Medium Sized Cichlid Stocking?

Hallo friends!

I'm very sick, so I'm window shopping stocking ideas

I wanted to know what the general consensus is on the stocking suggestions made by the lovely Jason of Prime Time Aquatics?

I'm aware he's a biologist and I've heard his info is pretty accurate, but on the other hand I've seen some stocking suggestion videos for eg 29 gals, 55 and 70(?) gals that made me very surprised and cautious, especially re some cichlid suggestions

I wondered what the consensus was on keeping some of the fish suggestions in the tank suggestions, especially with some of those small-medium to medium-large fish.
I was surprised by some of the geophagus suggestions specifically, because seeing them in the suggestion videos seemed contrary to what I've found about them during my research, in that I thought they needed much bigger tanks.

Is it okay to trust someone who seems to know what he's doing and follow in those footsteps, or is this a case of err on the side of caution and be a little more conservative?

I've got like 27 years experience, so I'm not a beginner re water parameters and what not, but I've always really kept nanos, and I think the biggest cichlids I've kept have been keyholes, so I'm wading in murky waters here.

Thanks for your help, and nice to see you from my sick bed.

I've seen some Prime Time Aquatics videos, including videos Jason's wife produces about miniature setups.

I think most of the advice given by the Prime Time Aquatic folks is pretty good.

You've got to remember in order for them to make money, they need to constantly pump out advice videos.
After years of doing so, providing content becomes difficult.

Providing correct Cichlid compatibility information isn't the easiest thing to do.

There are plenty of Cichlid keepers on this forum. Maybe try here rather than YouTube content providers.

A201 hallo!

I'm so sorry, realised I wasn't clear in my original Q

I meant solely on tank size for fish rather than compatibility with tank mates, I'm so sorry

For example, geophagus tapajos in a 55 gal?

I always do research in multiple places research outside YT, but inevitably there's an argument and I wondered if it was worth adding their opinion into the ring and/or if it should be weighted more or less than any other forumites opinion, you know?

Sorry, always hard to know what you forgot to mention until someone else mentions it!

Appreciate your taking the time to reply!

I've kept relatively big Cichlids, such as Green & Red Terrors, Texas Cichlids, and many more, in a 5 ft. 120 gal. aquarium.

I really enjoyed keeping those fish, but learned that although a120 gallon is a pretty big tank, it's not really suitable for a community of Cichlids that top out over six inches. Things got cramped.

IMO, a 180 gal. tank & bigger should be used to house Cichlids that grow over 6 inches.

You can use 55 - 75 gal. tanks for solo wet pet setups, such as for a Flowerhorn.

Jason appears to be a good guy and does in fact provide good information. I'm not so sure he's a Cichlid specialist, probably just an advanced hobbyist with a good working knowledge about them.

A201 firstly, you're a gem, I appreciate the benefit of your knowledge

Yeah, I really know nothing about cichlids, I've never really been into keeping one large fish, or a large tank of big fish, possibly because I could never afford big tanks, but I was looking into maybe a smaller cichlid (not like dwarf cichlid small, something a little bigger than a keyhole, a little smaller or the same size as a smaller geophagus, maybe, here's where my knowledge ends and my research begins) in a community tank

I've got room for a couple of larger tanks now, although not reaching 100 gal, and they have weird dimensions compared to the average US tank sizes, because of course they do

One smaller 100x50x50cm, like 40x20x20", like 70 gal

One 120x50x50cm, I think that's 48x20x20", which is like 83 gal

So like, an average US 55 gal is 48x13x12", 4ft long/8" longer but much narrower and shorter than the 70 gal

And a 75gal is 48x18x21"

And a 90 gal is 48x18x24", which is closer to the 83 gal

So I'm trying to figure out what fish would be comfortable in my tanks and when people say "x in a 4ft tank" or "x in a 55 gal" is that "they'd be okay in my 40inch 70 gal" or "they'd be uncomfortable in my 4ft 83 gal" you know?

