I am intrested in a new aquarium with ciclids. I want to use one of two setups. 2 oscars 1 jack dempsey and 1 green terror OR 1 oscar 1 dempsey 1 terror and 1 midas. Which of the 2 is the most functional and can it work? How many gallons tank shoukld i use? Thanks in advance.
New setup Idea
- Thread starter Harmoustakas
- Start date
The feasibility of these combinations long term are probably not sustainable, even ina 500 gal tank.
Because each of these cichilds are very territorial as adults will probably come to blows at maturity.
As juvies they will probably be fine, until one or the other hits adulthood.
And each of those cichlids come from separate water parameters, but that aside.....
GTs are almost the only cichlid in the pH 7 waters they inhabitat west of the Andes, as adults when they come across eaach other in nature (unless they mate) there is usually a battle until one concedss and retreats, but in most tanks there is not that amount of escape spaceto prevent death.
Where midas come from in the pH 8 waters of the great lakes of Nicaragua, each male will carve out a territory of about 500 gallons, and if another cichlid enters within, there will be a similar battle to the one mentioned above.
Where JDs come from in the 7.5 pH, waters in the Cenotes of Mexico, when they are the dominent cichlid they do well, as in the video below, they do well
When they share similar Cenotes with othe domineering cichlids ( as below), as you can see, they don't do as well.
They are torn up, and populations are small, and only the strongest survive.
Oscars are the least territorial, but still require lots of space, minimum 6 ft tanks, all to themselves.
If you want to keep these 4 cichlids, I would suggest 4 separate tanks, of at least 6 ft in length each.
If you do decide to try your original concept, please post your success or failures........what ever happens, as an educational tool for others thinking of doing the same idea.
Because each of these cichilds are very territorial as adults will probably come to blows at maturity.
As juvies they will probably be fine, until one or the other hits adulthood.
And each of those cichlids come from separate water parameters, but that aside.....
GTs are almost the only cichlid in the pH 7 waters they inhabitat west of the Andes, as adults when they come across eaach other in nature (unless they mate) there is usually a battle until one concedss and retreats, but in most tanks there is not that amount of escape spaceto prevent death.
Where midas come from in the pH 8 waters of the great lakes of Nicaragua, each male will carve out a territory of about 500 gallons, and if another cichlid enters within, there will be a similar battle to the one mentioned above.
Where JDs come from in the 7.5 pH, waters in the Cenotes of Mexico, when they are the dominent cichlid they do well, as in the video below, they do well
They are torn up, and populations are small, and only the strongest survive.
Oscars are the least territorial, but still require lots of space, minimum 6 ft tanks, all to themselves.
If you want to keep these 4 cichlids, I would suggest 4 separate tanks, of at least 6 ft in length each.
If you do decide to try your original concept, please post your success or failures........what ever happens, as an educational tool for others thinking of doing the same idea.
Thanks for the replay,
I think midas will be the hardestof all. But i have see some aquariums that have combination of green terror+jack dempsey OR oscar+jack dempsey in adulthood and they are doing fine. In the aquarium store near my house they have a pair of oscars with a jack dempsey all full grown and it is working. And a lot of videos that suggests tank mates for jack dempsey, green terror fish is one of them.
I am pretty novice in aquariums and it will be a big investment to buy tank +filter for a combination of those fish and not be sure if it will work so i want to be sure before i push the buy button
I think midas will be the hardestof all. But i have see some aquariums that have combination of green terror+jack dempsey OR oscar+jack dempsey in adulthood and they are doing fine. In the aquarium store near my house they have a pair of oscars with a jack dempsey all full grown and it is working. And a lot of videos that suggests tank mates for jack dempsey, green terror fish is one of them.
I am pretty novice in aquariums and it will be a big investment to buy tank +filter for a combination of those fish and not be sure if it will work so i want to be sure before i push the buy button
If you want one of these set ups I think it could maybe work if you get all the fish as young and a large enough tank and the right fish.What size tank were you thinking?Thanks for the replay,
I think midas will be the hardestof all. But i have see some aquariums that have combination of green terror+jack dempsey OR oscar+jack dempsey in adulthood and they are doing fine. In the aquarium store near my house they have a pair of oscars with a jack dempsey all full grown and it is working. And a lot of videos that suggests tank mates for jack dempsey, green terror fish is one of them.
I am pretty novice in aquariums and it will be a big investment to buy tank +filter for a combination of those fish and not be sure if it will work so i want to be sure before i push the buy button
Is that 6foot? There’s always a big risk with cichlids but I would do a jack Dempsey, convict and a green terror. The cichlid bros did that and it worked pretty well. But of course every fish is different and be prepared to rehome or separate if any problems. And probably add some giant danios as dithers as well.
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I am not sure about the height. Yes i have the seen the ciclid bros video. As i said before my local foish store has a tank with a pair of oscars and a jack dempsey thats why i think those 3 species are compatible but as i said i dont have experience with ciclids.
Yeah I wouldn’t personally do a pair of Oscar’s with a jack Dempsey. I’m surprised it’s done well at your fish store. 6ft is the length.
I'm sure you've watched tanks where this works, at least temporarily. Certainly, you can find videos on the internet where it appears to work.
Here's the thing: you can find videos online that depict literally anything. Just because something happens occasionally and/or works for awhile for a couple of attention-seekers online...or at least appears to work...doesn't mean it's a good idea. A lot of online videos only garner attention for the simple fact that they show things that are absolutely not a good idea!
And when you see an iffy combination of fish in a store, or perhaps in another hobbyist's collection, you must keep in mind a couple of factors. First and foremost, the person keeping that collection likely has a lot of experience, knows what to watch out for, and knows a bunch of tricks to help manipulate the fish's behaviour. Most importantly, there are likely a bunch of other tanks all set up and running right there, ready to receive a fish that can't play nice with others or perhaps a fish who has had the stuffing beaten out of him and needs a new home right now! When dealing with big cichlids, both of those scenarios are not only likely, but they're virtually guaranteed at some point. They're buttheads, pure and simple.
People who learned to ride a motorcycle yesterday shouldn't buy a 700-pound Harley Davidson today. People who learned to ski last week shouldn't jump out of a helicopter at the peak of Everest for their first big run. And people who are admittedly "pretty novice" to the hobby and who have a list of big aggressive cichlids they want to keep should be planning to install a whole bank of 600-liter tanks, not just one.
Good luck!
Here's the thing: you can find videos online that depict literally anything. Just because something happens occasionally and/or works for awhile for a couple of attention-seekers online...or at least appears to work...doesn't mean it's a good idea. A lot of online videos only garner attention for the simple fact that they show things that are absolutely not a good idea!
And when you see an iffy combination of fish in a store, or perhaps in another hobbyist's collection, you must keep in mind a couple of factors. First and foremost, the person keeping that collection likely has a lot of experience, knows what to watch out for, and knows a bunch of tricks to help manipulate the fish's behaviour. Most importantly, there are likely a bunch of other tanks all set up and running right there, ready to receive a fish that can't play nice with others or perhaps a fish who has had the stuffing beaten out of him and needs a new home right now! When dealing with big cichlids, both of those scenarios are not only likely, but they're virtually guaranteed at some point. They're buttheads, pure and simple.
People who learned to ride a motorcycle yesterday shouldn't buy a 700-pound Harley Davidson today. People who learned to ski last week shouldn't jump out of a helicopter at the peak of Everest for their first big run. And people who are admittedly "pretty novice" to the hobby and who have a list of big aggressive cichlids they want to keep should be planning to install a whole bank of 600-liter tanks, not just one.
Good luck!
