Sexing young Green terrors and tank makes

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Unratedaccount

Unratedaccount

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 28, 2014
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Vallejo, California
So I am going to start cycling a 55 gallon tank, and I wanted to put South American or central American cichlids in the tank, and one I really want would be a green terror, I know some can get up to 10 inches, but I am going to try for a female, and hope she will only grow 8 inches. Can anyone help me tell the differences between a male and female green terror when they are young. It is easy when they are older, most males have a large bump on their head and have more pointy fins, but when they are young it is hard. I also wanted to know if I could house a convict, or if there are any other tank mates for a 55 gallon. I understand that green terror are mean, but if I were to possibly have a lot of hiding spots, and raise them from babies if I could accomplish keeping them together in a 55 gallon.
 
why not a a blue acara instead? They almost look like green teror females, and stay no larger than 8" easily, with the average size being 6".
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Yeah I believe that Green terrors and Blue Acaras come from the same genus so that is probably why they look a lot alike. The only problem with blue acaras is availability. But if I do find one, do you think they could get along with convicts? Or do you think I would need a more docile cichlid such as a firemouth. And do you think that maybe some species of tetras could live with them. So this would be my stocking list 1x Blue Acara, 1x Firemouth and maybe 5x tetras ( possibly columbians or black skirts)
 
Unratedaccount said:
Yeah I believe that Green terrors and Blue Acaras come from the same genus so that is probably why they look a lot alike. The only problem with blue acaras is availability. But if I do find one, do you think they could get along with convicts? Or do you think I would need a more docile cichlid such as a firemouth. And do you think that maybe some species of tetras could live with them. So this would be my stocking list 1x Blue Acara, 1x Firemouth and maybe 5x tetras ( possibly columbians or black skirts)
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That sounds good, a single female con could also work and if anything Id up the number of tetras


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Oh okay, so updated stock list would be maybe, 1x Blue Acara 1x firemouth, and maybe 7 columbian, or black skirts. Do you think a sevrum would be good instead of a convict?
 
So what about a firemouth, an acara, and lets say about 7 black skirt tetras? If any what other fish could I have. Should I go for a pair of firemouths or acaras, or should I add more tetras?
 
After keeping around 15-20 juvenile green terrors I've found some characteristics that could point to it being a male or female. First off coloration; I've noticed males tend to have thicker orange banding as well as a bit of a spangle on the cadual, dorsal and anal fin. Second you can look at the head, juvenile males will have more of an angled or pointed head while females will tend to be more rounded. Lastly you could look at dominace between the other green terrors, there could of course be a dominant female but males are more likely. Dominance is the biggest factor because it could offset the previous two characteristics, a dominant female will look like a male. They are extremely slow growers so you can grow one from 2" for 2-3 years depending on diet, water quality, tank mates, etc.
All these factors are things I've noticed in personal experiences, my strain could have behaved differently from others. Aggresion usually isn't too bad with green terrors (assuming you're bot talking about A. Stalsbergi).
I like your stocking idea and good luck with your tank!
 
Unratedaccount said:
So what about a firemouth, an acara, and lets say about 7 black skirt tetras? If any what other fish could I have. Should I go for a pair of firemouths or acaras, or should I add more tetras?
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If you go for a pair of FM, the acara can be the odd man out and get bullied. If blue acaras are hard to find, there's also the electric blue acara, which are showing up even in the chain pet stores like petsmart.
 
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