New to Central & South American Cichlids

[sbloxy123]

Hi there,
I currently keep African Cichlids but now looking to get into American/South American Cichlids.. the large ones!
My tank is 63 US Gallons - Dimensions: 47.6" x 16.1" x 21.7"
Water parameters: PH = 8.2 , GH = 21

After doing loads of research, I was looking to get a Green Terror, 1 or 2 Blood Parrots... and maybe a Jack Dempsey..? *open to any suggestions here!

However.. It dawned on me that I have really high PH and GH so was wondering if i was even able to keep American Cichlids? will be pretty gutted if not
no access to RO water.

Also, when buying the fish, should i buy a few of each till i know which ones are the best males then sell the rest off? how would you do it? this bit confuses me because waiting 6 months to realise my fis is going to be a female will be a bit annoying..

thanks!

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Would go with: 1 jack Dempsey and some dither fish like Congo tetras or blackskirt tetras.

 

[sbloxy123]

Would go with: 1 jack Dempsey and some dither fish like Congo tetras or blackskirt tetras.

Thanks for the suggestion - I really wanted the Green Terror and Blood Parrot though...

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Thanks for the suggestion - I really wanted the Green Terror and Blood Parrot though...

Green terrors can get 12,and that's a small tank

 

[Gourami Swami]

Hi there,
I currently keep African Cichlids but now looking to get into American/South American Cichlids.. the large ones!
My tank is 63 US Gallons - Dimensions: 47.6" x 16.1" x 21.7"
Water parameters: PH = 8.2 , GH = 21

After doing loads of research, I was looking to get a Green Terror, 1 or 2 Blood Parrots... and maybe a Jack Dempsey..? *open to any suggestions here!

However.. It dawned on me that I have really high PH and GH so was wondering if i was even able to keep American Cichlids? will be pretty gutted if not
no access to RO water.

Also, when buying the fish, should i buy a few of each till i know which ones are the best males then sell the rest off? how would you do it? this bit confuses me because waiting 6 months to realise my fis is going to be a female will be a bit annoying..

thanks!

Hello,
Actually, central American cichlids like high pH and hard water. Your water would be fine for most centrals. Green terrors are south American, and would probably not do well in your water, SA's like lower pH and softer water in general. Blood parrots are a mutant hybrid, which are very adaptable, not a pure fish.
63 gallons is considered small for SA/CA cichlids, and having a community of any of the larger species like Jack Dempsey, is going to be very difficult. Due to your pH and tank size, I would recommend smaller central American cichlids. This is pretty much my favorite group to keep- you aren't missing out just because of there small size!
Some species which would be good: Firemouth (or any other thoricthys), A. Nanoluteus, Rainbow cichlids (Multispinosa), Sajica
CA communities, even with these smaller species, are difficult to pull off, and usually require a bunch of shifting fish inbetween tanks to get a mix that works. I don't recommend this approach for a beginner to America cichlids. A better strategy IMO would be to pick your favorite species and do a group of 5 or 6 of them. That way their aggression is distributed a bit within the group, and you get to watch the interesting behavior of them interacting with each other. You could keep some dithers like swordtails (also from CA) in with them, which makes for a nice display.

 

[sbloxy123]

Hello,
Actually, central American cichlids like high pH and hard water. Your water would be fine for most centrals. Green terrors are south American, and would probably not do well in your water, SA's like lower pH and softer water in general. Blood parrots are a mutant hybrid, which are very adaptable, not a pure fish.
63 gallons is considered small for SA/CA cichlids, and having a community of any of the larger species like Jack Dempsey, is going to be very difficult. Due to your pH and tank size, I would recommend smaller central American cichlids. This is pretty much my favorite group to keep- you aren't missing out just because of there small size!
Some species which would be good: Firemouth (or any other thoricthys), A. Nanoluteus, Rainbow cichlids (Multispinosa), Sajica
CA communities, even with these smaller species, are difficult to pull off, and usually require a bunch of shifting fish inbetween tanks to get a mix that works. I don't recommend this approach for a beginner to America cichlids. A better strategy IMO would be to pick your favorite species and do a group of 5 or 6 of them. That way their aggression is distributed a bit within the group, and you get to watch the interesting behavior of them interacting with each other. You could keep some dithers like swordtails (also from CA) in with them, which makes for a nice display.

Thanks.. I am trying to keep an open mind with what i can get. I was originally looking at getting more Africans and wasn't impressed with Americans.. Now i'm fascinated by them! (the large ones - JD, Green Terror). I even thought Blood Parrots looked stupid - now i really want one.

