New 75 gallon tank planning

[Wills]

Hi new here but not new to fish I'm in the process of setting up a 75 gallon 300 litre tank and wanted some help to bounce some cichlid ideas around.

Number 1 priority is that I want at least a single female Nicaraguan Cichlid in here, it may be I just get one of them and build a community around them with things like Swordtails, maybe some Synos from Tanganyika and Rainbowfish.

But... I do kind of want some other cichlids. My first idea was to do an all female tank and have a female Nicaraguan, female Salvini and female EBJD - the latter is the hardest to sex admittedly. After a chunk of research I've come to the conclusion that the Salvini is too risky so unless anyone can talk me round maybe thats off the cards.

I've looked into Nicaraguans quite a lot, I had one a long time ago too (where the obsession comes from) and one thing I read said that females are sometimes gregarious in the wild and sometimes form 'creches' and raise young together without males. So I wondered if maybe a trio of female Nicaraguans could work? I don't really want a male as I don't want to deal with the fry and the young etc. But not 100% on that as yet.

I also thought maybe a single female Nicaraguan with a group of smaller, unthreatening Central Americans like an Amatitlania species - probably Nanoluteus but Cutteri and a few others are good contenders. Also wondered about Rheoheros Coeruleus in the same way as a small group?

I suppose my ultimate question is what would you keep with a female Nicaraguan Cichlid in a 75 gallon tank?

Wills

 

[Omrit]

I think the Nicaraguan with a group of swordtails is a very safe bet. Personally I would try for a pair of Nicaraguan, and if you really don't want to see any babies than add some sort of fast catfish like a pictus or certain synodontis. That way you can enjoy seeing the enhanced colors and interesting behaviors of a pair without having to worry about actually raising fry.


If you try other cichlids in a tank this size there could be problems. Let's say you get 1 female Nicaraguan, and some other cichlids. I would go for species that are almost certainty going to be docile, so there is no chance of your Nicaraguan being low in the pecking order. Even if all female you might get a docile Nicaraguan and an aggressive Salvini or JD(even if all female) causing your Nicaraguan to hide a lot or lose color, and this isn't a one in a million scenario either if that is what ended up happening no one here would be surprised. Of course it could work, but I would save yourself the headache.

For the cichlid set-up I would go for peaceful Acara like keyholes, single convict (or one of the related species), rainbow cichlid, or some of the Thorichthys species (Firemouths for example). Maybe a bit unorthodox, but I keep Angelfish with everything and I don't see why they wouldn't work with a single female Nicaraguan.

Mixing a potentially 8 inch cichlid with other cichlids in a 75 gallon will always carry risks though of course.

 

[Wills]

I think the Nicaraguan with a group of swordtails is a very safe bet. Personally I would try for a pair of Nicaraguan, and if you really don't want to see any babies than add some sort of fast catfish like a pictus or certain synodontis. That way you can enjoy seeing the enhanced colors and interesting behaviors of a pair without having to worry about actually raising fry.


If you try other cichlids in a tank this size there could be problems. Let's say you get 1 female Nicaraguan, and some other cichlids. I would go for species that are almost certainty going to be docile, so there is no chance of your Nicaraguan being low in the pecking order. Even if all female you might get a docile Nicaraguan and an aggressive Salvini or JD(even if all female) causing your Nicaraguan to hide a lot or lose color, and this isn't a one in a million scenario either if that is what ended up happening no one here would be surprised. Of course it could work, but I would save yourself the headache.

For the cichlid set-up I would go for peaceful Acara like keyholes, single convict (or one of the related species), rainbow cichlid, or some of the Thorichthys species (Firemouths for example). Maybe a bit unorthodox, but I keep Angelfish with everything and I don't see why they wouldn't work with a single female Nicaraguan.

Mixing a potentially 8 inch cichlid with other cichlids in a 75 gallon will always carry risks though of course.

Thanks thats a great summary and much of my own conclusion too. I think the 3 big colourful ones would look amazing but not for a 75.

At the moment I'm pretty settled on a trio of female Nicaraguans. I found this interesting bit of info from Fishbase about them forming 'creches' in the wild made up of 3-4 females which makes me think I could see some interesting behaviour. https://www.fishbase.de/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?ID=12321&AT=Nicaragua-cichlide

To set this up I'm planning to get a small group probably 3-4 of young but sexable fish and see how they get on. I can add dividers if it goes badly and rehome accordingly. If I have a single female with the live bearers and synodontis like you mentioned I'll be more than happy

If I did go for an other cichlid species I think you are right with the Thoricthys species and Rainbows. I think some Amatitlania and Cribroheros species might be an option too but I think the female Nics are my plan at the moment. Frustratingly one of my local stores has quite a few adult Nics but I'm not sure adults are the best choice here, though I do suspect they have grown up together.

