EBA and Red Head Tapajos tank Mates?

[excaliber]

Our 5 Electric Blue Acaras could not get along so they had to be split up permanently. Now we have one 3"+ Male in a 75 Gal tank with four 1.5" Clown Loaches and 2 small Cory cats. The EBA gets along just fine with the bottom dwellers.

Do you think he would get along with a small group of Red Heads? They say the Red Heads are peaceful but what does that really mean? Most everything I read says the EBA are semi aggressive but I'd classify them as really aggressive. Will there be aggression issues with the Red Heads amongst theemselves?

I don't want to end up with 5 Red Heads that need to be seperated like we had to do with the EBA. I'm looking for a group of all males in the 3-4" range if anyone has some for sale or knows where to find some.

 

[Gourami Swami]

With cichlids it's always a little bit of a crapshoot. Normally I would say yes, an EBA and a small group of redheads should be alright in a 75, though bigger would be better. But based on what you say, you may just have an unusually aggressive EBA. The fact that he's in the tank established already won't help matters, as he sees that tank as his territory. If he is territorial, he would probably attack other cichlids that enter the tank. He doesn't see the bottom dwellers as threats so doesn't care about them.

If you do attempt to add the geophagus, I would completely change around the décor at the same time and do a water change. Hopefully that will trick the EBA into thinking he isn't in his turf.

 

[Ogertron3000]

I had 5 EBAs and 5 red heads in a 120G with some tetras for a year and no issues , EBAs got a bit territorial when breeding but that was it.
It sounds like you have an extra aggressive EBA as I found them quite peaceful, I gave them to my dad when I moved house and he put them in a mix and match community and said they were aggressive for a few days but settled down after that.
My red heads used to flare up at each other andhad small chases but nothing serious, in fact it was fun to watch. I'd try it but my main concern would be the EBA being aggressive to the not the red heads fighting among themselves. The above post saying to rearrange things is a good idea and maybe get a small school of dithers for him to chase around if he gets the urge,