Stocking A Cichlid Tank

[smiles669]

Hey everyone. ive been fishkeeping for a long time now and im planning the stocking for my 110 gallon tank way ahead of time. The tank is 5 feet long, 2 feet tall and 18 inches wide. Im looking for suggestions for new world/american cichlids. I have a list that i would like to see in the tank ( i know i wont get all of them! im not crazy!), and im just looking for some help with the numbers of fish. These are what im looking for,
oscar
albino oscar
Electric blue jack dempsey
Green terror(Basically a must have)
Red texas
Jaguar( would love if this would work)
and a bichir
Also, would any of these work with a featherfin catfish? Thanks everyone

 

[star4]

There are no easy rules with stocking cichlids, they are either going to get along or they are not. Off your list I have never had the pleasure of a jag.and as your tank is only 18" it might be a bit of a squeeze one turning round, same could be said for the oscars as they do need a bit of turning room. Two oscars together might be fine as youngsters until they get to breeding age, if you have a male & Female you will need to remove everything else from the tank, two males are more likely to fight than two females, but again two females can squabble. JD's I have had the normal not the EBJD and they can be aggressive, mine would only have a go back if something bothered him, I kept them with green texas no problems and kept birchir with oscars, texas and jd, just be warned small birchir can get swallowed by a large jd. Featherfin should be fine, I have one in with an oscar, both are grumpy fish and suit each other, but I would be concerned how it would get on with Birchir, not tried it. GT I cant really comment on, I have only had them as rescue's for a short time until new homes have been found, generally they are not too bad aggression wise unless they are breeding.
 
Red texas, make sure you are getting a true red texas, I have seen many midas and red devils advertised as red texas and the occasional flowerhorn, each of these would be better as a single fish. Red texas are quite rare and carry a hefty price tag.
 
Whatever you choose make sure you keep a spare filter/heater and either a tank or container you can move a fish into, nasty fights can break out fast with cichlids.

 

[SimpleDog]

I had a male green terror that I tried to put with a male Jack Dempsey. They almost killed each other. Those would be the only two of your stocking list that scream to me as a concern, especially if you ended up with 2 males. 
 
I had 2 Green terrors (male and female) 2 severums (both female) and 3 featherfin squeakers. in the 7 years I had that setup I never had an issue. THe GT seemed to be at home in an all female setup. 

 

[smiles669]

Well its begun... Being the impulse buyer i tend to be, and a very enabling, and encouraging girlfriend, When i visited a new shop i walked out with a small bichir, jack dempsey, and red terror. So far everyone is getting long, and not even bothering wither the tiger barbs or anyone in the tank.