Hi guys! So I've never posted here before, but I need some help deciding on a good centerpiece cichlid for a 55 gal tall. It's my dad's tank, but he's a doctor on the front lines of this pandemic, and he hasn't had the time or stamina to take care of the tank this year. It makes him sad because he loves watching the fish, but it's just too much work for him now. So for Christmas I'm remodeling his tank and taking over its upkeep so that from now on he can just enjoy! I have tons of experience with freshwater communities (that's what we've had since I was a kid, and I have 4 tanks like this running right now at my house), but I have no experience with cichlids. My dad loves having a true centerpiece fish, but isn't a big fan of the traditionals like angelfish and gouramis. I want to give a more peaceful cichlid a try as a centerpiece fish with larger schooling community fish, and was wondering which would be the best choice as I'm getting conflicting information. The options I'm considering are the following:
Electric Blue Acara
Polar Blue Parrot
Severum
(Only 1 of any of these because I do not have the space to be breeding cichlids and I don't want any spawning aggression - unless I can do like an EBA and a Severum or something, I wouldn't be opposed to that)
Current stock:
X-ray tetra (1 of these is currently surviving in my dad's tank, and I'm going to give him a school either way - though if the consensus is that they won't hold up to the cichlids I'll just adopt the x-rays lol)
Common pleco (old as dirt)
Clown loach
Other schooling fish I'm considering to go with them:
Gold barbs (or any cool barbs really)
Odessa barbs
Rainbow shark
Congo tetras
Swordtails
Corys
Hoplos
Syndontis
These are the ones I'm picking from so far (obviously not all of them, these are just the options on the table), but I'm open to suggestions! Thanks in advance for any help!!
Electric Blue Acara
Polar Blue Parrot
Severum
(Only 1 of any of these because I do not have the space to be breeding cichlids and I don't want any spawning aggression - unless I can do like an EBA and a Severum or something, I wouldn't be opposed to that)
Current stock:
X-ray tetra (1 of these is currently surviving in my dad's tank, and I'm going to give him a school either way - though if the consensus is that they won't hold up to the cichlids I'll just adopt the x-rays lol)
Common pleco (old as dirt)
Clown loach
Other schooling fish I'm considering to go with them:
Gold barbs (or any cool barbs really)
Odessa barbs
Rainbow shark
Congo tetras
Swordtails
Corys
Hoplos
Syndontis
These are the ones I'm picking from so far (obviously not all of them, these are just the options on the table), but I'm open to suggestions! Thanks in advance for any help!!