Decisions on my 125gal. Stay african or go for central or south american cichlid

Im upgrading my 4ft 100gal to 6ft 125gal. Right now my 100gal has african cichlids but I kinda want big fish. Like central american cichlids or south american cichlids. What do you guys think?

If you've got the space why not! Would you keep the 100 gallon too? Sounds like then the 125 gallon wouldn't be as deep, but just longer? For me it's ideal to have a taller tank so I can actually see the fish, but a taller stand I suppose would do the trick too.

I really want a 100 gallon+ tank with a ton of small cichlids, more variety is my thinking..

fill it with blue rams!!

MorganEA wrote:fill it with blue rams!!

Big fishes cichlids not dwarf cichlids.


And which ones that wont bite the shtuff out of my hands when I clean the tank.

SiRWesDragon wrote:And which ones that wont bite the shtuff out of my hands when I clean the tank.

details... lol

The title "stay african or go central or south american cichlids"
Which ones wont bite me when I clean the tank. Here is a pic of tank.[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

I only have 2 Cichlids that go after my hand.  Even my 22" Dovii swims away when I enter his tank, so its all hit and miss on the attacking the hand.  In fact the worst bite I ever received was from a 2" shellie.  LOL  

The question can be answered easier if you gave us ideas on the type of fish your looking for.  Obviously I say C & S Am.  Do you want 1 wet pet with tons of personality?  Do you want a beautiful pair?  Or do you want several smaller ones that may coexist?  What would you like to see in your tank, not Af or Am, but more like type of fish.

Did the African cichlid thing, planted community fishes, planted angel, and planted dwarf shrimps. Now only thing I have not done is saltwater and big fish. Since im upgrading size. Im feel like big American cichlids but I dont know which ones can coexist in a 125gal. You're an expert on those fishes. Give your 2 cents.. thanks shawn.

Thats what I am saying, what do you want to see. A solo pet, a pair, 3 or 4, or a bunch?  In my 125's I have pairs (breeding projects).  Go to this site and look at all of the C & S Am species.  When you click on the genus it will take you to a page that will display all the fish within that genus in the left pain.  You wont be able to get any info on the fish because you are not a member, but you will be able to look at the different species.  Write down what you like, visually, and bring the list back and we can narrow it down.  I can help you a great deal, but I need you to tell me what you want to see.  

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Ok. Will do later when I get home tonight going back to work.

That's a good website Madness, this is my go too web page for American cichlids. It'll have max length , water requirements , ect.
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There are so many Wes, I've raised big fish in my 140 but still a good idea to find fish that can turn around easily at adult size unless you want to get rid of them. There are catfish that max out at 16" and an array of cichlids that are perfect for your tank...

I have a 5ft 125 with sa/ ca cichlid mix.....lots of different fish, in fact now that they are eating their new food they're growing quite fast. If you want some vieja and ex viejas ( the paras....nt really sure if they are ex) let me know, I'll hook you up with a couple! Or if you want a solo pet, I'd also hook you up with a 9" jag. Going to be thinning my stock in the coming weeks so let me know, all my fish are beautiful! And I would love to get another member hooked on the cichlids of the Americas !!!!

The main issue I've seen with Rift Lake keepers switching to CA/SA's is the territory sizes. While mbuna tend to live in high densities in nature, hence the over crowding in tanks, even cichlids as small as a blue ram can claim half the footprint of a 90 gallon when breeding.

So you are usually going from a metric crapload of mbuna in a tank that size down to a group of a single species like Geophagus sp. Tapajos 'Orangeheads' with a few dwarves thrown in for variety (not much different than a peacock tank in size of fish), a couple/three pairs of medium sized centrals, or a single pair of a larger species.

For some reason, going from 40 cichlids down to 2 in the same sized tank tends to send Rift Keepers back home, sort to speak.

SiRWesDragon wrote:

MorganEA wrote:fill it with blue rams!!

ones that wont bite the shtuff out of my hands when I clean the tank.

your no fun!!   