I also don't know where the 'need at least a 4 ft tank' is a rule or a generous rule of thumb because that's an average tank size in the US hobby and thus more convenient, or if 8 inch length less and 7 inch width more difference really makes that much of a difference, with the understand that length is better than width for most fish

If the inch per gallon rule want a crock, it'd be useful here. I use seriously fish a lot, but I've been side eyeing some of it's tank suggestions recently. That said, there's few other places I fully trust with tank sizes.

Ultimately, it'd be nice to see the fully grown fish in the different tank sizes to see how they look and get a feeling for if they seem to be thriving or not, but unless someone on YT has said fish at said size in said tank that's pretty impossible.

I've been caught out seeing juvenile fish in smaller tanks before and not realising how truly big a 6 or 8 inch fish is if it's deeper bodied or especially wide.

I'm sorry if that's a lot, dont worry if it's too much to tackle.

Some of my favorite smaller to midsized Cichlids that should fit comfortably in your setups are
- Salvini Cichlid, only solo or pair.
- Electric Blue Acara, can be kept in groups
- Fire Mouths, can be kept in groups

All three species are very hardy and adaptable, to medium & hard water. They also can be kept in sensible community setups.

Here's pics of some of the above I'm currently keeping & those I once kept.

A201 I'm fighting a ridiculous migraine but wanted to say a big thank you and lyk ive seen your post, appreciate it and will organise an actual response when my brain isn't squeezing out of my eye but thank you so so much

It can be tough getting a small group of medium sized SA/CA cichlids to get along peacefully in a 48” long tank. I did it successfully a few decades ago with a few of the species (or similar) that A201 mentioned. But failed more recently and had to rehome a few, although I’ve ended up with an angelfish and a male goldeneye cichlid that get along ok. Good luck!

A201 hallo!

I'm so sorry, realised I wasn't clear in my original Q

I meant solely on tank size for fish rather than compatibility with tank mates, I'm so sorry

For example, geophagus tapajos in a 55 gal?

I always do research in multiple places research outside YT, but inevitably there's an argument and I wondered if it was worth adding their opinion into the ring and/or if it should be weighted more or less than any other forumites opinion, you know?

Sorry, always hard to know what you forgot to mention until someone else mentions it!

Appreciate your taking the time to reply!

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For Tapajos specifically, a 55 works. They stay smaller than most geos, around 5 to 6 inches, and the 4-foot length is what matters. A group of 5 or 6 does well in it. A 75 gives you more room for tankmates, but it isn't required for the geos alone.

Make sure there's plenty of open sand, since they spend all day sifting it, and good filtration. Sifters stir up a lot of debris.

On the YouTube question, I'd treat their numbers like anyone else's. Check whether the advice matches the fish's adult size and behavior, and see what people who've actually kept them long-term say.

A201 still really sick but I can write now. Thank you for taking the time to give me that list and your pics! So lovely, especially the salvini, but I've also been looking at the fire mouth too in my recent research.

Thank you again, I always appreciate your help

GlennO thank you for your advice! I've never really been into cichlids at all, I kinda went from nano fish to marines without going through cichlids for some reason,but now I'm looking at going through 'centrepiece' cichlids (beyond apistos and rams) and into larger guys.

I don't think I could do the really big guys because a 79gal (120x50x50cm) is the largest tank I can manage, but I've always had a thing for goes, and I wouldn't mind trying some of the smaller-larger cichlids (if that makes any sense).

I do tend to get paranoid and anxious over stocking tanks, I'm usually good once I actually get round to actually getting fish in there, lol.

Thank you for sharing your experience and taking the time to help, I appreciate it

TilapiaStore thank you for your advice, I like hearing certain opinions, and that does track with what I've heard about that specific geo. It sounded too good to be true, you know?

Then their advice on the fish I DO know something about makes me raise an eyebrow sometimes, so I wasn't sure how accurate they were

That's good advice, thank you. I do feel like I bother the forum too much :s

Thank you for taking the time to help me, sorry for the long delay on the reply!

Firemouths are easy to keep as Cichlids go. The males occasionally flare & shimmy at each other for territorial dominance. Usually no physical damage.

