New 75 gal cichlid tank!!

[em_witt]

I recently got a standard 75 gal tank and instantly wanted south American cichlids!! I read up on them and then decided I wanted a few breeding pairs of a few types of cichlids. My list for fish is following:
3 convicts
3 firemouth
3 jack Dempsey
2-3 plecos
...i will get all the fish at about 1/2 inch except the fire mouth...those will be about an inch. How's the list, let me kno if u have any ideas!!!!

 

[Jmedic25]

I am not a SA guy, but I think all thoes breeds are pretty bad boys...May not coexist. Someone with the SA knowledge will chime in

 

[em_witt]

Thx for ur concern!!!

 

[Aski247]

I am not a SA guy, but I think all thoes breeds are pretty bad boys...May not coexist. Someone with the SA knowledge will chime in

The cons/FM will surely work. Maybe even a single JD with them. But all 3 pairs of fish will be total war. The jd's if paired up will have no part of the smaller two. I would also avoid 3's of each and just keep trying for a pair till ya get one. Just to avoid one being killed off or worse bullied to the point of illness which can kill all your fish.

If you are intent of pairs, I'd go just the cons/fm. With schools of semi aggressive target fish. Tetras/barbs/danios of some sort.

Or just the large JD pair and the target fish.

Just my 2cents. as I have kept a similar set up in my 75 before.

Good luck SA cichlids rock.

 

[em_witt]

Thanks 4 ur help I'll try it!!! I have some cons and a pleco now! Here's a pic!







There's 2 more cons but I can't get a good pic!!!

 

[em_witt]

How many "target" fish should I get??

 

[Aski247]

In a 75, depending on what species you get 10-20. I love my giant danios in both my 55 and 75. I have 10 with a Red devil and bichir. And 20 with my Trimac in the 75. They are super fast and are awesome to watch feed/school.

 

[em_witt]

Thanks! I think I'll go with giant danios! So like a school of 10???

 

[josh7]

Okay then well first off I think you need to rehome 2 of the jack dempseys and get rid of 1 firemouth and 1 convict so you have 2 pairs. Since those are common plecos I would rehome all of them to and go for a different species that max out at 8-10 inches. Also I agree that giant danios would be a great dither fish for this tank.

 

[em_witt]

Well I don't have the jds or the fms yet alli have is the cons...and the plecos aren't common...they max out at 10-12 inches this is what the tag said when I got it!

 

[josh7]

Oh okay then if you keep up on your water changes you could keep the plecos and the cons easily I wouldn't get the jacks at all I would also rehome 1 convict and keep a pair then I think you could do a firemouth pair as well.

 

[em_witt]

Cool, they're to small to tell male and female yet so I will when they get big enough!

 

[Aski247]

Cool, they're to small to tell male and female yet so I will when they get big enough!

Yeah I'd try and get both pairs in at the same time, for a familiarity reason. As I said if they pair up, both the Cons/FM can get down right nasty. The key to having the 2 pairs will be to have plenty of (line of sight breaks) between both of their "caves".

Yes 10 giant danios would be great for your target fish. Haha I almost wanna find another 75g tank so I can do this exact set up again.?

 

[Aski247]

Oh forgot to mention I would double check on the species of pleco. (not because of size, you know where "Hot" is you could always go trade it in for store credit) but because of the bio load, they are pure poop factories. And having 2 pairs of breeding cichlids (which are messy in their own right) you will likely be doing multiple water changes a week if you add more plecos.

And lastly. When the cichlids do finally pair up. Keep an eye on the pleco they may not tolerate it, and it will likely have no swimming space due to the divided tank.

 

[Aski247]

Ugh.. Sorry disregard the "hot" comment. I got confused and rolled two threads I was posting on into that comment haha. Sorry.

But if a trade in is a option at your lfs, I wouldn't worry about pleco size.

 

[em_witt]

I don't thing it is...petsmart????

 

[em_witt]

I took ur advise and got some dither fish...6 barbs sound ok?? Also got 3 firemouth and Will return 1 when I get a breeding pair!!!

 

[Aski247]

Sounds good, should post some pics when ya get it all finally set up. =)

 

[em_witt]

 

[em_witt]

Sorry bout last 1 it's blurry!!!!