Central american cichlid only tank?

[SAChichlidLover]

Hey everyone
Got a cool project which is gonna be starting very soon and I wanted to hear everyones opinions and more cichlid only tankmate ideas! So I am setting up a 70gal 4 ft long tank (It's actually 68 gallons but for ease I'm just gonna say 70) and current stocklist I have is a firemouth trio, a single Salvini and a single jack dempsey. After doing research I figured out that the trio is just too aggressive for alot of options and in all honesty I might just keep these five fish in there but if you guys have any cool medium sized central american cichlids, I'm open for suggestions? I already have two firemouths which will be going in but I thought I should add a third possibly even a fourth so they can establish a hierachy

 

[Guyb93]

Hey everyone
Got a cool project which is gonna be starting very soon and I wanted to hear everyones opinions and more cichlid only tankmate ideas! So I am setting up a 70gal 4 ft long tank (It's actually 68 gallons but for ease I'm just gonna say 70) and current stocklist I have is a firemouth trio, a single Salvini and a single jack dempsey. After doing research I figured out that the trio is just too aggressive for alot of options and in all honesty I might just keep these five fish in there but if you guys have any cool medium sized central american cichlids, I'm open for suggestions? I already have two firemouths which will be going in but I thought I should add a third possibly even a fourth so they can establish a hierachy

I love the look of t-bar cichlids

 

[SAChichlidLover]

I love the look of t-bar cichlids

I’ll have to do some research on them

 

[Wills]

I'd probably say 5 would be your limit in that tank, a 4th Firemouth could work, some Thoricthys are a bit gregarious and benefit from a group but I've not seen this as much in Meeki. Cribroheros are the real gregarious central american but you dont see them very often.

With anything though its always a gamble and you just need to be ready to respond by getting fish out or using dividers.

I wouldnt underestimate the usefulness of dither fish either - both in terms of deflecting aggression from the cichlids or giving the cichlids more confidence and allowing them to colour up. Mexican Cave Tetras could be a cool addition or if you can find any Astynax (spelling might be wrong) tetras they would be biotope correct Some fancy live bearers would look nice too like Skiffia.

Wills

 

[SAChichlidLover]

I wouldnt underestimate the usefulness of dither fish either - both in terms of deflecting aggression from the cichlids or giving the cichlids more confidence and allowing them to colour up. Mexican Cave Tetras could be a cool addition or if you can find any Astynax (spelling might be wrong) tetras they would be biotope correct Some fancy live bearers would look nice too like Skiffia.

Wills

I was thinking of four firemouths as they are considerably smaller and could be less aggressive than salvini's and Dempsey's but then again it all really goes down to the individual fish so I guess I shouldn't really base it on aggression.. Speaking of it though my male fm would probably beat up a dempsey or salvini the same size so I should probably try and find sub adults to be safe

That is very good advice thank you Wills! Also I love the cave tetras they look so cool but if I can find Astynax tetras I will go for them.. Are they quite rare in the uk? I've never actually seen them in any store I've been in

 

[Wills]

Yeah Central American tetras are really rare they get quite big and are quite nippy they are also not overly good looking but the ones that come in will have a bit of colour on. If you don’t mind breaking the biotope you could look at barbs or rainbow fish that will deal with the aggression but also appreciate the same water

 

[SAChichlidLover]

Yeah Central American tetras are really rare they get quite big and are quite nippy they are also not overly good looking but the ones that come in will have a bit of colour on. If you don’t mind breaking the biotope you could look at barbs or rainbow fish that will deal with the aggression but also appreciate the same water

In all honesty I might break the biotope with rainbowfish.. Is there any good rainbows that will fit better than others? I like the boesemans rainbows but I think I will be way overstocked with a school of them with larger cichlids..