Which Cichla for SA Community?

[robham777]

Inspired by mrrobxc I would like to set up a south american community with cichla as the focal fish in the tank. The tank is 90"x48"x24" and will most likely use a 125 as a sump. PH could be an issue since it is around 7.6 from the tap, but the water is very soft with only 2.5 dGH. So basically I was thinking Azul or Ocellaris but was not sure about what number of fish generally works best, or their temperament towards non conspecifics. Is wetspot a decent source for TR cichla? For tankmates I was considering a combination from the following list: geos, temporalis, oscar, crenicichla sp., lima sorubim, l191, or others depending on your suggestions.

 

[mrrobxc]

Inspired by mrrobxc I would like to set up a south american community with cichla as the focal fish in the tank. The tank is 90"x48"x24" and will most likely use a 125 as a sump. PH could be an issue since it is around 7.6 from the tap, but the water is very soft with only 2.5 dGH. So basically I was thinking Azul or Ocellaris but was not sure about what number of fish generally works best, or their temperament towards non conspecifics. Is wetspot a decent source for TR cichla? For tankmates I was considering a combination from the following list: geos, temporalis, oscar, crenicichla sp., lima sorubim, l191, or others depending on your suggestions.

Thank you. I really appreciate the comment.

Your pH should be totally fine. I wouldn’t give it another thought. Stable water is what’s important.

I like buying juveniles in groups. I start with 5-6 minimum and would plan to grow them out and keep the best looking ones. Cichla do well in groups and they aren’t overly aggressive woth one another in groups while in unbonded pairs they can be.

I would get the bass from Wes or Jeff Rapps or Monster Aquarium. Aqua imports, aquascape, and ichiban tropical has some cool stock in addition to wet spot. I’m always suspect about buying ocellaris unless it’s from a reputable place with a point of origin listed since ocellaris is the catch all name distributors use for farmed hybrids. As for other fish, generally as long as they can’t fit in the mouths, you’re fine. But keep in mind that Cichla grow fast. Something can be a mate today and lunch tomorrow. Buy the other fish larger and be prepared to remove them if the Cichla are growing too fast. Your stock looks fine from what you listed.

Good luck. The hardest part about these fish are having a large enough tank, which you don’t have to worry about, and getting them off of live food.

 

[TheWolfman]

Awesome footprint. Cichla do well in bigger groups as It defuses agression and odd numbers of fish seems to work best. Your stock sounds good allthough when the bass reach adult size it might be a issue with the smaller Cichlids. As far as ph goes I wouldn’t try to buffer the water. I would just go with it and let your fish adapt to you water parameters. For reference I have a ph of 7.0 and no issues.

 

[mrrobxc]

No issues for us SoCal LA dudes and our pH is rock hard

 

[tcav88]

I agree with everything said above except ordering from monster aquarium if your not local. Shipping is out the wazoo and they feed all their cichla live from the get go. All the other listed vendors I completely agree with. As for pH consistency is key for sure, the the only bass in my experience that provide aggression consistently are pinima and orinos, beside those two the rest of the species are pretty chill. Azuls and ocellaris are definitely better wild caught instead of the farmy versions most commonly available, ocellaris(brokopondo or Guyana) and Azul(lake furnace/Minas gerais and araguaia) good luck in your newfound C.R.E.A.M. addiction definitely worth it!....oh and groups of 5-7 are usually the staple for cichla

 

[Ryanthony01]

I agree with everything said above except ordering from monster aquarium if your not local. Shipping is out the wazoo and they feed all their cichla live from the get go. All the other listed vendors I completely agree with. As for pH consistency is key for sure, the the only bass in my experience that provide aggression consistently are pinima and orinos, beside those two the rest of the species are pretty chill. Azuls and ocellaris are definitely better wild caught instead of the farmy versions most commonly available, ocellaris(brokopondo or Guyana) and Azul(lake furnace/Minas gerais and araguaia) good luck in your newfound C.R.E.A.M. addiction definitely worth it!....oh and groups of 5-7 are usually the staple for cichla

Awesome insight! Like the OP I’m setting up a 300g to showcase cichla. Trying to plan how to source and stocking specifics...
What about Kelberi?
Are the WC / Rio tocantin the A+ ones to go for? And for stocking list...would 7 x WC Kelberi go well mixed with 1 x WC Azul and 3 x Ocellaris brokopondo?

 

[tcav88]

Kel varieties are an aquired taste among cichla keepers. Some like the captive bred 24k and Bahia some like myself like the tocantins and araguaia kelberi. They actually swim together in the wild with azuls in the Rio araguaia and Rio tocantins river as I've seen in some spear fishing videos. Although azuls will grow faster once they're both adequate size they should be fine together. You might have to dwindle the kelberies down to around 5 out of the 7 over time but only time will tell. The brokopondo get fairly large over 3-4years if fed well and provided space and good water, approx 21-24" I'd hold out on those if your set on Kel's. If you wanna go for brokopondo and azuls I'd go for 3 and 3. Brokopondo are found in lake brokopondo in suriname only.

 

[Ryanthony01]

Awesome - so my thoughts are:

Option 1:
5x Kelberi
3x Azul

Option 2:
3x Brokopondo
3x Azul

Thinking also a Flagtail and maybe a school of red hook silver dollars to join...

Next up - finding a vendor to source them... doesn’t seem like any of these are available from anyone mentioned here unfortunately.

Sorry for the semi-hijack OP... but looks like we are having the same questions/inspiration

 

[tcav88]

Rapps just had some tocantins kelberi he brought 8 in sold all 8, as I passed on them. wc azuls are tricky most vendors haven't brought them in since last year which was rapps as well. the azuls should reach 18" in about 2 years where as the Kel's will probably take little longer to reach that size as thats approaching their max size. Assuming the 300 is 96*30*24 you should have a couple years to play with the stocking although the school of red hooks may put you over the top as they can reach 8-12" and get very bulky. And as much as the flagtails clean they non stop poop at least my semaprochilodus taenius does lol. I'm no fish tank police so just be responsible enough to re-home fish if you feel they need more room or the tank looks overcrowded and your having to do waterchanges everyday to keep the nitrates below 20ppm. I run a drip on my tanks so it gives me lots of flexibility and consistency.

 

[tcav88]

Also in terms of sourcing them wc most are seasonal and come in certain times of the year you'll just have to wait for them to pop up such as brokopondo the season is just about over for them as fugupuff brought some in a couple months back and the tocantins kelberi rapps brought in last month.