South/American Cichlid Stock Suggestions

[EccelaEkaj]

Hey I’ve got a 200 gallon tank cycled up and am about to begin stocking cichlids and was wondering if these would work together

JD
Green Terror
Firemouth
Black Convict
Jaguar Cichlid
Red Spotted Severum
2 Common Pleco
Salvini

 

[Wulfe]

I don't have one, but from what I've read the jaguar may be quite aggressive to the others. Bigger, as well.

 

[EccelaEkaj]

Ya I was a bit worried about that guy, he was the last fish I added to the list and I have no problem taking him off of it.

 

[Cichlid_Guy]

I would leave the Firemouth out because they aren't good at defending themselves, and they get stressed more easily than fish like convicts when in submission to other cichlids.

 

[EccelaEkaj]

I would leave the Firemouth out because they aren't good at defending themselves, and they get stressed more easily than fish like convicts when in submission to other cichlids.

Well the Firemouth is by far my favorite cichlid. I am planning on creating plenty of hiding places in the tank

 

[Jexnell]

A couple questions:

What are you base water peramaters? PH and hard or soft water?
You have fish on the list from both Central and South Americas. The two different groups have different water needs. Central are higher PH hard water, South is lower PH soft water. If we know these peramaters we can pick the best fish for your water. It's better to pick fish that thrive in your water than fighting disease in fish living in wrong water peramaters.

I myself moved away from South American cichlids due to my tap water is 7.8PH and hard as our water is draw from limestone aquifers.

 

[adamsfishes]

I agree with the others. I don't see this as a good mix any way you slice it.

On the CA side, the JD, convict and salvini would be probably fine, but firemouth types need to be kept in reasonably large groups and are not very aggressive. It could work though. Jaguar is out of the question IMHO if your goal is to have a community but would be fine in that tank obviously as just a pair.

On the SA side, a full grown GT is likely to terrorize the other more peaceful fish like severums and plecos.

Like Jexnell said, first understand your water parameters, then choose the CA/SA direction you want to go. Then decide whether you want a community or single/pair of a big aggressive fish. You're currently trying to do it all at once - CA community, CA aggressive, SA community, SA aggressive. I'd recommend picking one of those four.

 

[EccelaEkaj]

I agree, but I don’t agree with it not being a good idea of keeping South and Central together. All over the hobby you see these two types mixed in tanks thriving, and I myself have kept multiple tanks mixing the two species with great success. However I do agree with the Jaguar and Firemouth being a risky choice to throw in the mix.

 

[adamsfishes]

I agree, but I don’t agree with it not being a good idea of keeping South and Central together. All over the hobby you see these two types mixed in tanks thriving, and I myself have kept multiple tanks mixing the two species with great success. However I do agree with the Jaguar and Firemouth being a risky choice to throw in the mix.

Sure, it can be done with the right mix. This gentleman has done a nice job mixing them:

Salvini cichlid in a 140 gallon medium sized cichlid community

Here is a picture of my tank and its habitants. There is a lot of hiding space and some unoccupied terratory also for the Salvini if I get her. Firemouths terratory is at left, Blue Acaras are spawning and control the back side of the tank, and Sajicas are about to spawn in the frontern middle...

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[GermanDude]

Hi,

What about a pair of GT, a pair of Firemouth and a pair of Nics, or Jack Dempseys?
He started with 6 young fish of each species