Finally going to get it.....

[Lawton C]

After 4 years of this hobby, I think I'm finally ready to get a tank bigger than 75g. I'm looking at something in the 180-250 range for my living room. I'm cycling a 60 gallon for a pair of sajica and other fish atm. I have alwyas loved SA/CA cichlids and want to do a community including these fish. I do have a few questions though.
1. would the sajica pair go in the tank or would they terrorize others if they breed
2. what are some good tempered SA/CA cichlids for this size tank(I had Viejas, sajica, firemouths, acaras, oscars in mind)
3. what are some good non cichlid additions to the tank. (larger catfish/bottom-dwellers/oddballs/schooling fish)

Kinda of a spontaneous decision but I have the time, money, and space right now.

 

[Gourami Swami]

1. Sajica pair should be small enough to coexist with other fish in a 180-250
2. Couple ways you could go. Most advisable would be fish that are less aggressive- this would be the acaras, Oscar, firemouths (if you want to mix ca and sa), geophagus, things like that. Will be easier to get a community to work with these fish. Other way you could go is for more aggressive CA cichlids. This could still work in a 180-250, just more of a headache to get it to work. Species I would look at for this: Lyonsi, salvini, Hericthys species, larger amatitlania species, panamensis, jack Dempsey, tetracanthus, etc.
Either way you want to keep another tank on hand for refugees. Should stock enough cichlids to distribute aggression around, I would say 6+ depending on the species of course. Add a few at a time so new guys don't get singled out. Growing up together would help a bit.
3. SA- pinktail chalceus, pimelodus cats, silver dollars CA- large livebearers (if your cichlids won't be able to eat them), Astyanax tetras

 

[Lawton C]

1. Sajica pair should be small enough to coexist with other fish in a 180-250
2. Couple ways you could go. Most advisable would be fish that are less aggressive- this would be the acaras, Oscar, firemouths (if you want to mix ca and sa), geophagus, things like that. Will be easier to get a community to work with these fish. Other way you could go is for more aggressive CA cichlids. This could still work in a 180-250, just more of a headache to get it to work. Species I would look at for this: Lyonsi, salvini, Hericthys species, larger amatitlania species, panamensis, jack Dempsey, tetracanthus, etc.
Either way you want to keep another tank on hand for refugees. Should stock enough cichlids to distribute aggression around, I would say 6+ depending on the species of course. Add a few at a time so new guys don't get singled out. Growing up together would help a bit.
3. SA- pinktail chalceus, pimelodus cats, silver dollars CA- large livebearers (if your cichlids won't be able to eat them), Astyanax tetras

Ok so I love paratheraps vieja, would the sajica pair work with it and a few toher cichlids plus some others. Im thinking.

1 paratheraps vieja
sajica pair
2 oscars
2 threadfin acara
6 pictus catfish
5 silverdollars

also open to other ideas for stocking besides cichlids. THX

 

[fishhead0103666]

Personally I wouldn’t do pictus catfish with oscars, too many stories of the oscar trying to eat the pictus and either the pictus dies or they both die. If you want to try it then don’t let me stop you.

 

[Lawton C]

Personally I wouldn’t do pictus catfish with oscars, too many stories of the oscar trying to eat the pictus and either the pictus dies or they both die. If you want to try it then don’t let me stop you.

Ok any larger cats or others you would recommend

 

[fishhead0103666]

Sun catfish are a personal favorite. They typically grow around 8 inches in captivity but can grow larger. thebiggerthebetter had some that were about 13 inches I think.

 

[Lawton C]

Sun catfish are a personal favorite. They typically grow around 8 inches in captivity but can grow larger. thebiggerthebetter had some that were about 13 inches I think.

Do they need to be housed singly?

 

[fishhead0103666]

I thought I had said it but apparently I didn’t. They are in fact a schooling catfish but can be by themselves.

 

[Lawton C]

I thought I had said it but apparently I didn’t. They are in fact a schooling catfish but can be by themselves.

Ok sweet can I do a group 3-4??

 

[Gourami Swami]

Paratheraps and vieja are a genus, not a species, and whether or not the fish will work in a community, probably depends on the species. Heterospila is pretty friendly and a good community fish, some others like maculicauda or zonatus are very aggressive. Whether your tank is a 180 or a 250 may make a pretty big difference. I would probably not mix the ultra aggressive vieja with Oscars and sajica. One fish I kept in that genus which I found pretty passive was vieja regain. Though, some other members on this site have had different experiences. I believe the vieja would go better with the aggressive types I listed than with the more passive Oscars and small sajica, and would work better in the 250 than 180