Salvini tank?

[em_witt]

So right now I'm battling a disease of an unknown kind in my angelfish tank. After I cure it or treat it then I don't think I will go back to angels. I will do a mayor cleaning of the tank first. Then I wanted to go back to "larger" cichlids. Salvinis? If I do go the salvini route then I have a few questions. How many for a 75? Can the tank be planted? How do you sex them? How do u breed them? What tank mates are good? (Thinking of dithers and other cichlids) is there any thing else I should be worried about before taking on this fish? And any other helpful hints and tricks are always welcome.
If you have or previously had a salvini I would love to see pics of him or her!

 

[JRT83]

So right now I'm battling a disease of an unknown kind in my angelfish tank. After I cure it or treat it then I don't think I will go back to angels. I will do a mayor cleaning of the tank first. Then I wanted to go back to "larger" cichlids. Salvinis? If I do go the salvini route then I have a few questions. How many for a 75? Can the tank be planted? How do you sex them? How do u breed them? What tank mates are good? (Thinking of dithers and other cichlids) is there any thing else I should be worried about before taking on this fish? And any other helpful hints and tricks are always welcome.
If you have or previously had a salvini I would love to see pics of him or her!

U could do a pair in a 75, but if u do that I wouldnt put anything else in there. Otherwise my female Salvini was the toughest cichlid I've ever owned, would try picking fights with everyone in my tank... Jag, Midas, and Festae. A Salvini would be able to hold its own with any other cichlid that you're able to keep comfortably in a 75: convicts, Jack Dempseys, Green Terrors, etc... here's my female that I sold, which I regret. Females are more colorful and have the black spot on the gill cover.

 

[em_witt]

U could do a pair in a 75, but if u do that I wouldnt put anything else in there. Otherwise my female Salvini was the toughest cichlid I've ever owned, would try picking fights with everyone in my tank... Jag, Midas, and Festae. A Salvini would be able to hold its own with any other cichlid that you're able to keep comfortably in a 75: convicts, Jack Dempseys, Green Terrors, etc... here's my female that I sold, which I regret. Females are more colorful and have the black spot on the gill cover.

View attachment 214981

So could I start with 5-6 and wait for a pair to form and then sell the others?

 

[JRT83]

So could I start with 5-6 and wait for a pair to form and then sell the others?

Definitely, that would probably be the best way to do it... I would also get yourself a divider if u don't have 1 already. Cichlids can get aggressive towards each other when dealing with babies or if the male is wanting to breed and the female isn't ready.

 

[em_witt]

Definitely, that would probably be the best way to do it... I would also get yourself a divider if u don't have 1 already. Cichlids can get aggressive towards each other when dealing with babies or if the male is wanting to breed and the female isn't ready.

I have a few. Is there any way that before the salvini a mature I could have dithers with them?

 

[mikem691]

I have a few. Is there any way that before the salvini a mature I could have dithers with them?

You could try some times it works some times it don't. I had a 4" salvini for a short time and after the lights went out he would try to sink his teeth into anything that moved in the tank.

 

[JRT83]

U could try something like giant danios or tiger barbs... if u do, I'd get a school of 8-12 of whatever u choose and don't get them too small to start. The bigger the better, that way they'll be able to take a beating and last longer.

 

[em_witt]

Would silver dollars work? Or tin foil barbs? And how many?

 

[JRT83]

Would silver dollars work? Or tin foil barbs? And how many?

If u had plans to get a bigger tank in the near future, yeah... otherwise both of them get too big to be kept permanently in a 4 ft long tank.

 

[Rivers2k]

Just some food for thought but salvini are really really nasty. Pretty but mean. I am thinking about getting rid of mine. Nastiest fish I have ever owned. I have it in with a jag, JD and Firemouths. Jag and and JD are 3x the size of the Salvini. FM are 4x the size and the salvini takes after everyone especially nasty toward that Jag.

 

[em_witt]

What if I put a pair of convicts with them? For live food when the cons breed?or should I breed the cons in another tank and feed the sals with a turkey baster?

 

[msumpter87]

Good choice of fish, Salvinis are great. When they do finaly breed I don't suggest having anything else in the tank. They can get extremely aggressive while breeding. Small fish that can pack a big punch.

 

[em_witt]

Sorry for all of the questions but I read on a few different sites that salvinis can live in a planted tank. Is this true? Brcause I know most other aggressive cichlids can't be in a tank with plants because they will rip them up. Just wondering because then if have to get rid of a lot of my plants. I have the 75 semi full of swards, crypts, and Anubis

 

[msumpter87]

My salvini I had wouldn't have got along with plants. She liked to dig up fake ones and make them float. I eventually went with all driftwood in my tank.