodox, and a few like myself are quite unorthodox, but I have also accomplished many things this way that orthodoxed keepers have yet to achieve. I'm not saying "break" the rules per say, but you can certainly bend them a bit if you know what you are doing and don't mind putting in the time ad effort to observe and move things around when need be

 

[TomWronski]

Many hobbyists will recommend all-male tanks for several reasons, one is the amount of color (excluding Festae) the males contribute to the tank's overall appearance.

While Harems tend to be relatively peaceful I noticed a pair in a tank is much more aggressive and territorial than a male w/ several females....the harem mentality seems to "condition" them and teach skills for group-living, in a word.

The hardest part about all-male tanks is dominance and the struggle for it that is to be - you as the keeper have to play close attention to the hierarchy and 1.) make sure there are enough males to keep them from putting too much focus on any ONE fish - so while 2 may not work, 3 might be the magic number and so-on.

In my experience aggression can be managed by overcrowding (Yes, overcrowding - I said it) .....and if you scan through some threads of people w/ with "Community" cichlid tanks, you will take notice almost ALL of them have more fish than the "1inch of fish per gallon rule" suggests....

Many members here on MKF are orthodox, and a few like myself are quite unorthodox, but I have also accomplished many things this way that orthodoxed keepers have yet to achieve. I'm not saying "break" the rules per say, but you can certainly bend them a bit if you know what you are doing and don't mind putting in the time ad effort to observe and move things around when need be

Now I tempted to do 1 male 2 female. I have another gt that has a lot of growing to do but o suspect she is female and has been happy in a tank with a male convict and a male firemouth. She is tiny so they seem to ignore her. When she catches up in size you think I could do 1m/2f?

 

[Frank Castle]

Now I tempted to do 1 male 2 female. I have another gt that has a lot of growing to do but o suspect she is female and has been happy in a tank with a male convict and a male firemouth. She is tiny so they seem to ignore her. When she catches up in size you think I could do 1m/2f?

No, because it's not following the Odd-rule.....the 2 females could fight over the male and probably will.....your chances are much better if you do 3-5 females per male. 2 isn't much of a "harem". My male Jack Dempsey has 6 females and several years ago this was the same formula I followed and he spawned w/ every single one of them. Once you have more than 3 females you don't really have to keep them in odd-numbers, but 3 females is the minimum for any harem. A harem consists of "several" females, not just 2 or a "couple"

 

[TomWronski]

No, because it's not following the Odd-rule.....the 2 females could fight over the male and probably will.....your chances are much better if you do 3-5 females per male. 2 isn't much of a "harem". My male Jack Dempsey has 6 females and several years ago this was the same formula I followed and he spawned w/ every single one of them. Once you have more than 3 females you don't really have to keep them in odd-numbers, but 3 females is the minimum for any harem. A harem consists of "several" females, not just 2 or a "couple"

Makes sense. I tried a threesome with convicts and the females fought worse than normal. I might stick with a pair. 1 male and 3 females is a crowd in a 75 gallon?