A mated pair, or a group of five, 2× male, 3× female has worked well for me.

Another good aspect to keeping Firemouths is the low cost. I've never paid more than $4 for one.

Hope you get to feeling better.

Personally I wouldn’t keep a group of G, pyrocephalus (Tapajós) in a 55, they are among the smaller Geophagus but not that small and they are also one of the more aggressive species (among themselves not to other fish) in such a small tank I believe there would be trouble as they mature as well as being crowded with not much room to move around.

I kept 7 Guianacaras in a tank 130 x 50 x 50cm.They were very tiny when I first got them but after about two years I decided to move them to my larger tank (200 x 65 x 65cm) (which also has other South American cichlids in it) as although they are quite peaceful in a group and stayed healthy, they did seem very cramped as they reached adult size, and things got hectic when pairs formed. They are roughly the same size as G. pyrocephalus.

Also I don’t think you have mentioned your water parameters, most South American cichlids will do best in soft water while Central American species need harder water.

I think I may have seen a couple of those Jason videos in the past but I am not really familiar with them, so can’t comment about the advice given.

Hi, ive been reading this thread. I wanted to say that yes 8 inches can be a big difference, consider the horizontal, the vertical and the hight,
Also, Last year or so I got some blue blue polar parrot cichlids, Im not quite sure wat size fish you wanted, but I love them and you might like them too.

A201 you have single handedly really turned me around on fire mouths. I had kinda put them on the 'meh' side of possibilities but now they're creeping up on the 'going on my future tanks list'.

Could they be kept with adult swordtails? Would it be a case of 'only until they reach a certain size'?

I thought rainbow cichlids and platies would be nice too

Forgive me if those are stupid questions, but I really struggle to visualise the size of these guys in my head. All the vids I look at don't usually have these guys in set ups with these smaller fish, or they do but idk if the cichlids in with them are fully grown, so I ask this stuff and then people laugh at me

Thank you, you're a sweetheart!

TClare lovely to hear from you

Would you keep a sole specimen or would you consider that like keeping a single tetra? I know a lot of people say you can keep one or a pair re cichlids, idk if that's the case with geos?

I was looking at those, I think I concluded I couldn't give them the space they'd need either. Shame, they're really nice.

I can bring the parameters down or buffer them up, but it's a PITA to do and my parameters run the harder side of neutral (I can't remember the numbers from tap off the top of my head ATM, topiramate brain) so I'm leery about keeping the softer water species, especially if they're not tank bred from the area or really delicate

Thank you for your help, always appreciated your advice and your time!

NoRoom4Shoebox hallo, long time no see, lovely to hear from you!

Yeah, to be honest I think the scope question was a little larger than we could cope with lol

Oooh, you know, I was browsing through some random fish shop tours, as you do, and saw some people taking home some "true" parrot cichlids and my attention was piqued!

Im absolutely just dipping my toes into the cichlid world proper, and I haven't looked into the parrots at all, but I shall give them a snoop now!

Thank you for the suggestion and for your time as always, lovely to hear from you again!

So some things to consider:

Do you have hard or soft water?

Are you looking at bottom cichild or cichild that stay at the top or those that use the full height.

For fishes that mostly stay at the bottom height can be wasted space ('cept if it is a very large cichild) and what is more important is floor space.

Personally I'm a fan of dwarf cichild in very soft aciidc water but that is just me. The easiest one to keep that are quite lovely are p. kribensis (not to be confused with the less colorful p. pulcher known as krib).

Conversely the hardwater folks lean to central american cichild (some are quite interesting) or lake african fishes.

You have options from Neolamprologus multifasciatus (~2 inch hard water fish) to soft water Cichla temensis (~39 inch).

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Having read a quick google summary of his stocking suggestion i would consider it rubbish because it lacks the sort of detail a more advanced person would find useful.

Also in general i prefer to keep tiny fishes in very large aquariums (think 12 foot long with 1 inch fishes). I find that most of the larger fishes like geo really don't do well long term in a 6 or 8 foot aquarium (i'm talking the 10-12 foot size geo) and folks should consider smaller species in fewer numbers (this ignore the basic behavior of aggression that some species are more prone to).

