trimac said:
You folks think it is possible to put anything else? I do have a 1032 gallon pond on stand by!
I have no personal experience with umbie and I think probably few who frquent this forum do either. But me, personally I would attempt to house fish with it; don't think its all that different, longterm, then housing fish with a dovii. But with 1000 gallon on stand by, you got an awesome set up :thumb:
A large lugabris-type pike,I think, is a definate option. Different body shape and not as closely related to either. Not quite as sturdy but offensively capable; not too easily pushed around and very fast. I would tend to shy away from a jag, since you already have a dovii, but it is an option. For another CA I would consider salvini. Also large Veija/Paratheraps such as blackbelt or maybe zonatus, though I have no personal experience with zonatus, just it has the reputation as the tougher more aggressive Vieja/Paratheraps.
Some kind of large African may be an option, though it is my understanding that Tilapia/Oreochromis are not legal in Texas now (?). That eliminates a large group of potential tankmates. Even though they are smaller, I would consider Hemichromis elongatus or Hemichromis fasciatus (gets a little larger and is supposed to be more aggressive yet) as an options. I have no experience with either, but they certainly have the reputation to be able to live in tanks with the largest, most aggressive CA/SA. H. frempongi is another, almost identicle species but is thought to not get quite as large nor quite as aggressive.
A black shark would be top of my list to work well with these 2 cichlids. Its the worst of all bullies if a fish is not willing to stand up to it, but I doubt either of your fish would ever have problems with that at any point in its life. I know my blackshark never mesed with my female dovii; on the other hand cichlids generally concerned themselves more with other cichlids then they did with the black shark. Of course at a very small size, a black shark is not that capable either, so the black shark could have a problem if it gets picked on enough by the cichlids.
For bottom feeder, raphael cat and/ or common pleco are options. There are many other bottom feeders/catfish that might do well with umbie or dovii, although i am not familiar with them. I had much success keeping marbled goby with aggressive CA/SA though that is a bottom dweller (a piscivore) and not a bottom feeder --- they are slow moving and need to be fed with a tube in order to get food to their mouths.
Tinfoil barbs are another option, if you have enough of them like 3-4 or more.They might take some abuse but if there is enough of them, no one in particular will get picked on. Sturdy for a non-cichlid though not always sturdy enough for cichlids like umbie or dovii. It would all depend on just how much attention is directed towards them.
Like any tank, all depends on many factors, how well tankmates work and get a long. For introduction, I would be inclined to remove the dovii temporarily, introduce at least 4 tankmates at once on the dovii side, re-arrange some decor before putting the dovii back in, and move the devider 1 ft. into the umbie's side. Remove the devider later , only supervised, and see if things seem to work O.K. And when the time comes or you have to, move some fish over into the pond. Your umbie, or dovii, you may want them to be the last to go into the pond as compared to something like tinfoil barbs which may need to be the first the first in order to get established.