New Cichlid Purchase Help

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Greg31

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Sep 15, 2009
1,739
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Maryland
I want to get a new solo juvi cichlid for my 20g. My lfs has a couple nice black convicts and really nice looking firemouth. They also have these really really awesome hybrid jacks.

The guy there dropped a feeder fish in with the hybrids and all of them tore the feeder apart. Jacks half the 1/3 the size of the feeder was going to work. They seem pretty awesome. The biggest one in there was 2 1/2 inch. I dont know if this is normal behavior but I was fascinated.

What you guys think? The firemouths look really cool but the hybrid jacks were pretty cool too.
 
Any one of those would be great fish to keep, but not in a 20 gal. Better have a bigger tank lined up by the time it outgrows the 20!
 
maybe the black convicts, the others are going to be too large for your tank, always better to have a bigger tank before buying the fish.
 
I obviously will be getting a bigger tank in a month or two. Perhaps if i got two? What you think would be most entertaining and good looking as adults?
 
personally i don't like many hybrids, have bad luck with health issues later in life, out of your choices, i like firemouths, or find a non hybrid jack, cons are great if you want breeding fish, but not as interesting. if you know what size tank you'd be wanting to move up to later it would be more helpfull.
 
What size 20g?
If a standard 24x12x16 a single convict would work for a little while. But realistically not the best for a fish that can get 5-6". And a single would be boring. A group of Cons is always fun to watch.

If a 20g Long 30x12x12 the Convict would have a bit more room (This would be the same base measurements as a 29g). Might work out ok with good filtration and regular water changes. Again kind of boring with a single fish.

The JD definitely out of the question at 8"+. Also the Firemouths need more space!

Best bet would be dwarf type cichlids for that particular tank.
 
I think a single firemouth or con would each work in that small of a tank. U could maybe even get a small school of neons with it to make things a little more entertaining. I think as long as the con or firemouth started in there as juviniles they could stay in there for life but with good filtration and frequent water changes. If it were me, I'd get one male con and about 7 neon tetras.
 
If i were you I'd go with a dwarf cichlid like an appistogramma (my Trifasiata is amazing) and skip the rest of those fish for the time being. Often times we say we're going to get a bigger tank and sometimes we do but you never know whats going to happen in the next few months. Wait till you get a bigger tank and then go shopping for that tank. A 20 gallon tank can be fun but lets face it, its a small tank.
 
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