Fish mix and count in a community tank?

[Luqui]

Hi guys, decided to build a 125 gallon mixed american cichlid tank, but not fully sure if the fishes will do well in the defined mix of species and numbers. My idea is to place 6 geophagus sveni, 4 firemouths, 4 Electric blue jack dempseys and eventually some electric blue akaras or apistogramma agassizi or anotner dwarf cichlids. On top of that I'm considering addind a group or tetra or similar superficial fishes and a couple of corydoras. Bottom large grain Sand or gravel, decoration wood, rocks and plant. Any idea if this setup might work please. Any tips or suggestions very welcome. Thanks in advance!

 

[Midwater]

Just a group of Sveni on its own may look much better than mixing all those other fish.

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

Just a group of Sveni on its own may look much better than mixing all those other fish.

I agree with Midwater@.

NEVER mix the corys with the large cichlids. I've tried that, and they got beat up real quick. I would do only three species, specifically two types of cichlids and one dither. Maybe three firemouths and three electric blue acaras with larger tetras like Buenos Aires or Diamond? 4-6 Convicts and Electric blue acaras with some black skirt or diamond tetras? Pure Jack Dempsey setup with a small school of pictus or a few Striped Raphael catfish (Striped Raphs are always great and would do well in your tank. They are as tough as nails, trust me, I know). Or even convicts and Jack Dempseys.

You have many options, but I wouldn't recommend putting that many fish in the tank. Understocking is way better than overstocking, even if the tank is mature.

Good luck and welcome!

 

[Deadeye]

Welcome to the forum!
I think you’ll run into issues with aggression with that many cichlids as they grow. It would be best to pick only a few (and limit to individuals) and do the dither fish with them.

 

[Luqui]

Many thanks for your wise advices folks, makes sense to limit the cichlid numbers probably, also the species. But it's hard as there are so many amazing fishes around... Any tips for nice and bigger s/c American dither please?

 

[SilverArowanaBoi]

Many thanks for your wise advices folks, makes sense to limit the cichlid numbers probably, also the species. But it's hard as there are so many amazing fishes around... Any tips for nice and bigger s/c American dither please?

So true, there are many amazing options! Bigger American dithers...maybe angelfish? But you can only choose peaceful cichlids with those. Also, Emperor tetras, beyond that I don't really know, others can give better info lol.

 

[tlindsey]

Hi guys, decided to build a 125 gallon mixed american cichlid tank, but not fully sure if the fishes will do well in the defined mix of species and numbers. My idea is to place 6 geophagus sveni, 4 firemouths, 4 Electric blue jack dempseys and eventually some electric blue akaras or apistogramma agassizi or anotner dwarf cichlids. On top of that I'm considering addind a group or tetra or similar superficial fishes and a couple of corydoras. Bottom large grain Sand or gravel, decoration wood, rocks and plant. Any idea if this setup might work please. Any tips or suggestions very welcome. Thanks in advance!

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Welcome aboard

 

[Deadeye]

So true, there are many amazing options! Bigger American dithers...maybe angelfish? But you can only choose peaceful cichlids with those. Also, Emperor tetras, beyond that I don't really know, others can give better info lol.

Angels would be pretty terrible dithers, they are far to delicate and subject to the same behavior as any cichlid.

Many thanks for your wise advices folks, makes sense to limit the cichlid numbers probably, also the species. But it's hard as there are so many amazing fishes around... Any tips for nice and bigger s/c American dither please?

Silver dollars are good, but can be a little too skittish. Any of the larger tetras would be good, such as Buenos Aires, Colombian, and bleeding heart.
It’s important that the tetras be tall bodied as this makes them harder to snack on.

 

[duanes]

If I remember right, the pH of your tap water is about 6.
In nature firemouths are hardly ever found in water with pH below 7.5, so IMO bad tank mates for the Geophagines pH wise, and that they are both sand sifters, and substrate huggers, probably not a great territorial mix either.

Angels would work well as tank mates for the Geo's being midwater denizens (although current and flow enjoyed by the Geos,may be a bit too strong for angels), and fine in your pH, but being cichlids, would not at all be considered dither fish.
As Deadeye pointed out, a larger deep bodied Amazonian shoaling tetra species would work much better in that dither role.

 

[duanes]

In doing a little digging into the species that accompany the Geophagus sveni, of the Tocantins river, I ran into this video.
Although its in Portuguese, there are english subtitles, and show an interesting array of species from that river.
Fishes from the depths of Tocantins - YouTubeYouTubehttps://www.youtube.com › watch