 

[duanes]

I doubt that the cresch behavior you'd like to see will happen in a tank that small, even in a tank double that size it'd be iffy.
Instead of other cichlids, some type of dither, like live bearers (there are many geographically correct Gambusia, and Poecilia) and , or tetras, there are half dozen Astyanax species found in Nicaragua) among others, that would be better options than cichlids in a 75.
With other cichlids, territoriality usually becomes the rub

You should be able to spot females by 2.5 - 3", but too much smaller is difficult.

 

[Wills]

I doubt that the cresch behavior you'd like to see will happen in a tank that small, even in a tank double that size it'd be iffy.
Instead of other cichlids, some type of dither, like live bearers (there are many geographically correct Gambusia, and Poecilia) and , or tetras, there are half dozen Astyanax species found in Nicaragua) among others, that would be better options than cichlids in a 75.
With other cichlids, territoriality usually becomes the rub
View attachment 1501752
You should be able to spot females by 2.5 - 3", but too much smaller is difficult.
View attachment 1501753

Are you meaning to keep just a single female in the 75 with dither fish around her? Or do you think a small group of females is possible?

 

[duanes]

Are you meaning to keep just a single female in the 75 with dither fish around her? Or do you think a small group of females is possible?

As adults, 3 females and dithers would probably work, but without other species of cichlids.

 

[Wills]

As adults, 3 females and dithers would probably work, but without other species of cichlids.

Cool thats my plan - when I said about other species it would just be a single Nic with others. I'm going to get 3 youngsters - I'm good at telling them apart, they are an absolute obsession for me. Let them grow together and if its a problem I'll just keep one. Thanks Duanes

Heres a pic of my last one that this tank is sort of inspired by.

 

[Gajzila]

I doubt that the cresch behavior you'd like to see will happen in a tank that small, even in a tank double that size it'd be iffy.
Instead of other cichlids, some type of dither, like live bearers (there are many geographically correct Gambusia, and Poecilia) and , or tetras, there are half dozen Astyanax species found in Nicaragua) among others, that would be better options than cichlids in a 75.
With other cichlids, territoriality usually becomes the rub
View attachment 1501752
You should be able to spot females by 2.5 - 3", but too much smaller is difficult.
View attachment 1501753

Every comment you make is that the aquarium is too small for anything. Congratulations if you hold 2 Oscars in 1000 liters.

 

[Gajzila]

Hi new here but not new to fish I'm in the process of setting up a 75 gallon 300 litre tank and wanted some help to bounce some cichlid ideas around.

Number 1 priority is that I want at least a single female Nicaraguan Cichlid in here, it may be I just get one of them and build a community around them with things like Swordtails, maybe some Synos from Tanganyika and Rainbowfish.

But... I do kind of want some other cichlids. My first idea was to do an all female tank and have a female Nicaraguan, female Salvini and female EBJD - the latter is the hardest to sex admittedly. After a chunk of research I've come to the conclusion that the Salvini is too risky so unless anyone can talk me round maybe thats off the cards.

I've looked into Nicaraguans quite a lot, I had one a long time ago too (where the obsession comes from) and one thing I read said that females are sometimes gregarious in the wild and sometimes form 'creches' and raise young together without males. So I wondered if maybe a trio of female Nicaraguans could work? I don't really want a male as I don't want to deal with the fry and the young etc. But not 100% on that as yet.

I also thought maybe a single female Nicaraguan with a group of smaller, unthreatening Central Americans like an Amatitlania species - probably Nanoluteus but Cutteri and a few others are good contenders. Also wondered about Rheoheros Coeruleus in the same way as a small group?

I suppose my ultimate question is what would you keep with a female Nicaraguan Cichlid in a 75 gallon tank?

Wills

why don't you go with a pair of those cichlids? Its soo much cool i think.

 

[Rocksor]

Every comment you make is that the aquarium is too small for anything. Congratulations if you hold 2 Oscars in 1000 liters.

That's because most questions asked is trying to cram fish in too small of an aquarium for long term survival and health. Many of the folks don't have the long term experience in keeping the fish (3-4 years is not considered long term).

If people post up front they don't care about long term keeping or tattered fins from territoriality, then comments about aquarium size generally don't show up.