Gental Giants

[BluePockets]

i currently have a 75gal. i would like to keep some cichlids on the bigger side, since all ive kept is dwarfs and smaller africans. but im unsure of where to go with it. as of right now, my tank has 2 firemouths and 1 jack dempsey and the more and more i think about it, the more and more im not sure if its what i want. if im not happy with the tank i'll lose interest and take it down and re-do it.
Sadly, i dont have the money to keep changing it every few months and i know its not fair to the fish either. so, are there some fish out there that wont cause war in my tank? i do plan on getting a bigger one down the road so i would be doing my best to get them as juveniles.
Another reason i ask about gentle giants is because i would like to keep a species of plecostomus, but am afraid of it getting beat on by more aggressive cichlids. so please give some advice on species that would do well together and wont cause a war. i understand that cichlids will be cichlids.

 

[ryansmith83]

I think it will really depend on what size tank you're upgrading to and how soon. Some gentle giants may take a while to grow out, while others grow extremely fast. I've had severums that took almost 2 years to get to 8 - 9" while my parrot cichlid (H. psittacus) went from 1" to 6" in a few months. You don't want to end up with a quick-growing fish in a 75 gallon tank if you can't upgrade for a while.

 

[Amphilophus88]

Most of my cichlids ignore plecos. My Midas never bothers them. There is even a small 2 inch pleco with my cichlids and he is still alive after 2 years in the tank. Only time my Midas attacks a pleco is when a pleco gets into the Midas his hiding place, but the only thing he does is chase him away. But a Midas is not what I'm going to advice lol, but just saying that most plecos will be fine with cichlids.

When I think of a gentle big cichlid, I always think of a Vieja Synspilum. They get huge but aren't really aggressive, but they do know how to defend themselves.
I don't know to what size you are planning to upgrade, but they need a huge tank.

 

[BluePockets]

well i was planning to do a 120gal. and would probably do the transfer in a year or so. i would like to shoot for next summer but i have to see how things go. need to discuss things with mom, since i still live at home. but hoping that paying rent will give me a little more leverage. im constantly checking craigslist for a used affordable tank, since i found my 75 on there. either way a tank in the 100+ gallons will be purchased.

 

[Experiment397]

veja is your best bet

 

[joel.uejio]

My gentlest giant is a severum pair. How about:

4x juvie severums -> may have to rehome some down the road
6x silver dollars
1x bushynose pleco
1x raphael catfish

My 75g is kind of like this and is an interesting, yet pretty peaceful tank.

 

[BluePockets]

you know, ive always been fond of sev's. especially the heros sp. "rotkiel"
maybe thats it. this has happened once before with my african cichlid choices. i had an origional plan to do brichardi but when i saw buescheri i bought them instead of my first choice and was utterly disappointed later on. alright, now i have a big favor to ask. i would like to see pictures of severums you have kept or are currently keeping. i've never seen a full grown severum before...besides a female green sev.

 

[joel.uejio]

My severums aren't fully grown, but have attempted to spawn a few times. Here's a link to a thread over on AC with some pics:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=224070

The red spot is the male -- "Barney" -- and his mate is "Honey".

 

[Sarah88]

i dont think you would be disappointed with rotkeils, and you could do a breeding pair in the 75g and not really have to worry about an upgrade, it might eventually get a little tight but they would definitely be fine in the 75g for a good while, you could do the severum pair and a couple pictus or something for the bottom.

and i know what you mean about being disappointed when not going with your first choice i did the same thing and went with a more aggressive tank than i was wanting and kept it for a year but have now moved on to a more peaceful stocking closer to my original plan and so far im very happy with the change

 

[driftwood]

I have a pair H. Pearsi and would recommend them but you would have to upgrade with in a year if you bought them as Juv. Mine are huge at around 14 inches and stilll growing. I have my pair in a 125 hoping to breed them.