Possible Mates for Salvini?

[Desert Bus]

I'm interested in crossing my female Cichlasoma/Nandopsis salvini (which is correct, Cichlasoma or Nandopsis?) with something of similar size. Here is a tentative list of fish I know it should be able to cross with that I think would produce good looking hybrids:
Cryptoheros sajica

Thorichthys meeki
Thorichthys ellioti
Thorichthys maculipinnis
Thorichthys aureus

I know I can easily get the Thorichthys meeki, and I've seen pics of that cross before, which is what made me decide to pursue this project. Ideally I'd prefer to cross her with a Sajica or an Ellioti.

Am I missing any possible CA cichlids of a similar size that I could breed her with other than the various Cryptoheros or Thorichthys? I'd prefer to not have to settle for the Meeki, so I'm trying to examine all my options. I know I could get all sorts of neat crosses from larger CA cichlids, but I'd greatly prefer to keep the offspring in the 4-7" inch range when full grown.

 

[Desert Bus]

Since no one is providing any input, this is what the Firemouth/Salvini cross comes out as. I don't think these are full grown though.

 

[convict360]

Lol join the club, nobody ever replies to my threads; on topic though, I just bought a blue acara recently at 4 inches, stocky little fish. Makes me wonder if that could be an option for you maybe?

*edit - suggesting a Blue Acara, not mine lol*

 

[brz]

blue acara would probably look pretty cool. like the firemouth cross. what about a convict or honduran red point?

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?94680-Convict-Salvini-spawned

 

[virgil2090]

I think it would be more difficult pairing SA blue acara, with salvini being CA.I had a salvini X texas, later I can try to find the pic

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[Desert Bus]

Yeah, the Acara wouldn't work, sadly.

A Texas X Salvini cross would probably produce offspring that get larger than I'm interested in, even though they'd probably turn out neat looking. I'd have to cull based on size alone and I'm not sure it's worth rejecting a bunch of beautiful fish just because they get too large. I lose out on the pearling, but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Convict X Salvini would be pretty easy, same with the HRP, but I'm not sold on the idea of either cross producing something really neat. The HRP would be a better choice between the two, but I'm aiming for something that gives me the greatest chance of getting a really colorful mix with a minimum of barring. Both Cons and HRPs have heavier barring than a Sajica.

After sleeping on it, I'm leaning really heavily towards Salvini X Sajica. They're both really colorful, they should produce offspring in the desired size range, and with the differing body shapes I should end up with quite a variety both in terms of coloration and body shape. It's too cold to mail-order fish at the moment, so if my normal LFS's can't get me a male Sajica or a few to grow out to hopefully get a male, I'll probably get impatient and go with a Firemouth or HRP. I can always breed the best offspring of that mix with a Sajica later on down the line.

My goal is to end up with something Flowerhorn-ish, but much smaller. It seems like it should be feasible to create a really good looking hybrid without involving the bigger CA cichlids, and I've never seen anyone really work towards that goal. There are a lot of attractive mid-sized CA cichlids, but you usually see them crossed with a larger CA cichlid. Or you see an attractive larger CA cichlid mixed with a convict instead of something more interesting.

Sorry that's a bit rambly, I haven't quite woken up yet.

 

[mbeatrice]

Go with an rtm female with a male salvani..rtm love to breed with anything..

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[brz]

What about a leucistic hrp

 

[Desert Bus]

Go with an rtm female with a male salvani..rtm love to breed with anything..

That runs into the same problem as the Texas, where I'd have to cull on size alone despite the fact that the cross would produce some good looking fish. If I can avoid mixing in any fish that gets larger than seven or eight inches I'll never have to work on breeding out that trait. Even if I bred a six inch hybrid produced from a larger/smaller pairing to another smaller CA cichlid, I could end up with offspring that get larger than I desire. If I stick with the smaller species I can focus more on conformation and color and less on eventual adult size since the genetics to get larger simply won't be a concern.

 

[Zion and Cichlids is all]

Well what ever you cross her with will be nice. Will you be selling any fry because I will buy a few?

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