I try to limit my advice to first hand experience so I think the starting point is always type of water to then consider options - then temperature then consider if you want an aquarium to watch the natural behavior of a fish or more of a show aquarium that is cramed with colour.

Swordtails and Firemouths originate from the same Central American waters.

A group of medium to full sized Swordtails could probably coexist with adult Firemouths.

Swordtails and Firemouths originate from the same Central American waters.

A group of medium to full sized Swordtails could probably coexist with adult Firemouths.

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The trick is to avoid domestic swordtails that are more platy then swordtail

What i'm trying to say is domestic swordtails which are hybrid of platy are smaller then the natural forms.

Yes swordtails and firemouths (or rainbow cichlids) should be a good combination and suit your harder water. If you decide on this I would get the swordtails first and then get cichlids that are still quite small. Wild type swordtails are very nice if you can find them.

To answer your other question, I think Geophagus should be kept in groups ideally, not singly. Guianacaras do well in groups but as they form lasting pairs a pair would be OK in a 4ft tank. However, the Central American species are better suited to your water.

Hi , nice to see you too! Somthing went wrong with my noroomforshoe account and i can not post anything when i sign into it, so i made this similar account and hoped someone might realise it was me! Thanks for recognizing me!
I dont know much about cichlids either, I have kept a few of the more peacefull and tolerent to my tank paramater speacies in my community tank over the years, kribensis, angels, acara, topajay, "i think im forgetting somthin" and now the Polar blue parrots.

Unlike most Central American cichlids both Firemouths and Rainbows are somewhat social and can be kept in small single species groups if that type of setup interests you. A 4 foot tank could accommodate one group. And yes swordtails would be ideal dithers.

tinylostwine lovely to see you again!

It leans to hard, I still don't have specific PH/KH numbers yet, topiramate brain.

So, my situation is that I've got the chance to get two larger tanks for the first time in my fishkeeping career, a 100x50x50cm, like 40x20x20", like 70 gal and a 120x50x50cm, like 48x20x20", which is like 83 gal.

I've been thinking of stocking for both of them, currently maybe an Africanish tank for the larger (congo tetras, african butterfly cichlids, african butterfly fish, synos, armoured fan shrimp, MAYBE a blockhead cichlid, idk) and something peacful around pearl gouramis for the top one - they're both at the foot of my bed, where I spend a lot of time because I get migraines, and I wanted something soothing to look at while I lie dying in the dark

Because I have a lot of time on my hands I spent a lot of time making stocking lists for the tanks I have for future stocking, noting fish I'd like to keep in future and designing stocking lists I'd like to keep.

The largest tank I've had in the past was a 46 gal bowfront, so it occurred to me that I could start maybe looking at larger cichlids

I've never really been into the idea of, eg, the large african cichlid tanks, always preferred planted community tanks and I've always been more into nano fish. So the cichlids I've been looking at have been not so much the dwarf cichlids (rams, apistos, etc), but more the smaller cichlids, keyholes, nannacara, that sort, the kind you can keep as a 'centrepiece' fish in a community.

So off I went, looking to see if there were anymore solo cichlids you could keep in a planted tank in a community in larger tanks that I hadn't heard of, but also to see if there were maybe angelfish substitutes, like a pearl gourami alternative, and I was intrigued by the festivum/flag cichlid, but they're a bit too much like angels, I think?

IDK, from those two paths I ended up looking at the kind of cichlids that are being kept in like 55 to 120+ gal tanks and this was mostly on YT because I just browse around on that.

I'd find fish that grabbed my interest (to give me points to actually start research on) and some of those videos led me to ask how accurate PrimeTimeAquatics info was because that channel (and CichlidBros actually) sparked off some interest in terms of 'oh, they suggest that I could keep X fish that looks kinda interesting in the size of tank I have now', but then my research gave conflicting answers on the best tank size.

