I am new to this forum and was hoping for some guidance. Currently, I have a 60 gallon with a super nice SRT(7-8”) and 40 gallon breeder currently being used as a quarantine tank while I stock my 180 with SA/CA cichlids that I mostly get from TUC, COA and some from LFS and other sources. I have been told that the best way to keep aggressive cichlids is to somewhat overstock. I currently have or on order 17 cichlids all 3”-5” including: 2 Red Devils, green terror, true red terror/festae, black nasty, RTM, green Texas, convict, vieja melanura, Amphilophus flaveolous, Amphilophus istlanum, Amphilophus yellow lab, 2 pearlscale(Thai) carpintis, mini dovii, Cuban, and a rose queen. Any thoughts or advice would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
New 180 gallon
- Thread starter thezubin1
- Start date
Welcome to the forum!
The overstocking method really applies to rift lake cichlids more than it does CA/SAs. The idea is that no one fish will be able to claim a large territory, limiting aggression.
With CA/SAs, that is a recipe for disaster. It will lead to dangerously high nitrates if you are not doing very large water changes multiple times per week and extreme aggression problems. The key to keeping American cichlids really is to under stock and to have only very different cichlids together. Looking similar only increases the odds of them viewing each other as threats.
Most of the cichlids on that list are known for extreme aggression (specifically the festae, grammodes/parachromis, amphs and rose queen), with a few being known to kill off all of their tankmates in much larger tanks. Others like the gt, con, and Texas are aggressive in their own right, but are far weaker than the other fish and not last long at all.
I would pick your favorite species and go for a pair + dithers if the species allows for it. You may be able to get away with picking a few of the smaller/less aggressive species and do a cohab of about 3-4 of them. Otherwise you will have spent a lot more money for the same end result.
The overstocking method really applies to rift lake cichlids more than it does CA/SAs. The idea is that no one fish will be able to claim a large territory, limiting aggression.
With CA/SAs, that is a recipe for disaster. It will lead to dangerously high nitrates if you are not doing very large water changes multiple times per week and extreme aggression problems. The key to keeping American cichlids really is to under stock and to have only very different cichlids together. Looking similar only increases the odds of them viewing each other as threats.
Most of the cichlids on that list are known for extreme aggression (specifically the festae, grammodes/parachromis, amphs and rose queen), with a few being known to kill off all of their tankmates in much larger tanks. Others like the gt, con, and Texas are aggressive in their own right, but are far weaker than the other fish and not last long at all.
I would pick your favorite species and go for a pair + dithers if the species allows for it. You may be able to get away with picking a few of the smaller/less aggressive species and do a cohab of about 3-4 of them. Otherwise you will have spent a lot more money for the same end result.
