Stocking Advice for 90 gallon

[Audaxcity]

Blue acara sound great, as they are a natural predator of guppies. Just note that they have a wild diet that often comprises of predominantly plant matter. Not that they won't eat small fish, but I wouldn't depend on the possibility of getting one that would consistently do so.

Salvini are very aggressive yes, but I wouldn't worry about them grabbing something as large as a blackskirt, although you can expect them to get chased. I'd be more worried about the catfish. I don't think there's much they can do to avoid being killed by a salvini if it turns out to be a bully.

Jack Dempseys will likely be able to swallow everything in the tank other than maybe the hoplos. If you really want a JD, get an electric blue. They're more mellow and less likely to swallow tetras and other small fish.

 

[Jexnell]

With what you have already, I would just add three more pictus to your group and make it a six pack.
Bleeding hearts would be a nice addition if you want different or just double up your current group as far as tetras go.
As far as cichlids go I would pick something small like the mentioned Blue Acara or anything from the Amatitlania family. You could even do a breeding pair, or a harem 1m3f.
Add a couple bushynose pleco and your set.
The cichlids will be to busy breeding to really bother anything else. Everyone else picks off fry in swimmer stage so you don't get overwhelmed with fry.
I had a 55 set up this way with HRPs ended up with three fry over ten plus spawns, and no dead tetras. Just set up a 125 this same way.

 

[Ogertron3000]

Thanks for the replies! I apologize for not giving water parameters - my tap water is neutral (7.0 pH) and on the harder side.

I like the different tetras everyone proposed - I will have to think about how I want the tank to look!

Regarding cichlid choice - the Blue Acara and the Salvini are more along the lines of what I am looking for. I've also heard that the Salvini is very aggressive - would love to get input on how well it would get along with the tetras.

Would something like a Jack Dempsey work, or would they be likely to eat the tetras as well?

My salvini ignored the school of Colombian tetras but destroyed any other cichlids that was put in the tank.
Not sure how they would react to your catfish, but they would certainly munch down all the guppies for you.

 

[comprehend13]

Thanks again for all of the advice. The consensus I'm getting is that either a Salvini or a Blue Acara would probably work best (with the Blue Acara being the safer pick of the two).

Since some of you commented on the pictus, I now have a few followup questions.

• I've heard that pictus get territorial when they are older - would 6 pictus get along in my tank (given that's it only has a footprint of 4' x 1.5')?
• Would the hoplos get along with the pictus? Or would it better just to stick with increasing the size of the pictus school?

 

[Backfromthedead]

Blue acara is a solid choice but you have lots of options if you only want one cichlid. Consider a severum or festivum cichlid as well.

I too would add more pictus instead of hoplos. They become very entertaining in large groups.

Lots of tetras to choose from. I would choose one of the moenkhausia types. They usually have more blues and yellows compared to the bleeding hearts (hyphessobrycon type) red and black.

 

[comprehend13]

Awesome - I will probably go with getting more pictus then.

Thanks for everyone's help - will update this thread in a few weeks when I end up purchasing fish.

 

[Kailash]

I have a small colony of salvini in a 90 gallon with one breeding pair, I tried to add 10 white skirts to the tank and they picked them all off within a week. Your situation is different as you are adding them at different times, but just be cautious with them especially if they are trying to breed.

I also have 2 hoplo's in a 125 they are very active catfish and very entertaining to watch IMO.

 

[comprehend13]

Here's some pictures of the tank a few months later - unfortunately I lost most of the pictus when treating them for ich. I'm waiting on a shipment of hoplos to add to the tank to replace them

I also picked up a leopard fish to help keep down the guppy population -it's already going after the fry!

 

[Niki_up]

Thanks for the replies! I apologize for not giving water parameters - my tap water is neutral (7.0 pH) and on the harder side.

I like the different tetras everyone proposed - I will have to think about how I want the tank to look!

Regarding cichlid choice - the Blue Acara and the Salvini are more along the lines of what I am looking for. I've also heard that the Salvini is very aggressive - would love to get input on how well it would get along with the tetras.

Would something like a Jack Dempsey work, or would they be likely to eat the tetras as well?

I cannot speak for all JDs but my two live in the same tank as bleeding hearts tetras...tetras never bothered

 

[Blakewater]

Green Terrors, especially wild caught ones are gorgeous and can add some nice color