Picking the right tank size for a solo fish

[Joshuakahan]

Generally any short bodied fish will have health problems or just a lower life expectancy. Personally I'm not a fan of short bodied fish, they just look too unnatural to me. Granted ya do get some that look very nice like the one Ruturaj posted here. Ik Jspilo and some others have some nice looking short bodied FH's but still not my cup of tea. Ik personally I have a slightly deformed FH but she was just born a runt so she just won't get as big as she should have been. Otherwise nothing wrong with her other then being a bit small for her age.

I honestly love FH's and wish they would become more popular in the hobby. They make get solo pets and can "sometimes" be kept in a community type setup. Lol I still miss my big male I had (Jr.) and all the aggression he had. Pretty much always came out with my hand bleeding everytime I had to do something in the tank. But he was the only fish I could pet as well.

Flowerhorns are great, I lost my male a few weeks ago to bloat, but he looked nice with an awesome personality, I miss him. Balloon/short body fish are not for me either, especially the gouramis and pbass. I’m cool with hybrids but an intentionally deformed fish is not for me.

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Flowerhorns are great, I lost my male a few weeks ago to bloat, but he looked nice with an awesome personality, I miss him. Balloon/short body fish are not for me either, especially the gouramis and pbass. I’m cool with hybrids but an intentionally deformed fish is not for me.

Yeah ik with my girl ya honestly wouldn't even know it by just looking at her but if ya compaired her to her sister ya can definitely see a major size difference. Her sister it pushing 8in already while the runt is still only 5in. Lol slowly getting harder and harder to find a male big enough to breed my 2 girls. These are my 2 girls, the faded one is the runt.

 

[Deadlink]

Deppi will reach around the same size as a salvini, may seem a bit bigger even, because it's a taller-bodied fish. There may be some monster 8" salvini out there but 6" is more common for an adult.
I think it's possible to form some kind of bond (as much as you can with a fish) with just about any cichlid species. Most will come to beg for food once they know you, but most won't like being touched, though it is possible.
As far as not being shy and hiding, a lot of that depends on the fish's housing and tankmates. A more dimly-lit tank with lots of décor especially in the upper reaches of the tank will make the fish feel much more secure in my experience than a bright tank with less hiding spots. The fish will probably feel more comfortable with some dither-fish swimming around as well; swordtails make good dithers usually for CA cichlids.
On getting a male, you should probably buy 5 young 1-2" fish and grow them up together until about 4-5". This way you can pick the alpha male out, and the fish will be less timid when young in a group of it's peers.

I guess with any fish I'm taking a chance on their individual personality but I think either of these will do, even a sajica as J Joshuakahan suggested. At the moment I have no idea where to get a deppi or sajica ( I've seen a Sajica once, but neither seem to be common around here). But I'm sure I can find someone around my area or someone who can ship fish from interstate. The puffer isnt really an option since they arent allowed in Aus, so the few that are left are hard to come by and I imagine expensive to boot.

Flowerhorns are great, I lost my male a few weeks ago to bloat, but he looked nice with an awesome personality, I miss him. Balloon/short body fish are not for me either, especially the gouramis and pbass. I’m cool with hybrids but an intentionally deformed fish is not for me.

I'm in the same boat, I know this tank would be perfect for a bonsai or like a Blood Parrot but I don't want to get attached to a fish that would be constantly ill/suffer or die quickly. I think I might follow Ruturaj 's advice and try for a female Red Dragon, upgrading in 2ish years if she tops the 8-9" mark.

Yeah ik with my girl ya honestly wouldn't even know it by just looking at her but if ya compaired her to her sister ya can definitely see a major size difference. Her sister it pushing 8in already while the runt is still only 5in. Lol slowly getting harder and harder to find a male big enough to breed my 2 girls. These are my 2 girls, the faded one is the runt.

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They both look pretty good, hopefully you can find a quality male as well. Do you find the female Flowerhorns to be as active as males? I'm thinking a female could be the way to go here.

What does everyone think about the H.Carpintis option? https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/h-carpintis-maximum-size.196585/ and https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/curious-about-texas.239870/ I found these old threads and I feel like the watered down ones in Aus probably top out at 10" after a year and slow growing through 7-8-9", especially a female.

Thanks for all the info so far guys, please keep it coming

 

[Magnus_Bane]

I guess with any fish I'm taking a chance on their individual personality but I think either of these will do, even a sajica as J Joshuakahan suggested. At the moment I have no idea where to get a deppi or sajica ( I've seen a Sajica once, but neither seem to be common around here). But I'm sure I can find someone around my area or someone who can ship fish from interstate. The puffer isnt really an option since they arent allowed in Aus, so the few that are left are hard to come by and I imagine expensive to boot.



