Single fish for a 4ft tank

[Gpdriftwood]

Some synspilum get over 15inches.

Some arapaima get 8'. I rarely see them over 6'... if it gets too big, get something bigger than a starter tank or find a home for it and get another fish. Lol

 

[Krismo962]

Some arapaima get 8'. I rarely see them over 6'... if it gets too big, get something bigger than a starter tank or find a home for it and get another fish. Lol

Guess you could say that ,people say rtc get 5 foot but most are in the 24-40 inch range.Maybe the op's looking for something that can be housed permanently?

 

[OMGidkWTFimDOING]

Beta!

 

[Vorka]

It does have a bit of extra width so it may be fine for a smaller breed of flowerhorn.
Severum or chocolate are also both nice cichlids.
Senegal or Delhezi bichir would be good.
Red wolf fish could be fun, lots of personality and stats much smaller than its cousins.

Thanks for the suggestions! Do the bichirs jump as much as advertised? Id be worried about a face full of fish!

Had to look the OP's tank up.. It's 63 gallons, so stocking would be that of a standard 4ft 55gal. Lots of options, but not really for big fish.

You could do a single severum, etc, like mentioned above, but they can get quite big. My 8yr old green severum is 8"+ long and like a tank.

Thanks ill check out some severum colors.

At 48"x15", I think your tank would just barely be big enough for something like a flowerhorn, or another 12" max fish. But may be a bit cramped when full size. Even in a 75, which is a few inches wider than your tank, 12" chunky fish look a bit out of place to me.
To me, it'a a perfect size to do a group of smaller cichlids. Something like thoricthys or amatitlania species.
If it were my tank and I really wanted to do a single cichlid, I would probably go with Hericthys Bartoni. Nice looking, gets to about 8" , and aggressive enough to chase your finger around. Would get a group of 5 youngsters, grow them out to 3-4", and keep the dominant male.

No bother regarding the FH im still open to buying whatever fish ends up in it! They look good I dont think I have ever seen them in LFS in the UK. Do they keep the black when they are adults?

Maybe some convicts?A Flowerhorn would get 10-12 inches,they do prefer the 18inch width.That's why most people keep them in 36*18(inches) 50g breeders and 48*18(inches)75g tanks.

Thanks for the suggestion, I have never been too keen on convicts but thanks anyway!

Some arapaima get 8'. I rarely see them over 6'... if it gets too big, get something bigger than a starter tank or find a home for it and get another fish. Lol

I just got rid of my bigger tank and have no plans to buy a bigger one in the future.

 

[Toiletcar]

Some arapaima get 8'. I rarely see them over 6'... if it gets too big, get something bigger than a starter tank or find a home for it and get another fish. Lol

As said in another thread and my experience cichlids often grow bigger in the aquarium vs wild. Arapaima are a very different fish so it’s apples to oranges. But I had a 13” male.
OP-what about a pair of salvini?

 

[Deadeye]

As long as you secure the lid and cover all openings, bichirs shouldn’t get out.