I have kept two large pairs of dovii in the past and really liked them. That being said I am currently keeping a WC Columbian blue pair of umbees that I got from The Wet Spot and love them! They recently spawned for me and have a cloud of babies around them wherever they go in the tank. I really enjoy watching these fish from a far. They seem much more active than my previous dovii pairs and are constantly on the move. I chalk this up to the fact that they are more open water predators and dovii tend to be a lay and wait fish.
The one down side to the umbees that I have noticed compared to the dovii is they don't seem to have as strong of a pair bond. Both my dovii pair were pretty much inseperable even when they weren't spawning. With the umbees it's more of a come and go relationship. In fact, when they first spawned I didn't even think the male had a chance to fertilize the eggs because the female would not let him anywhere near them. Now he is playing a bigger role and defending the fry more and more but still at times he seems to check out and go on break for a while. I worry as they get bigger down the road that he may become increasing hard on her and seriously going with a incomplete divider method for keeping them long term. I really hate the look of these eyesores in my tanks but I'm thinking it may be the safest alternative other than setting up a 500 to 1,000 gallon tank down the road.
With my dovii, I never even considered such methods. Both pairs seemed so "in love" that it was not really necessary. I realize with large CA cichlids anything can happen in the blink of an eye but the dovii's behavior towards each other was never concerning to me. Rarely did they ever have even a torn fin.
In the end it is really personal preference. I think if you're looking for a fish that is really fun to watch but a bit of challenge, go umbee. However if you're looking for a fish that will provide you with similar satisfactory qualities with a little less stress on their partners go dovii. For what it's worth all 3 of my pairs are very or were very interactive and really fun for me and friends alike.
The one down side to the umbees that I have noticed compared to the dovii is they don't seem to have as strong of a pair bond. Both my dovii pair were pretty much inseperable even when they weren't spawning. With the umbees it's more of a come and go relationship. In fact, when they first spawned I didn't even think the male had a chance to fertilize the eggs because the female would not let him anywhere near them. Now he is playing a bigger role and defending the fry more and more but still at times he seems to check out and go on break for a while. I worry as they get bigger down the road that he may become increasing hard on her and seriously going with a incomplete divider method for keeping them long term. I really hate the look of these eyesores in my tanks but I'm thinking it may be the safest alternative other than setting up a 500 to 1,000 gallon tank down the road.
With my dovii, I never even considered such methods. Both pairs seemed so "in love" that it was not really necessary. I realize with large CA cichlids anything can happen in the blink of an eye but the dovii's behavior towards each other was never concerning to me. Rarely did they ever have even a torn fin.
In the end it is really personal preference. I think if you're looking for a fish that is really fun to watch but a bit of challenge, go umbee. However if you're looking for a fish that will provide you with similar satisfactory qualities with a little less stress on their partners go dovii. For what it's worth all 3 of my pairs are very or were very interactive and really fun for me and friends alike.
