[purita]

i'm a newbie for this one.
here's the list of my fishes:
-vieja Zonatum
-vieja regani
-jack dempsey
-texas
-firemouth
-salvini
-golden severum
-******* severum
-green terror

any comment or suggestion about my line up?

these are still "baby" fishes and they're getting a bit overcrowded now on my 4ft x 18in x 20in tank. i would also like to ask what size of tank do i they need so that they won't be overcrowded?

thanks a lot.

 

[TheFishGuy]

-vieja Zonatum
-vieja regani
-jack dempsey
-texas
-firemouth
-salvini
-golden severum
-******* severum
-green terror

That's a heck of a list... Are you sure you want to know how big of a tank you'll need to keep all of them long term? I can almost predict what will happen if the tank is not large enough or set up properly...

Long term I would say a tank with a footprint of atleast 10'x3'

Here are the trouble makers:
-vieja Zonatum
-vieja regani
-texas
-salvini
-green terror

If any one of these is male it's going to be a challenge...

The others can hold their own but usually will not start trouble. More than likely you're going to have a few males in this mix. Foot print and layout of decor is crucial. You're going to need to have many breaks in line of site to succeed.

Are there any you're willing to get rid of?

Typically when a community is put together you want the fish to have differing morphological looks. This will help with aggression. To put it simply you don't want cichlids that look like each other in shape or color.

The texas,GT and JD are all similar, the two severums are similar, the two vieja are similar. I'd pick your favorite ONE from those three groups and keep it. Sell or re-home the others.

It'd leave you with a list something like this for example:

-vieja regani
-jack dempsey
-firemouth
-salvini
-******* severum

The regani would be the "center piece" fish growing the largest and the others will fall in line after. THis is a much more manageable group... But still impressive...

 

[cichlid_kid96]

i dont know much about the vieja but with those fish i would say maybe an 8 foot tank because the severums are pretty peaceful but its all about the personality of the fish u could get lucky and it could work in a 6 foot tank. my severum can actually be pretty mean sometimes.

 

[cichlid_kid96]

i would have to agree with tfg his was wrote while i was writing mine but i wasnt sure how big the vieja get.

 

[purita]

oh wow... im planning to get an 8ft tank. would that b ok? i dont wanna get rid of any 1 of them cos i love them all. huhuhu. if i had no other option, maybe il get rid of some.

JD is the most troublesome in my case...
zonatum would be the "center piece" cos he's the biggest. (5in.)
i think salvini and firemouth looks the same though.

cichlid_kid96 - viejas can be as huge as 14 ft. whew.

 

[purita]

by the way, i also have a lot of driftwood in my tank for them to hide on.

 

[purita]

TheFishGuy
TheFishGuy
gt has the biggest appetite of all. i would also like to ask, which would you recommend, pebbles or sand?

 

[cichlid_kid96]

8 foot tank would be ok for a while maybe it will work in the long run usually fish do better together if they are raised together. i wouldnt get anymore though. i wish you the best of luck do u have any pics u can post

 

[cichlid_kid96]

sand is always the best way to go with cichlids and its so fun to watch them move it around and sift through it

 

[purita]

cichlid_kid96
ill try to post some pics... now i have pebbles and i siphon the dirt once in a while. how do you clean the sand?

 

[purita]

 

[cichlid_kid96]

oh thats a herichthys carpintis (pearlscale cichlid or green texas) those arent quite as aggressive or as large as a texas cichlid. you got some beautiful fish. love the severum and the fish next to the jd in pic number 2

 

[cichlid_kid96]

o and to clean the sand just on the siphon hose about an inch from the sand. sometimes u have to move the sand around to get the poop lol. its actually IMO easier than cleaning rocks

 

[cichlid_kid96]

where is the green terror

 

[TheFishGuy]

Your herichthys is a female... So that's good, she'll stay smaller.
Green texas can grow to every bit as big as cyanoguttalatus.
Sand or gravel is purely your choice. They do not care. I have a mix of both in my three display tanks.

You'll probably be good for about a year in an 8' tank.

 

[purita]

oh thats a herichthys carpintis (pearlscale cichlid or green texas) those arent quite as aggressive or as large as a texas cichlid. you got some beautiful fish. love the severum and the fish next to the jd in pic number 2

i think that's vieja zonatum.

 

[purita]

where is the green terror

it's not here in the yet. it's in the other tank when i took this pic. ill just get a new photo after i set up the 8ft...

 

[purita]

Your herichthys is a female... So that's good, she'll stay smaller.
Green texas can grow to every bit as big as cyanoguttalatus.
Sand or gravel is purely your choice. They do not care. I have a mix of both in my three display tanks.

You'll probably be good for about a year in an 8' tank.

thanks... ill just try them in the new 8ft x 2 ft x 2 ft tank. we'll see what happens... :-? will also try sand.

 

[cichlid_kid96]

sweet cant wait to see pics of that lol

 

[purita]

thanks for all the comments and suggestions guys. really appreciate it.