I'm in the same boat, I know this tank would be perfect for a bonsai or like a Blood Parrot but I don't want to get attached to a fish that would be constantly ill/suffer or die quickly. I think I might follow Ruturaj 's advice and try for a female Red Dragon, upgrading in 2ish years if she tops the 8-9" mark.



They both look pretty good, hopefully you can find a quality male as well. Do you find the female Flowerhorns to be as active as males? I'm thinking a female could be the way to go here.

What does everyone think about the H.Carpintis option? https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/h-carpintis-maximum-size.196585/ and https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/curious-about-texas.239870/ I found these old threads and I feel like the watered down ones in Aus probably top out at 10" after a year and slow growing through 7-8-9", especially a female.

Thanks for all the info so far guys, please keep it coming

Imo females can look just as good as a male does. Females generally get a couple inches shorter then most males do but they also seem just a tad calmer as well. Same with Texas and carpinitus. Females are "usually" a tad calmer and short but not always.

Imo I think ya would do best finding one at a pet store at a young age and just make certain it's outgoing and interactive with ya.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Yeah ik with my girl ya honestly wouldn't even know it by just looking at her but if ya compaired her to her sister ya can definitely see a major size difference. Her sister it pushing 8in already while the runt is still only 5in. Lol slowly getting harder and harder to find a male big enough to breed my 2 girls. These are my 2 girls, the faded one is the runt.

View attachment 1418044

View attachment 1418045

Those are nice for females, I had a female and it wasn’t nearly as nice

 

[Joshuakahan]

I guess with any fish I'm taking a chance on their individual personality but I think either of these will do, even a sajica as J Joshuakahan suggested. At the moment I have no idea where to get a deppi or sajica ( I've seen a Sajica once, but neither seem to be common around here). But I'm sure I can find someone around my area or someone who can ship fish from interstate. The puffer isnt really an option since they arent allowed in Aus, so the few that are left are hard to come by and I imagine expensive to boot.



I'm in the same boat, I know this tank would be perfect for a bonsai or like a Blood Parrot but I don't want to get attached to a fish that would be constantly ill/suffer or die quickly. I think I might follow Ruturaj 's advice and try for a female Red Dragon, upgrading in 2ish years if she tops the 8-9" mark.



They both look pretty good, hopefully you can find a quality male as well. Do you find the female Flowerhorns to be as active as males? I'm thinking a female could be the way to go here.

What does everyone think about the H.Carpintis option? https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/h-carpintis-maximum-size.196585/ and https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/curious-about-texas.239870/ I found these old threads and I feel like the watered down ones in Aus probably top out at 10" after a year and slow growing through 7-8-9", especially a female.

Thanks for all the info so far guys, please keep it coming
Trinsfish .com has sajicas

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Those are nice for females, I had a female and it wasn’t nearly as nice

Lol thanks. Yeah I honestly prefer the runt and how she looks compaired to her big sister. Tried breeding the runt once with my male convict to see if they would but he didn't seem interested in that and was more busy with trying to bully/chase her all over. Only bad thing is just to breed both of the girls I would need a male that's almost fully grown.

 

[Deadlink]

Imo females can look just as good as a male does. Females generally get a couple inches shorter then most males do but they also seem just a tad calmer as well. Same with Texas and carpinitus. Females are "usually" a tad calmer and short but not always.

Imo I think ya would do best finding one at a pet store at a young age and just make certain it's outgoing and interactive with ya.

I'll do that for a flowerhorn or Carpintis, that way I can pick a decent female. If my Lfs lets me return fish then I will try what Gourami Swami suggested with 5-6 Salvinis/Sajica/Deppi fry. I have a few options now so I think I'll make a new thread for my tank/stand build and set up (Like a work in progress thing as it comes together). By that stage I'll be able to decide and get feedback on which option would do best with the aquascape I've made.

 

[Joshuakahan]

Lol thanks. Yeah I honestly prefer the runt and how she looks compaired to her big sister. Tried breeding the runt once with my male convict to see if they would but he didn't seem interested in that and was more busy with trying to bully/chase her all over. Only bad thing is just to breed both of the girls I would need a male that's almost fully grown.

Ya a full grown male would be pricy. I’ve never really got into breeding fish, but I have some really nice peacock haps I’m thinking about breeding

 

[Magnus_Bane]

Ya a full grown male would be pricy. I’ve never really got into breeding fish, but I have some really nice peacock haps I’m thinking about breeding

Been thinking of trying to get back into peacock cichlids again lol I just don't have the tank space for em atm. That's the only bad thing about FH's is that ya have to dedicate a big tank to just a fish or 2.