SA cichlid mix?

B. · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 15

I currently have a 75 gallon long (6 ft) tank. Within this tank I have a
mixture of south american cihlids. The tank has plenty of large bolders
that form alot of caves but i was wondering how long this mix will last
before they start killing ech other. The mix i currently have in there is
(1) jack dempsey, (3) green terrors, (3) convicts (5) geo. brasilis (pearl
cichlid) and (texas). All of these fish are under 3 inches but they are
growing and seem to be claiming their territory. The "big dog" is the jack
dempsey, all the other fish seem to bow down to him. I want to keep all
these fish and i was wondering if i need to move any of these fish to
another tank. I think i might need to move the pearl cichlids to another
tank. I was wondering if i could put those in a tank that has tetras. If
anyone has any advise on these species and the mix please help me out. I
like all these fish and want to keep them all. Thank you.

Archived from group: rec>aquaria>freshwater>cichlids

Tiddleye · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 8

"B." wrote in message$Pc5.543@fed1read01...
> I currently have a 75 gallon long (6 ft) tank. Within this tank I have a
> mixture of south american cihlids.

Hi B.
I can tell you that I had Geos in with 6 oscars at one time and they were
fine, however, you can expect to lose some of your geos as they get larger.
One point you may or may not know is that geos(earth eaters) sift the
substrate, so sand is the best for them so if you are to move any of your
fish move and don't have a fine substrate at least then the geos would be
your best bet. All the fish should get on ok, with the odd dissagreement,
keep an eye on them and have a tank standing by would be my advice. Also, if
you have to move some through bullying, move the bully for a while and then
put him back, he won't be so territorial that way.

HTH
Tiddleye

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Jim Brown · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 177

B. wrote in message $Pc5.543@fed1read01...
> I currently have a 75 gallon long (6 ft) tank. Within this tank I have a
> mixture of south american cihlids. The tank has plenty of large bolders
> that form alot of caves but i was wondering how long this mix will last
> before they start killing ech other. The mix i currently have in there is
> (1) jack dempsey, (3) green terrors, (3) convicts (5) geo. brasilis (pearl
> cichlid) and (texas). All of these fish are under 3 inches but they are
> growing and seem to be claiming their territory. The "big dog" is the
jack
> dempsey, all the other fish seem to bow down to him. I want to keep all
> these fish and i was wondering if i need to move any of these fish to
> another tank. I think i might need to move the pearl cichlids to another
> tank. I was wondering if i could put those in a tank that has tetras. If
> anyone has any advise on these species and the mix please help me out. I
> like all these fish and want to keep them all. Thank you.
>
>

The lone Jack Dempsey may well turn into the boss of the tank.
The green terrors will become very destructive and aggressive when they
mature into spawning adults. Because of their attitude and large adult
size, they are well able to kill very other fish overnight.
The convicts are on the small size as adults, but when spawning are well
able to defend their area and fry. Not a serious threat to the other fish.
The brasiliensis will be one of the larger cichlids but are not as
aggressive. They can defend a spawning site, but are more mild mannered
overall than the others. If you move them to another aquarium, as long as
the tetras are larger than bite size, the mix will be okay.
Not knowing how many Texas cichlids are in the mix, a loner will probably
hold its own, but a pair would be more evenly matched against the other
fish.
The big problems will be the green terrors, or the JD if it turns out to be
an ornery, lonely male.

Jim

Mephistopheles · Joined: 16 Aug 2007 Posts: 72

"B." wrote in $Pc5.543@fed1read01:

> I currently have a 75 gallon long (6 ft) tank. Within this tank I
> have a mixture of south american cihlids. The tank has plenty of
> large bolders that form alot of caves but i was wondering how long
> this mix will last before they start killing ech other. The mix i
> currently have in there is (1) jack dempsey, (3) green terrors, (3)
> convicts (5) geo. brasilis (pearl cichlid) and (texas). All of these
> fish are under 3 inches but they are growing and seem to be claiming
> their territory. The "big dog" is the jack dempsey, all the other
> fish seem to bow down to him. I want to keep all these fish and i was
> wondering if i need to move any of these fish to another tank. I
> think i might need to move the pearl cichlids to another tank. I was
> wondering if i could put those in a tank that has tetras. If anyone
> has any advise on these species and the mix please help me out. I
> like all these fish and want to keep them all. Thank you.
>
>
>

I expect your 75 gallon is actually a four foot tank -- most of them are
(smallest six-foot tank I have seen is 125 gallons). Also, of the fish
you list, only the green terrors and Geophagus brasiliensis are South
American; the rest are Central American cichlids, which are generally
more aggressive and prefer harder more alkaline water than South American
cichlids. However, both the green terrors and brasiliensis are among the
more aggressive South Americans, so they should be able to take care of
themselves and I think all these fish stand as good a chance as any group
of highly aggressive fish of coexisting. However, there certainly is a
high potential for aggression problems when you try to keep a lot of very
aggressive fish together, so vigilance would be advised.

As far as keeping the brasiliensis with tetras, I have never tried it,
but I think it should work fine. I would think the brasiliensis would
pretty much ignore the tetras.

Meph