I will admit that i am still keen to get a large fish..? I have read a lot of posts and see lots of people say that its okay to get a large Cichlid in a 55 gal..? I will hopefully upgrade to a 75-150 gal in 2/3 years.
I will definataly look into your suggestions for the smaller ones with an open mind.

quick question - personality of African Cichlid vs American Cichlid..? who wins?

thanks again

 

[Gourami Swami]

Thanks.. I am trying to keep an open mind with what i can get. I was originally looking at getting more Africans and wasn't impressed with Americans.. Now i'm fascinated by them! (the large ones - JD, Green Terror). I even thought Blood Parrots looked stupid - now i really want one.

I will admit that i am still keen to get a large fish..? I have read a lot of posts and see lots of people say that its okay to get a large Cichlid in a 55 gal..? I will hopefully upgrade to a 75-150 gal in 2/3 years.
I will definataly look into your suggestions for the smaller ones with an open mind.

quick question - personality of African Cichlid vs American Cichlid..? who wins?

thanks again

Hello,
There are differences of opinion when it comes to tank size for different cichlids. Your tank, at 48x16, would in my opinion, be okay for a single jack Dempsey, maybe even for a green terror. Though, I don't think a GT will do well in your high pH, hard water. If you are okay with a single fish, most of the 10-12" max cichlids would be okay in your tank, but if you want to mix them together, chances are they won't play nice in a minimum size tank. End result is usually the subdominant cichlid will be maimed/killed. Some people I'm sure will say a 55 is fine (common sense rules this out for me- 55 is only 12" wide!) and some will say you need a 125. I would say since you are new to keeping CA/SA's, going for an ambitous setup like a community of aggressive cichlids in a 63 gallon, would be a bad idea.

Long story short, something like- Single JD (or blood parrot) with a bunch of large swordtails, is probably the only way you will have long-term success keeping the larger American cichlids in this size tank.

Personality wise CA cichlids are definitely my favorite. Africans seem to all be more or less interchangeable, wheras CA seem to have more variation in individual behavior and seem to be more owner-interactive in general. I enjoy watching them interact within their own group, with other species, and with me at feeding time.

 

[tlindsey]

Thanks.. I am trying to keep an open mind with what i can get. I was originally looking at getting more Africans and wasn't impressed with Americans.. Now i'm fascinated by them! (the large ones - JD, Green Terror). I even thought Blood Parrots looked stupid - now i really want one.

I will admit that i am still keen to get a large fish..? I have read a lot of posts and see lots of people say that its okay to get a large Cichlid in a 55 gal..? I will hopefully upgrade to a 75-150 gal in 2/3 years.
I will definataly look into your suggestions for the smaller ones with an open mind.

quick question - personality of African Cichlid vs American Cichlid..? who wins?

thanks again

Welcome aboard


Imo for personality
1.CA
2.SA
3.African

 

[sbloxy123]

Hello,
There are differences of opinion when it comes to tank size for different cichlids. Your tank, at 48x16, would in my opinion, be okay for a single jack Dempsey, maybe even for a green terror. Though, I don't think a GT will do well in your high pH, hard water. If you are okay with a single fish, most of the 10-12" max cichlids would be okay in your tank, but if you want to mix them together, chances are they won't play nice in a minimum size tank. End result is usually the subdominant cichlid will be maimed/killed. Some people I'm sure will say a 55 is fine (common sense rules this out for me- 55 is only 12" wide!) and some will say you need a 125. I would say since you are new to keeping CA/SA's, going for an ambitous setup like a community of aggressive cichlids in a 63 gallon, would be a bad idea.

Long story short, something like- Single JD (or blood parrot) with a bunch of large swordtails, is probably the only way you will have long-term success keeping the larger American cichlids in this size tank.

Personality wise CA cichlids are definitely my favorite. Africans seem to all be more or less interchangeable, wheras CA seem to have more variation in individual behavior and seem to be more owner-interactive in general. I enjoy watching them interact within their own group, with other species, and with me at feeding time.

Thank you. I really appreciate your advise.

I like to look of your suggestions - Sajica look awesome!
for some reason the JD doesn't stand out for me but i know its seriously popular.
I know you wont agree but thinking - JD (I will do some more research), Blood Parrot and 2 Sajica. I'm not ignoring your advise - its early days so this will probably change!

Gutted about the Green Terror as i had my heart set on one but have to give it a miss - theres no point in keeping an unhappy fish that wont show its full colour.

[QUOTE="Gourami Swami, post: 7973811, member: 11630"CA seem to have more variation in individual behavior and seem to be more owner-interactive in general. I enjoy watching them interact within their own group, with other species, and with me at feeding time.[/QUOTE]

I think this is what made me jump ship!

 

[sbloxy123]

Welcome aboard


Imo for personality
1.CA
2.SA
3.African

thank you!!
I am sure i will be another big fan very soon!