This happened with the geos tapajos specifically, which I now think are just not going to work in my 83 gal. I know they're susceptible to HITH too, and I'm really worried about putting them under the stress of a too-small tank and causing that, because I won't be able to handle the guilt.


To answer you specifically (I'm so sorry, that was a ramble) it's much easier for me to handle fish that need neutral to hard water than very soft water - I can set up a tank that's very very soft at first, but keeping it soft is, I think, too much hard work for me anymore.

I've actually kept neolamprologus brevis in the past! I've moved since then, but I have a tank waiting with a lot of shells to be set up for neo similis or multis.

Lol, that's the kind of information I need. I think I'm in a weird space where I know how to maintain a tank, but I'm still very much a noob when it comes to cichlids specifically. I'd PREFER to stay away from sensitive fish, but not because I'm scared of issues, only because I like a buffer due to being disabled.

I can't imagine what your fish room looks like, it must be amazing. One of my stocking ideas for one of my 'big' tanks is just a whole load of ember tetras and a little flock of honey gouramis, maybe some habrosus cories at the bottom, with some red whiptail cats.

I think what I'd like to see keeping larger cichlids is slightly different to what I'm seeing in YT too - I'd like to keep fish in the tank to the same country, at least, if I can, though I'm not precious about that if I have to branch out.

I'd prefer having one/a small group of the larger than some dithers/a shoal or school of slightly smaller fish, but because I'm still very early into my research on this I don't know if that's even possible. I like a planted tank, but I know a lot of these guys like to dig, so I'm trying to consider ways to make the tank look planted without actually being planted, and still using as many real plants as possible - so using a lot of epiphytes, plants in vessels surrounded by rocks in the sand, etc, if that'd even work.

And I don't know if the reason I don't see that kind of tank with these kind of fish around is because people have tried and it just hasn't worked, or if people who keep these larger fish just prefer the look of a handful of huge fish together in a tank, or if that's just the most successful way to keep these guys and I'm just setting myself up for failure.

Plus the fact that when you move into the world of these larger type fish, my tanks aren't actually that big, so I'm working on a smaller scale, I just don't have the scope for a 125 gal, etc.

I am SO sorry for the huge essay

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply, it was really interesting and very helpful!

I was taken to the LFS yesterday and I saw some of the fish I've been looking at lately in the scale, including a tiny little firemouth, it was awesome I don't go out a lot, maybe once a month if that, and to the LFS even less than that, so it was particularly awesome.

Got some chilli rasbora to bump up my little school, they've been really hard to get here lately for some reason, and some really nice pieces of spiderwood. Wanna try and redo some scaping.

But it was so cool to see the firemouth in person, and some ellioti cichlids that were gorgeous even at a couple inches long!


A201 aha, you have discovered my plot! I checked out sympatric (is that right?) species, and I've always liked a good swordtail. The wild ones? Gorgeous. I think that "green" colour would be a nice match for the Firemouth's slate grey top colour.

tinylostwine Yeah, I was considering the wild types or at least the variants closer to wild.

TClare I saw that rainbow cichlids are sympatric (I googled it, that's right, lol) with platies, and they look kind of cool together, the yellowish rainbows and yellowish platies, really satisfying to see, and now I've got another stocking idea.

Yeah, I think I'd grow out the swordtails, maybe get some breeding going and then pop some little cichlids in at the point where I wouldn't mind some fry going missing. I do love the wild types

Yeah, I think I'm going off the idea of them to be honest. Not the fish itself, but trying to keep them in my tanks, I'd be wracked with guilt if they got HITH because the tank environment stressed them out.

NoRoom4Shoebox that sucks! I think that nearly happened to me, luckily I solved the problem. But of course I did, I'd recognise your icon anywhere, lol, and your name is nearly the same! I'm sorry you lost all your history though.

I think I'd maybe like to try keeping out the plainer blue acara, IDK. I'd love to keep angels, but I'd want a large group, and to do that I'd want to keep plucking out the troublemakers and replacing them until I got a harmonised group of adults and that sounds expensive and like a lot of work. Apart from the parrots, what was your favourite cichlid?


