Large, Plant-Safe, Peaceful Cichlids

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T

TheLorax

Gambusia
MFK Member
Aug 6, 2011
108
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16
Houston, TX
So I'm looking for something that fits a set of very specific requirements. I have a 90g planted tank with 6 geophagus tapajos. I'll probably only end up keeping a trio or breeding pair in the end, but for now I'm looking for one large growing cichlid to add to my stock. Can't do severums because they eat plants, can't do any of the aggressive species, Synspilums are too large, and I don't feel like Uarus, Psiticcus, etc, are very colorful at all. I have a chocolate, but he's basically the same color as my plants and driftwood, brown and green. Ideally, I'd like to try a single female Salvini, but I think she'd be too aggressive. Already tried a blue acara, but he was nasty. Any recommendations?

The rest of my stock is 6 roseline sharks, a dwarf pike and 2 albino BNPs.
 
You certainly don't want Uaru. They are heavily vegetarian and will eat all your plants (and chew your driftwood, too).

You don't want to go too "large" in a 90 gallon tank, so a psittacus would be out. They are very colorful, though. Lovely blue, turquoise, and green depending on their mood. There's a reason they're named after parrots.

If the blue acara was too aggressive then the salvini is probably a bad idea.

Have you thought about a single Acarichthys heckelii? Also, I'm not sure how aggressive they'd be toward geos, but I've always thought female Nics with their blue and yellow color were really lovely. I haven't had a chance to try them in any of my tanks yet. Another suggestion would be Krobia xinguensis, which only reach around 7" or so but the males are chunky and tall. I'm not sure if that's colorful enough for what you are looking for but I think they're lovely fish with nice flecks of orange, and blue hues in the fins.
 
I actually have thought about a single heckelli, haha. I may get one, I don't know yet. I had a nice female nic a long time ago but it dug giant craters and was pretty rowdy. Looking for more of a single, kind of bulky fish. I just thought of sajica, I love the purple but I feel like I would need a pair to get good colors and my tank might be too crowded. I do plan on removing the chocolate, probably.

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What about a firemouth cichlid? They are generally wimps when it comes to other cichlids, and when they do display aggression, 98% of it is bluff, unless they are breeding. The biggest I have heard of was 7.5in, and although they are omnivores, they shouldn't touch your plants. I have a 1.5in juvenile FM in a planted tank (amazon sword, hairgrass, and frogbit, soon to be heavily planted, as I pick up a new plant whenever I go my lfs) and it has never showed any interest in my plants at all. If you have a healthy male fire mouth, esp over dark sand, it is absolutely stunning. Cheers, Jim
 
Firemouths are not bad, although I like the other thorichthys species much better. But none of them get as big, do they? I had some T macs once, but they stayed small. I always thought discus were very delicate and needed soft water, but idk, I've never kept one. Plus, don't they need to be in groups?

So far I am leaning towards sajica, since the colors and body shape are way different than the geos, which is what I'm looking for. Any experience on keeping just one?

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Discus do best in groups of at least 4 but preferably 6, so it'd be a full tank with the geos. They don't need soft water but it needs to be warm (at least 82F) and the water changes have to be frequent.
 
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