I hear Cincelichthys pearsei is a gentle giant and would fit in a biotope w/ hets & meeki.. I had C. bocourti from juvie to sub adult and prolly would still have at least 1 or a pair if I had a 300G..
Another option would be a Chuco.. I had a young group of F1 C. microphthalmus that I had to rehome because I just had no space for them long term.. C. intermedium is the biotope correct one for hets.
2 V. melanura "Lago Peten" (M 10-11" / F 9+")
5 O. heterospila (Largest 6+" / smallest 4+") (I think 2M / 3F)
8 T Meeki (Largest 6+" / smallest 5+")
No problemas lots of meeki spawns.. one big melanura spawn.. nada from the hets yet..
I love both species and have kept and bred both.. I rehomed my breeding colony of Nics (F1 San Juan) earlier this year but I know I'll get them again.. they were great in my tanks. I had a harem (1 M 4 F) and kept them in 125 w/ A. nanolutea and C longimanus and had no problems except during spawns.. Also kept them w/ A. lyonsi & C. rostratus (and a P panmensis pair for a bit) in a 210. They were still great in the 210, but they really did not like the lyoni so decided to move them to avoid drama.. They're great fish.. If you're not going for strict biotope, i think they can work well w/ heterospila.. Both seem tough but not psycho.. at least ime.. but if you have pairs of both you'll want to manage aggression..
Re: meeki, I've bought dozens of meeki from different vendors over the years before I found the one I really liked in terms of color and appearance. it can be hit or miss since they're farmed everywhere... I'll always have meeki in my fish room..
If choosing between the 2, ime one difference is, you can get a good size group of meeki and they'll coexist and breed.. they have small territories.. when not breeding they swim at all levels of the tank. but for Nics, you can start with a group, but ime you'll need to pull any subdom males as they mature.. When nics breed they'll try to defend at least 2 to 3 feet.
no worries, I've been there.. happy to share my (limited) experience with the CAs I've kept and keep..