GlennO I'm intrigued, what kind of group numbers for each would you keep in a 120x50x50cm/48x20x20" tank? and would you do those groups including swordtails for dithers?

Thank you so much for your help, I appreciate that you took the time to answer!

For harder water you want to look at crypt hudoroi or crypt apongeton. Both are nice plants and over a year or two will fill up a 6 foot aquarium. All my krobia hide in the hudoroi so i never see them anymore:

This is a 120 so 2 ft high and 4 ft wide:



It can reach nearly 2 ft high and forms a very dense grass - when the fish move you can see the leaves shake in the wind.

tinylostwine oooh, if I had to pick my favourite aquarium plant it would be crypts. Definitely taking your advice with those, thank you so much, beautiful suggestion!

GlennO I'm intrigued, what kind of group numbers for each would you keep in a 120x50x50cm/48x20x20" tank? and would you do those groups including swordtails for dithers?

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About 4 or 5. For example 1 male and 3 females would probably be an ideal combination. But other combinations including 2 pairs might work. Yes some swordtails would be fine.

I haven’t kept rainbow cichlids but I believe they often eat plants so may not be appropriate. Firemouths might dig more but if plants are well established they should be fine, unless the cichlids breed and dig holes. Even then only some will be affected and epiphytes will be fine of course.

I like your African stocking idea though those fish would prefer softer water, as would festivums (they are much more peaceful than angelfish).

GlennO I'm realising why so many people keep them in groups of 1 of each type, that breeding aggression. I haven't looked into how to sex these guys yet, I have fear.

Thank you for your help!


TClare I swear, these cichlids, if it's not digging pits and uprooting plants it's eating them! lol. Thank you for your caution. I'm thinking carefully about ways to secure plants and make them look like they're growing, mostly securing them to the wood at the point where the wood meets the substrate, IDK. Further thinking required.

Thank you! I'm wondering if I should try the cichlids first or the Africans first, but I have had the African stocking down for a while, and I think that'd give me more time to do more research and thinking on this cichlid stocking.

That's a good note on the festivums. I was looking at stocking for this smaller 69/70 gal, the 40x20x20", I wanted something really serene and I was thinking about angels, but I didn't want the aggro that would come with breeding pairs, and I didn't want the bother that would come with trying to swap out and in until I got a really peaceful group. So I went with pearl gourami instead - I've had them before and I really like them - but I saw festivums in my perusing and really liked them as an angel alternative, but wasn't sure they'd be much different in temperament, or that a group would fit in my tank, so I kinda sadly put them aside.

Might revisit them at another point, unless they need like 4.0-5.0 PH which is just not doable for me

Thank you as usual, always appreciate your help!

It's funny how frazzled I'm getting over these stocking decisions on a tank that hasn't been stocked with it's first stocking plan yet.

This is why I plan so far in advance, it prevents impulse buying and stops me rushing into things and forces me to slow down and really think about my options

I grab all the ideas that I can, explore all the options I like, spend time with them and come around on fish I didn't realise I'd like at first, then start building lists and narrowing my options down to some I really feel comfortable with.

In a way, it's the best way for me to do things, because I don't do that thing where you break down a tank after a few months or a year or two to try something different, I just can't do it.

I'm kicking around a group of firemouths with some swordtails

Something something a Jack Dempsey/green terror, which I don't even know about in the 83 gal

Then I'm looking at like rainbow cichlid, cutteri/spilurus (which I'm having a time of finding a source that treats them as two different fish), nanoluteus (is that right?) and another one I've forgotten

Also peering thoughtfully at the sajica

Glancing suspiciously at severums, I also saw someone with a tank of fake plastic plants but they were using fake garlands of flowers in their tank and it was like an underwater fantasy garden with the fish gliding in and out of it and it was mindblowingly atmospheric and truly lovely, really swung me on the 'no plants' thing

And then to make matters worse, I saw a maybe 5 inch oscar at my LFS and it gave me fish-baby-fever (Ew) but I don't think an oscar would be happy in that tank? Plus, don't they like company?