I obviously don't have the amount of sa/ca cichlids that I could have with Africans..... But I definitely have more than ten in my tank ( overcrowded, but currently functional as not full grown) which actually helps disperse the aggression.

But being a new world cichlid keeper I will say that no other fish have their large personalities..... Good luck with you decision

Looks like a great tank Wes If it were me I'd go for the SA/CA cichlids...do some research, figure out what you want and go for it. It will take them years to grow up and you will have time to see if you like the idea. Keep us informed...I will be excited to see how your tank turns out.

cichlid-gal wrote:Looks like a great tank Wes

Yep, I'm jealous that he gets to use it

If you like jags and Umbees you can use Madness or Lloyd for stock lol

Regarding your hand.. thats a tough one as my Oscars would nip at me during feeding time. Or headbutt the gravel siphon. Like madness says its hit or miss on hostility towards you. I like Jags and Dovii because they their territory extends beyond the tank. So they actually get to know you and greet you when you go in your fish room(well its more like a tail wag and begging for food). Let us know what you pick!

Yup. Thanks to you MRTom, you cichlid-gal, and my beautiful wife. I get my 125gal for my "new world" cichlid.

So here's my list. These cichlids caught my eyes but dont know how big or temperament.
Meeki, Citrinellus, Amarillo, Breidohri, Zonatus, Sp. Coatzacoalcos, Tetracanthus, Bocourti, Pearsi, Temporalis, Balzanii, Umbrifera,
and Monatus.
Maybe a pair of two species that can coexist. And when breeding I can separate the pair with a tank divider. Species that loves to be parents like angels or Kribs. That would be awesome.

Meeki: Otherwise known as the Fire Mouth, beautiful fish max size 6-7".
Citrinellus: Known as the Midas, 14-16".
Amarillo: Max's out around 10-12",
Breidohri: Males about 12" females slightly smaller, very slow grower
Zonatus: 14" full grown,
Sp. Coatzacoalcos: 12" max,
Tetracanthus: Known as the Cuban cichlid, max size 10" very slow grower.
Bocourti: Not as aggressive as the above fish max size 14-16",
Pearsi: Same as the Bocourti in temperament and size.,
Temporalis: Known as the Chocolate Cichlid, max size around 14" peaceful like the Pearsi,
Balzanii: Is a gravel sifter that reaches 8" max,
Umbrifera: Very aggressive max size 22"

With that list: All of the species except the Balzinii and the Meeki will be a single or pair tank only, for the Pearsi, Bocourti and Choc they are peaceful but get to large and the others are far to aggressive to have anything more than a solo or pair. The Balzinii and firemouths could coexist, say 2-3 of ea.

What I do when I cant make up my mind, is I buy all the fish I want (or think I want) at a small size, like 1-2". I buy like 3 and then I let them grow up a bit together, and then pick and chose as they grow, based on look and personality.

Monatus: never heard of this one.

The firemouths would destroy those Geos, plus they will need a cooldown period.

Madness - You think the Breidohri would be too aggressive for the firemouths? I would think a pair of them and a group of firemouths would work (haven't kept breidohri though yet). If not, a chocolate pair should be able to handle them.

Breidohri are to aggressive for FM. And true the Balzini are not aggressive at all. The chocolates gets so large. Maybe 1 Pearsi and a hand full of the Balzini.

Madness wrote:Breidohri are to aggressive for FM.  And true the Balzini are not aggressive at all.  The chocolates gets so large.  Maybe 1 Pearsi and a hand full of the Balzini.

My Pearsi has been in with fish a lot smaller and they have been fine with him. I have chocolate cichlids and they are pretty docile but do get fairly large.

My friend Dennis aka denizaari is buying my whole african cichlid setup. So Im going to be in need New world cichlid frys. Any great deals out there?

