Help planning 75 gal cichlids tank.

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JAYBIRD1011

JAYBIRD1011

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jun 5, 2017
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Wilmington NC
Okay, I have been thinking of changing my inherited 75 gal. tropical setup, to a cichlids tank. However, a bit confused about what, and how much to change. Owned a female GT before. Would love to have a pair of those, or RT's. Problem is, I am not sure what, if anything I can keep, from current residents, if I do this. The are only a few in here I even care about. An 8 1/2" Black Synodontis. A yoyo loach. Red tail shark. 4 1/2" grown rubberlip.
If they need to go, there is a willing recipient.
Running an Eheim pro 2. Tankwide coralife light.
I want to do this right. But I definitely want to.
So, what do you think? Other new world cichlid suggestions are welcome. GT and RT are just familiar to me. That's why they're specifically mentioned. Thank you!
 
In the long run you are going to be pretty limited.... You can get a group of smaller cichlids. Some options are Geophagus Redhead Tapajos, Electric Blue Acara, Rainbow Cichlids,.Firemouth Cichlids, Thorichthiys.Maybe 1 or 2 Green Terrors for a growout.
 
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I think a copacetic pair of Oscura Heterospilus would be okay in a 75, probably nothing else though.
 
You could do GT's, 75 would be a little small for red terrors (festae) because the males get quite large. your going to want to stick to fish that don't get larger than 10" or so. Dan at Cichlids of the Americas has Blue Labridens right now, I have a male from him and he's beautiful. If you do a pair of large cichlids like this it is going to be very hit or miss with your other tankmates. If you do smaller cichlids, like panamium panamensis, Honduran red points, something like that, you could keep the rest.
 
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I have a 75. Mine consists of 2 almost 5 inch HRP, a firemouth, 1 inch convict, 1 in JD, 2 4 inch JD. Honestly when I look I can tell the 75 is almost at it's limit with the 5 inchers. I'm already looking for a 120 or larger. Really it doesn't look the 5 inches is much in the 48 inch footprint but the hrp and convict are so fast they cover the 48 inches in a blink
 
Sajica's would work in a 75, I think most others mention might work to, although I believe the heterspilus and festae get too large.


And although the labridens stay relatively small, in comparison to manty other middle American cichlids, their aggression level can be quite intense for a tank that size.
 
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