Cichlids to breed in a 75

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divemaster99

Dovii
MFK Member
Jan 10, 2014
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Pittsburgh, PA
Well I've had my Cutteri pair in my 75 for a bit more than a month and honestly I can't give the fry away fast enough! There's about 15-20 fry alive in an unheated 5 gallon bucket with a large sponge filter and 4 in the tank that've been living with the female happily. It's been about 2 weeks since they laid eggs so I'm starting to worry they're going to again and like I said I can't find enough people to give the fry to! So there's a big annual auction for my local fish club next week and I'll probably be taking them there to sell or trade and hopefully pick up a new pair of different cichlids that stay a bit more peaceful when breeding and won't terrorize my pleco. I'll also be getting a 10 or 15 gallon tank for fry so I can grow them out faster and keep them healthier than they are in a bucket. So back to the main question: I'm looking for a somewhat uncommon but not extremely rare (so seeming between the rarity of an oscar and a hoga) that I can breed in a 75 gallon tank with tankmates of 6 giant danios, a striped raphael catfish, and a gibbiceps pleco. Even my raph and pleco combined are pretty mellow and eat next to no eggs and fry so that isn't a problem, in fact I think my GDs ate more fry than they did :). Although the cichlids have to be OK parents because if they completely abandon the fry then I'm sure my cats would pick them off slowly. I know this is more personal preference but I'm just looking for suggestions. Fish I was thinking of were maybe 2 pairs of angelfish, a sev pair, maybe some other CA cichlid. But the main thing is the fry have to be worth at least a bit of money. I even had. Y Local fish club pres make an announcement to 50-60 people last night that I had this pair for sale for really cheap and to see me if you had any interest- no one was interested, figures. Then there was a bag of a breeding pair of double dark angels that went for $36!!! So something that'd be worth a dollar per fry or more is what I'm looking for.
 
You said hoga so why not hoga? Or isletas? Although keep in mind amphs are nasty and if you thought the cutteri where hard on the cats you ain't seen nothing yet.


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what about apistgrammas? electric blue rams or chocolate cichlids?
 
Mike, yeah I really want something less aggressive than the cutteri so hogas are a big no.

Justarn, I like the idea of apistos. I was thinkin of maybe a community of multiple breeding fish. Maybe an apisto pair, maybe try to breed my GDs (don't know if they even can or not), maybe some fancy guppies, maybe a gambusia group. I'll have to see, would apistos do alright with other breeding fish or would they get to nasty.
 
You're best off with angels or the dwarf cichlids then cause anything other than those will be equal or greater than the cutteri in terms of breeding aggression towards everything else

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You're best off with angels or the dwarf cichlids then cause anything other than those will be equal or greater than the cutteri in terms of breeding aggression towards everything else

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Alright I think I'll do either an angel or apisto pair then. But could I keep the with other breeding (more communal non cichlid) fish without them killing them?
 
Rainbow cichlids firemouth or nics come to mind
 
I think your best bet is a mellow cichlisoma species. Cichlasoma dimerus or cichlisoma amazonarum are 2 great options. Also australoheros oblongum are great. My trio are some of the most spectacularly beautiful fish I've ever kept. Highly recommend them even though they'll be about as aggressive as the cutteri. Just about all sa or ca cichlids will be aggressive with fry -some more than others. In the lakes and rivers were they are from thats the only way any of their fry have a chance for survival.
 
Oblognum are nice fish
 
Defenitely, the colors are outrageous! Especially on the male.
 
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