Considering Americans for 125

I recently acquired a 125 with a 72''x18" footprint. At first I considered only housing Malawi cichlids,but I have already 3 dedicated Malawi tanks,and have had the idea of American cichlids swirling around in my head all day. It's been quite a long time since I kept them,and the rules for housing them are sorta lost in memory. I know for Sure I want a JD.As common as they are,if I'm going American they are a must for me. I was thinking 1 JD 1 Goldsaum,1 Convict,and maybe 1 yet to be known cichlid. Will the 1st 3 choices work? Maybe a Firemouth too? What would others suggest to live in a 125 with a JD? What would be some kind of schooling dithers to also add? Hmm? This is fun.

I think there's a few that could go in with that set up.  Madness would be best to ask, as he's currently got some bg jack dempseys and could offer what he's using for tank mates ....

Geez, we got African cichlid people setting up South American tanks and south American cichlid people setting up African tanks. What's the world coming to?

I had a school of Congo Tetra with a Jack Dempsey. If multiple caves are in your set up a 6-16 inch catfish species would be cool.

fishNAbowl wrote:Geez, we got African cichlid people setting up South American tanks and south American cichlid people setting up African tanks. What's the world coming to?

I had a school of Congo Tetra with a Jack Dempsey. If multiple caves are in your set up a 6-16 inch catfish species would be cool.

Diversity. Or American keepers keeping Plants and livebearers and tetra and other wimpy fish.

master chi wrote:I recently acquired a 125 with a 72''x18" footprint. At first I considered only housing Malawi cichlids,but I have already 3 dedicated Malawi tanks,and have had the idea of American cichlids swirling around in my head all day. It's been quite a long time since I kept them,and the rules for housing them are sorta lost in memory. I know for Sure I want a JD.As common as they are,if I'm going American they are a must for me. I was thinking 1 JD 1 Goldsaum,1 Convict,and maybe 1 yet to be known cichlid. Will the 1st 3 choices work? Maybe a Firemouth too? What would others suggest to live in a 125 with a JD? What would be some kind  of schooling dithers to also add? Hmm? This is fun.

That stock looks perfect IMO. But I cant help but notice that the 4 fish you mentioned are all old world cichlids. Meaning those are the regular cichlids that everyone kept prior to the finding of all of these new world cichlids.

AS long as you dont throw any females in there it should work well. I like Clown loaches as a somewhat dither, though they will eventually (10 years later) get pretty big. Another dither that stays somewhat smaller is the spotted silver dollar. They stay right around that 5" mark.

Every tank needs that dominant male and his next in command, a Rivalatus (Goldsaum) would be a perfect chief with the JD second in command. A convict or convict type, would work well as extras.

There are sooooooo many cool species that could work.

My 1st fish tank was a JD tank.When I was wee little lad,my mom kept a JD,And a Texas in a large tank. She had to sell it after sometime,then several years later she bought me my 1st tank,with a JD,and Convict.I later added a couple Blue Zebras from malawi,though I new nothing about them at the time. I was 16,and had no internet to check places like fishbox for advice. I had those fish for quite a few years. I think the JD was about 7 years old when I lost her. I came home from a california trip to see her gone. After that I sold the Zebras,and tank.I was out of the hobby for another 7 years. Getting back in I remembered those Blue Zebras,loved the vibrant color,and decided to go that route. Still there is place in my heart dedicated to my 1st wet pet. Now I think,hey I have this great tank that could hold some larger fish.Why not give another JD a try? The Goldsaum's fin tips alone are worth having one of those. That orange coloration is awesome.Anyways. I think cichlid fans typically just love cichlids.We all have our type,but we also tend to show some adoration those outside our direct tastes as well.

MADNESS,Could you please offer some suggestions to go with My JD? While I like the goldsaum my only must have is the JD.Your right my list consisted of Old World only,but having been around these guys When I was so young,and having been away from them since before the internet provided us so many choices,I have only my old experiences to draw from.

Just something Ive seen mentioned a couple times on other forums but the JD with the Gold saum is not the best combo. Since they are very close in color, Ive heard of compatibility issues. I haven't tried it personally but just repeating what Ive seen in forums.

You do have a lot of choices for sure but I notice the list is all very common types of fish. There is is a ton of colorful fish from the former vieja family.

Check out this website, just click on whatever genre you want to look at, you wont be able to access the info, but you can look at the images of the different species on the left hand side of the page.

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This will give you an idea of what species appeals to you via looks, then post your list and we can dissect it for you.

I have always been intrigued by the wild JD's found in various Cenotes in Mexico. They are surrounded by livebearers like sailfin mollies. I was trying to accomplish something similar with my red isletas and platies but I think I need a bit bigger, sturdy fish like a molly.

DMD I will consider your advice on keeping the JD/Goldsaum together,But most everyone has said they should work. we are talking about cichlids here,and we all know how the personality of an individual at times differs from the standard idea of it's species.

How about these to go with Jd,and Goldsaum/Rivalatus

Silver Vieja
Convict
Firemouth
Robert's Blues Sifter
Bifasciatus
Guttulatus

I leaned towards the Vieja,and Bifa more than the others,I think because they seem to offer a more rounded ,girthy body type that is different to the Jd's more leaned out look

I'm guessing my tank may not be big enough for all these,but after viewing the different species,these are the ones I liked

Also, How would tiger barbs go as dithers?

I have certainly noticed I have some sort of personal preference against the appearance of Nuchal Humps.So many of these guys have them,and they are sometimes (the humps)bigger than other fish.That's crazy.strangely enough my 1st thought is huh? that looks cool,but I wouldn't want to look at it all the time though.

Thanks again for any and all feedback,I will need it going forward.

This is one of the best threads around regarding C/A cichlids I think.  There is great discussion on just about everything and CJ ended up with a beautiful tank.  Anyway...good journal for you and I hope it will possibly help with some of the planning

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That is the perfect tank cichlid-gal! Why? Because of the Pearsei!   

Thanks cichlid gal.. The Peasei has that same body type I was referring to with the Bifa/Vieja.

How would this work

1 Vieja,Pearsei,or Bifa
1 Goldsaum
1 JD
1 Convict
1 school of Tiger Barbs,Congo Tetras,or Mollies?

I have no experience with non cichlids other than Syno Cats,and Plecos. That makes me very unsure what to add as dithers,but it seems like it would fill out the setup nicely to have a schooling fish,and my 1st choice would be the Barbs.

Pearsei are very large bodied fish that can make a big tank look real small. But they are a great community fish that gets along with others quite well. My girl is about 13" and lives in a 210g
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Forgot to add, I love the Pearsei for its personality. They are very Oscar-like in their interaction with you. Sometime if I am not paying attention to mine and it wants to get my attention it will scrape its teeth on the glass.

If you want a fish with similar temperament but a bit more color you could also look at bocourti. They are not quite as mellow as pearsei or as interactive but awesome colors and big.

Well I am going for size here,while hopefully respecting the parameters of my 125's limits. would a Pearsei be too big for a 125?I would prefer the Vieja over the Pearsei,but if they are too big I could go back to my original list of

1 Goldsaum
1 JD
1 Convict
1 Firemouth
Tigerbarbs

Tiger barbs have been known to disappear in a take with a full grown goldsaum ... I would go a bigger one personally, and Arulius Barbs are a personal favorite.