And now bichirs have popped up.

So I'm still working out some plans, and while I'm having fun, I'm also stressing out.

Over fish I don't even have yet.

If I didn't already know there was something wrong with me, I'd think there was something wrong with me.

I'm so glad I've got you Fish Loreans, I dread to think what state I'd be in without your guidance

Green Terrors aka (Rivulatus) are great fish to keep. One of my favorites.

Males grow to 9 - 10 inches. Females 5 - 8 inches. The males are more brightly colored than females w/ orange trim on the fins.

Need to be in a tank of at least 75 gal.

Here's a pic of my best male GT that I ever kept. Wish I had him back.

A201 he's beautiful, I'm so sorry you lost him

I'm trying to shift my way of thinking about CA Cichlid tanks from your typical tropical FW tank to more of a reef tank, where you do tend to keep one of a lot of different fish instead of shoals or groups of one fish

I did just that in my African Cichlid days. Selecting only males of a variety of different species.

So, I'm torturing myself a little

I put this into AqAdvisor and sometimes it was happy, sometimes it freaked out, I hate that thing, I don't know why I even bothered.

I'm considering a few, like:

- 1m/3f Firemouths
- ?x swordtails (looking at the wild types)

Or
- 1x oscar, probably a rehome/rescue situation

Or (all males, no pairs)
- 1x cryptoheros cutteri, blue eyed cichlid
- 1x cryptoheros myrnae, topaz cichlid
- 1x amatitlanica sajica, t-bar cichlid
then plus or minus one or some
- 1x amphilophus lyonsi, lyonsi cichlid
- 1x amatitlania siquia, honduran red point cichlid
- 1x herotilapia multispinosa, rainbow cichlid
- 1x rocio octofasciata, jack dempsey cichlid

Still a work in progress, definitely, still haven't ruled out severums, and I'm keeping chocolate cichlids on standby too.

I'm still eyeing green terrors, but I'm worried a 79 gal (I'm settling on calling it a 79 gal by the way, converting cm to inches changes the gallonage, and I've had enough, so I'm just settling on 79, which is the gallonage using cm) won't be large enough? Otherwise a JD with a GT and maybe a space for another someone would be a fourth option (I saw a platinum convict, and while I'm not usually into non-natural coloured fish, it really caught my eye - I'd keep it single)

I'm still not sure the 79 gal is enough space for an oscar to live it's life out happily, and alone? So I might have to strike it through, depending on consensus.

And I have no idea about the third idea. Is the lyonsi too aggressive? Will I even find a honduran red point that's actually that fish? Will the rainbow cichlid spoil everything? Will the JD be a mistake? Dithers? I don't know. I'd love some advice. I'd be happy with the top three and some dithers, if, again, that's even possible.

I also decided to draw a line through the bichers, it'd be nice but while the spirit is willing I think the body is too weak. Stupid body.

Migraine is grinding through my brain again, but I'll try to get back to anyone promptly, thank you for your help again as always

The tank is really too small for an Oscar. The problem with the all male suggestion is that the cichlids are usually sold as juveniles and it may be difficult to sex them initially. I don’t have experience with those species so not sure how they would get on, but I think it might not be peaceful. With the all male African rift lake setups tanks are generally overstocked to minimise aggression, but I’m not sure this will work with the Central American species. Personally I think the firemouth and swordtails is the best option.

Keeping several all-male CA’s can potentially work in a 4 foot tank but often involves some re-homing until you get a compatible group where one male doesn’t try to dominate, especially as they mature. That was an issue I had recently when trying to establish a similar setup. My tank is 120cm x 45cm x 45cm. 1m/3f is likely to be easier.

Just FYI, try this stocking calculator instead:

Free Aquarium Stocking Calculator - Plan Your Perfect Fish Tank

I agree that an Oscar probably would eventually outgrow the tank.

If you are still considering a Jack Dempsey, look at the Electric Blue Jack.

The Blue Jack's are genetically weaker than a standard JD, but are a wildly beautiful Cichlid. They are usually a little smaller too, and maybe just a little more subdued.