I only have Red Devil, Piebold Fenestratus, and Black Umbee fry available at this time. APFP has some good stock and really decent prices.

How much for your red devils and black umbees

If you want a community with a select few on the large side, a pearsei or bocourti would be a great fish for that. But I think the amphilophus family makes for the best wet pets with great interaction. I miss my old midas but my new little male red isletas is really becoming a favorite.

Go Chocolates or look into some Uara's. The Uara's are mild mannered and not called the poor mans Discus with out good reason :)The Balazani's need a cool spell for a couple months each year to keep there color and health. Might look into Geophagus Altifrons instead. With the above two another awesome addition is a few Mesonautus Festivums. That would be a stunning treo for a tank and cover top/middle/bottom very well.

Anyone with south or central american frys for sale?

SiRWesDragon wrote:How much for your red devils and black umbees

Sorry never saw this post.

RD fry: 1"-$2ea/ 2"-$4ea/3"-$6ea/3"+-$8ea
Umbee Fry: 1.5"-$5ea/2"-$8ea/3"-$12ea/4"-$15ea

So my 125gal is setup but no rocks, driftwoods,  and of course fishes.  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

What did you decide on for fish?

Off to a good start!

Im looking towards american cichlids that are 10in and below. Any suggestions? Thanks donna.

Any driftwoods for sale cheap?

Looking good man!

Thanks Will.

Right on! So glad to see this guy off to a good start! I'm jealous!

Thanks to you MRTom.

SiRWesDragon wrote:Im looking towards american cichlids that are 10in and below. Any suggestions?  Thanks donna.

Somewhere in my saved links I have a really nice link to american cichlids that has size info and such...I'll be darned if I can find it right now...but a few smaller ones would be

Thorichthys Meeki (Fire Mouth)
Archocentrus multispinosus
Amatitlania nigrofasciata
Amatitlania siquia
Cryptoheros sajica
Nandopsis Octofasciatum

there are some others too...more on here probably know them better. I'll keep searching for that link.

SiRWesDragon wrote:Im looking towards american cichlids that are 10in and below. Any suggestions?  Thanks donna.

You could fit alot of rams or make an awesome Apisto tank. You would even have room to keep fry... An Apisto paradise would be kinda cool.

He already said no to rams

Have you looked at the non-Apisto SA Cichlid families? Chocolates look like a fun peaceful breed on the larger end (12"). Look at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for instance.

In the smaller scale (3 to 4") I am super interested in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. A few weeks ago I posted about them, and folks mentioned a store or two had them in stock.

Obviously there are rams and apistos too... Then there's keyholes (cleithacara) and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in general. In fact, have you seen the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]? 8 inches, and very peaceful fish.

There's some more ideas for ya

MRTom wrote:Have you looked at the non-Apisto SA Cichlid families? Chocolates look like a fun peaceful breed on the larger end (12"). Look at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] for instance.

In the smaller scale (3 to 4") I am super interested in [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]. A few weeks ago I posted about them, and folks mentioned a store or two had them in stock.

Obviously there are rams and apistos too... Then there's keyholes (cleithacara) and [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] in general. In fact, have you seen the [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]? 8 inches, and very peaceful fish.

There's some more ideas for ya

He said he was hoping to get his stock from fishboxers. I was thinking rams or apistos because I have seen others mention they have them. Not sure if any of those are bred by fishboxers. Though Choco's look fun.

I gotta say i love having tiger oscars. I have 2 and they are both very personable. They look when i walk by with the bag of food and come greet me. I love em to death and they are fun once they start to get bigger

Here's a great CA resource Wes and this issue (issue 5) has some of the smaller CA cichlids in it. All his issues are great so take time to look them all over. He has great recommendations for tank setups/displays also.

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And I'm still searching for that "other" link...I know I have it

And here is a nice read on a thread asking about setting up a 125G tank and possible stock for it...good info here also (from cichlid-forum).

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Thanks donna. For the tank and help.