Which cichlid do you prefer Stalsbergi or Gold Saum and why?

neutrino

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Jan 22, 2013
2,396
2,627
179
Mid-Atlantic, US
Wow I didn't know all that, l will be getting a pair of Stalsbergi with T Barbs for dither in a 120 gallon tank. I am hoping it works. Generally I like to have more than one species in the tank however reading all the information provided I am afraid to try...

I really want this to work, I am hoping that 120 gallons is not to small. You all has shared some great information, thanks

I didn't know that they was that aggressive... what should I feed them, what should the temperature be? Would it be ok to feed them earth worms as a treat say once a month as I do with my other cichlids in my other tank?
Water and feeding, in the wild they're similar to other rivulatus, temps in the mid 70s to 80-ish, pH in the 7s up into the 8s. They're not soft water, warm water fish. Food-wise, they're primarily carnivores in the wild.

I'm not personally a fan of feeding live earthworms (I've seen it cause problems) but if you've been doing it without issues I'm assuming you have a safe source for them. Most people I know who've kept them fed primarily a good pellet, same as rivulatus.

By the way, I've never said you shouldn't call stalsbergi a green terror, a member of the green terror group, the Peruvian green terror, or the similar ways some articles describe them. My objection is to the notion some have that stalsbergi is the "true" or "original" green terror and rivulatus is the "false" green terror. That notion has been around a while, but it gets the history wrong.
 
Last edited:

tiger15

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Oct 1, 2012
1,676
1,014
179
SNJ
GT is my ATF which is stamped in my avatar. I have kept both species when they were first imported in the 80s but didn't know the difference at that time. I thought that Stalsbergi was just lower color quality GT so did most aquarists. Gold saum rivulatus was the sensation and soon bred to be the mainstream. I personally like the Asian lined gold saum which resembles FH in hump size, high body profile and strong orange, but without the FH intolerance.

Stalsbergi are believed to be the more aggressive species, but that may not be true if both wild speices are compared. Most Rivulatus have been domesticated for a long time and bred out of the aggressiveness. My Asian lined Rivulatus are specially mellow and never bully other fish except in breeding time, or two matured male kept in a small tank. Most LFS GTs are bred in Florida with variable quality . You can find quality GTs only from stores that buy Asian fish like FHs.
 

tiger15

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Oct 1, 2012
1,676
1,014
179
SNJ
If you want to know more about GT, Kevin Carr gave an excellent presentation of the two species at the Jersey Shore Aquarium Society meeting.

https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/kevin-carr-speaks-at-jsas-feb-meeting.682708/

I love GT at first sight and have kept it continuously for nearly as long as it has been available in the trade. I agree with Kevin's presentation on GT except for two findings:

He claimed that female GT can be sexed by the green beard similar to JD. I have never observed that difference in GTs.

He claimed that the largest GT he had was 12 inch, which will place GT in the same caliber as Vieja. The largest GT I have raised or seen was 10 inch. Until I see a pic with a scale next to the fish, I am skeptical that GT can ever get that big.
 

cichlidfish

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jun 18, 2005
4,643
976
120
52
I've kept both species and what neutrino said is correct.
All stalsberg himself admits and explains all about the green terror confusion.
Rivulatus is the true green terror.

I also don't see how robertsoni should be in the thorichthys complex.
Apart from being social earth eaters they are like night and day.
I agree with all of this.

Keeping c. Robertsoni with 3 different thorichthys species, I can see a huge difference.
And interestingly, t. Salvini is closer related to thorichthys and specifically t. Pasionis and not trimac. This chart shows recent reclassification.

IMG_3183.PNG
 
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store