75 gallon stock

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The boring name

Aquarium Advice FINatic
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charlotte NC
Hey guys getting a 75 gallon up and running this weekend. It's is a basic 75 with a 39 inch sump on it. Was used as saltwater but I want to go the cichlid route. What would be the best fish to stock? I'm not against Africans in it, but I'm also leaning to something like an Oscar, green Texas ect. Never have had a bigger cichlid. What would you guys recommend?
 
You'll have to decide between Africans or SA/CA cichlids.

Oscar would be good with GT, JD, or Severum. Bottom fish will probably be limited to plecos, clown loach?, Pictus catfish or a larger type of catfish. I wouldn't do any schooling fish with an Oscar besides maybe silver dollars.

You probably won't get away with much more than one other large tank mate with the oscar in that size tank. Make sure your filtration is around 12 to 15x turnover per hour. Big cichlids are messy.
 
A standard 75 gal. Is a good entry level size for an African Cichlid Peacock & Hap tank.
That would provide you with a very colorful tank and a busy one too due to the required overstocking.
An Oscar would do well for a while, but with good care, in a couple of years has the potential to be a very thick 11" fish. Might be a little overwhelming. I've kept Green Texas Carpintis, and Red Texas Cichlids. The Red Texas hybrid is primarily a Green Texas with a little of who knows what? mixed in. They are great together as juveniles, then later become intolerant towards each other. My Red Texas grew huge and became a killer. He's now a wet pet.
Severums would be a good choice. You could mix in a grouping of medium sized Central Americans such as a Salvini Cichlid pair (Very pretty) and Firemouths. You could even add Swordtails.
As for mixing New World Cichlids with Africans; full disclosure; I've successfully done it,
I don't recommend it. I once bought numerous peacocks & Haps to act as target fish for a group of Red Terror growouts. I quickly learned there was no need for target fish. The Africans grew up with the Red Terrors. It was just an awkward looking tank. I re-homed most of the Africans. A few months ago I transitioned my 120 from a New World tank to a all male African tank. I traded in 99% of my CA & S.A. cichlids but kept my baby Green Terror. I know that goes against my own recommendation, Lol, but I just couldn't let him go.
 
A group of the red shoulder sevs would work. As with any cichlid, the aggression is there but to what extent is the question. You could also get a pair with some other smaller cichlids or get a single sev with other cichlids. You might look at picking more peaceful types considering you don't have a large 6 foot or bigger tank. From personal experience, it's frustrating to deal with a very aggressive fish that you have to re-home so they don't kill everyone else or whoever it decides to go after.
 
I totally agree with you Kingfisher. It was such a bad mistake impulse buying that tiny, pretty Red Texas Cichlid from Petsmart. He totally consumed a school of Buenos Aires Tetras and Black Skirts as well as three Firemouths. Very frustrating. :facepalm:
 
I totally agree with you Kingfisher. It was such a bad mistake impulse buying that tiny, pretty Red Texas Cichlid from Petsmart. He totally consumed a school of Buenos Aires Tetras and Black Skirts as well as three Firemouths. Very frustrating. :facepalm:
Ya man, I've lost several small schooling fish to experimenting with larger cichlids. I've also lost larger cichlids to other aggressive larger cichlids. At times I didn't have extra tanks to put the aggressive one in so I'd have to return it to an LFS. Nowadays, I just stick to what commonly works so my tank doesn't feel like a full time job and I can enjoy it.
 
I think Geophagus would work if you designed a well thought out hardscape. One with numerous hiding spots and line of sight breaks. There are several different varieties of Geos. Some get very big and aggressive. Brookster is probably AA' s Geophagus guru. He has a beautiful, enormous Geo. Maybe he will chime in.
 
Ok so I'm thinking 2 severums, a salvini, and maybe a firemouth. And maybe a school of congo tetras or giant danios. Would this work?
 
2 Severum, salvini, and a school of 6 Congo tetra would work and your tank would be maxed out IMO. Also, 1 Severum, salvini, firemouth and 12 Congo tetra.......or 1 Severum, Salvini, Firemouth, and 8 Giant Danio.......1 Severum, Salvini, 8 Giant danios, 6 Congo Tetras. There's multiple combinations that I think would work.

Giant Danios require a minimum of 8 in a school or they get temperamental towards each other so this many may limit what else you can have.
 
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