You know a mated pair of Salvini Cichlids kept with sword tails would probably work.

When the Salvinis are in a frisky mood, their colors are unbelievably colorful & vibrant. I once kept a mated pair with a group of Black Skirt Tetras in my 65 gal. Oceanic tank with no problems.

Here's pics of the mated Salvini pair and one of a pretty electric blue JD female I once kept.

Hey guys

So, the people have spoken and I'm comfortable taking the Oscar off the stocking list, always wanna do the best by my fish

TClare ugh, you're right, idk why I didn't remember that (yes I do, the topiramate) I guess I meant just single fish rather than pairs. Yeah, I didn't want to overstock the way Africans are, I wondered about that back when I was considering angelfish.

They're definitely in line for a future stocking option, I'm putting them in the queue, but I'm not as caught by them as the other options yet

Thank you as always for the benefit of your experience, I've also been taking note of your advice to other people as I've been doing my research throughout the forum.


GlennO While that's still a pain, I think it's less so than with angelfish, because I'd want an angelfish group to be the same colour, and that wouldn't be as much an issue with the CA.

What fish were you juggling as you worked towards a compatible group, and how many replacements did it take until you found a peaceful tank?

Did you have any opinions on the tyes of fish I was looking at, especially the first three? And did you keep yours with dithers?

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll check that out - how does it compare to AQAdvisor for accuracy?


A201 I am, torn between that and a green terror, but I'm still not sure if a GT will be happy in my tank.

I have been on and off about the EBJD; I prefer the natural JD colour, but the smaller size and less aggressive temperament is a huge draw, however, their fragility is a bigger problem. I've been surfing around the forum doing more research, and I've seen you talk a but about having some trouble raising a few to adulthood, and if YOU were struggling that made me worry. I know they have a reputation for that, IDK if that's changed in the last few years, also bearing in mind I'm in the UK, IDK how the stock we have here is.

What did you think of the first three of the fish I was thinking of keeping together, and keeping a JD with them or not?

And the tank size with a GT?

And what did you think about a JD with a GT and a single convict?

Man, I'm sorry for bombarding you with questions.

Those Salvini are gorgeous. You're really good at siren-calling me to consider fish I hadn't considered, lol. I had written them off for their aggression, but for some reason it never even crossed my mind that I could just keep a pair. They'd be cool in a 79 with some dithers?

Thank you as always for your help, you're really invaluable guiding me through this

The EBJD's are a little on the fragile side, and I did fail to raise a few of them to adulthood.

The standard JD also has beautiful color & markings. Although JD's have a bad reputation for being aggressive, its been my experience that a full grown male GT can easily beat down an adult male JD.

A solo male GT could probably do just fine in a 75g or larger. Keeping a lone male Convict Cichlid with the GT might work as long as they were stocked together as juveniles.

Swordtails might be able to coexist for a while. Once the GT reaches six inches things probably wouldn't end well for them.

If you go the GT route, pictured below is a juvenile male. The females aren't quite as colorful and have a brownish hue. The orange trim on the fins are primarily a male trait, but females sometimes have the orange trim to a lesser degree.

GlennO What fish were you juggling as you worked towards a compatible group, and how many replacements did it take until you found a peaceful tank?

Did you have any opinions on the tyes of fish I was looking at, especially the first three? And did you keep yours with dithers?

Thank you for the suggestion, I'll check that out - how does it compare to AQAdvisor for accuracy?

Click to expand...

A couple of decades ago I had a compatible group of firemouth, sajica, spilurum (cutteri?) and female nicaraguan. I tried a group of similar species recently but it didn't work out. Sometimes it just depends on the individuals. Currently the only cichlids I have are an angelfish and goldeneye (N. anomala). I've always had some dithers, usually tetras or rainbowfish. I think your safest bet is 1m/3f of the more social species such as rainbow cichlids or firemouths. Other species might work too.

As for the stocking calculators I don't know about accuracy but using a couple of different ones might provide a bit more feedback to consider or research. I think the one I linked might be a bit more conservative than AqAdvisor.