How to split up these cichlids

[Quo Vadis]

So within a few weeks I should be able to start actually building my 800g DIY aquarium, (I've been selling off some of my setups to pay for it) and as a result I am really thinking through how I want to stock my other smaller tanks using mostly fish I already own. So the tanks I am "stocking" (with fish I already own) are a 155g and 90g, which I am planning to have running on a shared 55g sump. I am not worried about breeding fish in either of these tanks, though I may pull a pair or two to breed in smaller separate tanks on their own if they catch my interest.

These are the cichlids I have to work with (some are grow outs and still quite small so I have bigger groups that would be pared down).
6 Spilurus cichlids
1 Sajica
1 (well behaved) female convict
1 firemouth
1 Thorichthys pasiones
1 Flier cichlid
1 Rainbow cichlid
4 Krobia acaras
1 blue acara
1 Guinacara stergosi (only one I have ever found available)
1 Satanaperca leucosticta (want more - this one is a baby and I lost the others in a filter malfunction.)
2 (1m/1f) 'Geo' steiny
3 Australheros oblongum
6 Cichlasoma dimerus
2 'Geo' iporangensis

How would you divide these, at least for the time being, between the 90 and 155?
The other tankmates will be
90g - Elephantnose, ropefish, and some corys (so more peaceful).
155g - loaches (clown growouts and historanica and striata), and Pictus/mystus bimaculatus catfish (so more rowdy).

How would you divide up these fish?

 

[duanes]

Since the dimerus, oblongum and iporanguensus are all basically cool water cichlids, and each a different genus, I would house them together in an unheated, or low temp tank. I find keeping different genus together is usually a reasonable way to keep aggression at a minimum, and the cool water they tolerate, also keeps their aggression levels down.
And because the stergosi, acaras, and other Geos are from the same generally geographic location they would be my choices to house together.
The others are all Central American, and fairly low on the aggression scale, so this would be my combination preference(s).

 

[Quo Vadis]

Thanks for your input! the Ipos are the ones I got from you. (Unfortunately one of the ones I got with you that was a part of the pair never started eating when I got her and eventually died.) Luckily I think the third one is is the opposite gender than the other and think they are forming a pair. Until about a week ago the Ipos, dimerus, and oblongums were all in a unheated (cold!) tank with the red ceibals from you and the Gymno "blue neon". I gave the last two species to my Dad for his unheated school aquarium, but I elected to keep the three species on my list because from everything I have read they all will do fine in a lower temp but heated tank. According to Fishbase and Cichlid-forum both dimerus and S Brazil rather than Uruguay and so though they can stand lower temps they don't need them like the Gymnos and red ceibals. The Oblongums are also know for not being sensitive to heat like other Australaheros, though as you know, no one really knows where they were originally collected.

So any way, I already took down my unheated tank, at least for now. But yeah, I may mainly stick to CA in one tank and SA in another. But which fish do you people think will go best with one another?

 

[Quo Vadis]

What does everyone think about this split up?
90g -
Elephantnose
Ropefish
Some corys
1 Satanaperca leucosticta (Get more)
2-3 Cichlasoma dimerus
3 Australheros oblongum
1 Rainbow cichlid
4 Krobia acaras
1 blue acara

155g -
loaches (clown growouts and historanica and striata)
Pictus/mystus bimaculatus catfish
2 'Geo' iporangensis
2 (1m/1f) 'Geo' steiny
1 Guinacara stergosi (only one I have ever found available)
2-3 Spilurus cichlids
1 Sajica
1 (well behaved) female convict
1 firemouth
1 Thorichthys pasiones
1 Flier cichlid
Or should I put some of the Acaras in the 155g? If so which ones?

 

[Murrayt]

Think your looking slightly overstocked in the proposed 90... Unless you have premium filtration. It will definitely look extremely busy as all fish mature.

The 155 also looks like it will be overstocked. Normally it is best to keep certain fish like Firemouths and Ropefish in groups as this helps enhance their sense of security and promotes behavior.

My advice is to relocate at least 2-3 fish from each and continue to slowly relocate others as you go if need be.

 

[ryansmith83]

Which species of Krobia are you keeping? My male K. guianensis are pushing 8 - 9" and are very rough on each other when spawning. I now keep one pair per 6' tank.

 

[duanes]

The C dimerus are location Bella Union, which is on is on the southern border of Brazil which also borders on northern Uruguay and Argentina. While this area is not the same region as some of the cold spell requiring Gymnogeophagus, it is also not totally tropical. So temps a bit lower than more northern Geophagines doesn't hurt.
When the iporangensis spawned for me, temps were in the high 60s.

 

[Quo Vadis]

Yeah, well I tend to keep my tank temps a little on the low side (73-75) because I like that the fish seem a bit calmer if - I don't feed them for a day they don't kill each other. When I had the temp cranked up in the mid 80s for ich recently I lost a few fish due to aggression that had been perfectly fine for month together. But anyway I'll probably still be putting the Ipos, dimerus and oblongum out in a pond in the summer still, so in WI that will give them some variability in temp!
BTW the Krobia are Xingia. I think they max out at like 5in? So far they seem quite mild to me, moreso than my blue acara, who is not mean.

 

[ryansmith83]

I don't think I could keep Krobia xinguensis at temps in the low 70s for extended periods of time, but that's just me. I always maintained them at 80 - 82F. The whole Xingu system is quite warm with water in the 80s, and 90s being recorded in some spots.

 

[RD.]

1 Satanaperca leucosticta (Get more)

Adult leucosticta get rather larger when fully mature (9-10") and are a not schooling fish in the wild. Outside of pairs during breeding season they tend to fly solo, so IMO a single in a 90 gallon would be better than a group of several. They're also prone to HITH so keeping stress to a minimum is key in keeping these fish healthy over the long haul.