Peaceful midsize cichlids?

[Something Fishy Here]

Hey guys, so I'm rethinking my plan to keep a Green Terror as I've read plenty of stories where they get to 6" then kill off any tankmates. I've got a few still under 2" but before I dedicate the time and effort to grow them out I want to consider alternatives that are peaceful enough for tankmates. I'd like to keep a few geos and maybe a severum and blue acara, but am hoping for some suggestions of other potential tankmates that break the 8" mark and get closer to 10 or 12" for the centerpiece. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

 

[FJB]

I find fish in the genus Mesonauta (insignis, festivus) very attractive, and they are fairly mellow. They don't get as large as what you want (certainly not 10", more like 5-6", and they can be kept in small groups, depending on tank size. In terms of water characteristics they are compatible with the fish you mentioned.
However, although severum cichlids (s.l.) are also not too aggressive, I have never had Mesonauta in a tank with severum or blue acara. The latter are not too large but can be feisty. Others may have experience on that possible combination.

 

[Something Fishy Here]

Thanks, I'm not stuck on the severum or acara either, just something along those lines as far as peaceful and can have a variety of fish together. The festivum are beautiful fish, and may do well with some of these similar fish, but I was hoping to find something larger in the GT/JD size range without the aggression. Severums are the closest I could think of but they stay closer to 7" i believe, but that may depend on the variant of severum too.

 

[esoxlucius]

Hey guys, so I'm rethinking my plan to keep a Green Terror as I've read plenty of stories where they get to 6" then kill off any tankmates. I've got a few still under 2" but before I dedicate the time and effort to grow them out I want to consider alternatives that are peaceful enough for tankmates. I'd like to keep a few geos and maybe a severum and blue acara, but am hoping for some suggestions of other potential tankmates that break the 8" mark and get closer to 10 or 12" for the centerpiece. Any ideas or suggestions are appreciated.

Chocolate cichlid. A few people on here have them, myself included. Extremely peaceful and gets pretty big. I have mine in a 360 com tank and it keeps itself to itself.

 

[Something Fishy Here]

Great idea, thanks! How big do they get?

 

[esoxlucius]

They'll get up to 12" with good care. Ensure you get the chocolate cichlid "hypselecara temporalis". There is another one, the chocolate cichlid "hypselecara coryphaenoides". They pretty much look the same but the latter stays quite small.

 

[Hybridfish7]

Herotilapia multispinosa, mikrogeophagus maculicauda/altispinosa, miridionalis type gymnogeos, cleithracara maronii, hypselacara. Temporalis is more red/green, coryphaenoides is more yellow and brown (or black). Depends on what you want. If you can find the oyapock temporalis, they're significantly more red.

 

[fishguy1978]

I second esoxlucius on the chocolates. I have a pair in a 220g with a H liberifer, G brasilieensis group, flagtail portholes, striped raphael and 2 oronocodoris igenmani. The male is definitely the tank boss but isn’t overly aggressive. My male G brasiliensis was about the same size and would back down.

 

[Wharf]

I love Geophagus Brasiliensis but they might be too boisterous for you. I always wanted one. I actually have always wanted a nice Chocolate cichlid as well. I believe that's a great idea. I would also love some Uaru...those are just stunning!

 

[duanes]

One of the ways I determine what the mixture cichlids in my tanks are done, is by how they are distributed in nature.
If they are found in diverse communities in nature, you might expect that diversity, might work in a community cichlid tank.
If that diversity is not found in nature, you might not expect it to work in a cichlid community tank.
East of the Andes, cichlids live in diverse multi-species communities.
And their aggression (or comparative lack of aggression) levels reflect this.
West of the Andes there are few different species of cichlids living together in nature, and their natural aggression levels obviously reflect this.
Just the names green or red terror names reflect this heightened aggression and intolerance of other cichlids.
So to me, combining Andinoara GTs types with Amazonian species does not seem to be reasonable situation.
I would also "not" combine Mesoheros festae types, with east of the Andes less aggressive cichlids,
As an example, to me, combining A rivulatus with the chocolate Hypselecara types, does not make geographic, or ..... aggression sense.
It also does not make water parameter sense, due to diverse conditions found on different sides of the Andes
The study below points out some of that same evolutional diversity

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2211974120