So I’ve looked at the Grammodes Cubans and istlantus and I wonder if any of the males can reach 12 inches?
Fish for 75 or 90 gallon tank
- Thread starter Cichlidsforlife
- Start date
Texas is same deal as a red devil, it could work, but might be better to choose a slightly smaller fish.
Between Tetracanthus, istlanus, and grammodes, I guess it depends on your taste. They all have similar personality, pretty outgoing, aggressive cichlids that will probably be interactive when large, and at least beg for food. They could probably all get to 12" if given 5-10 years and clean water.
istlanum I have kept a couple males over the years, found them to be a great fish. Lots of gill-flaring at me through the glass.
Here is one that I had, green morph
I had a red morph too pretty recently but I can't seem to find any pics. Between the two, I preferred the look of the red one.
Between Tetracanthus, istlanus, and grammodes, I guess it depends on your taste. They all have similar personality, pretty outgoing, aggressive cichlids that will probably be interactive when large, and at least beg for food. They could probably all get to 12" if given 5-10 years and clean water.
istlanum I have kept a couple males over the years, found them to be a great fish. Lots of gill-flaring at me through the glass.
Here is one that I had, green morph
I had a red morph too pretty recently but I can't seem to find any pics. Between the two, I preferred the look of the red one.
How big was he? I’ve read that green Texans are smaller and less aggressive than the normal ones, does anyone have any experience with this fish? Also what kind of setup do I need for Grammodes or Cubans? Thanks
Green/blue texas usually refers to H. Carpintis, and "normal" to H. Cyanoguttatus. Size and care requirements are the same, just color difference.
For pretty much any of these fish you will want a similar setup. The décor is up to you, whatever you think looks best. I always go for a natural looking setup, with sand wood rocks and plants. I would recommend some sort of floating plants and some dither fish like mollys, large swordtails, goodeids. These will make the fish feel more secure and less likely to hide or be shy. I have kept all of these fish around 78* with no problems. pH they like on the higher side, but as long as yours isn't super low (well below 7), they are adaptable and should be fine. I would over-filter, and expect to do once a week cleaning and 50% water change, which is considered normal for any fish.
For pretty much any of these fish you will want a similar setup. The décor is up to you, whatever you think looks best. I always go for a natural looking setup, with sand wood rocks and plants. I would recommend some sort of floating plants and some dither fish like mollys, large swordtails, goodeids. These will make the fish feel more secure and less likely to hide or be shy. I have kept all of these fish around 78* with no problems. pH they like on the higher side, but as long as yours isn't super low (well below 7), they are adaptable and should be fine. I would over-filter, and expect to do once a week cleaning and 50% water change, which is considered normal for any fish.
Thanks, does this same care apply to Red Devils, Grammodes, and Cubans? I don’t want dithers if the cichlid will just kill them.
Same care applies, most CA cichlids like similar water and décor.
Dithers might be killed, but personally I'd give it a shot. In the wild, cichlids hide and watch the activity of small fish like livebearers, to tell if there are predators around. So the dithers, which usually are not scared of people, tell the cichlids they don't need to hide.
Catfish- you could keep a pleco like a bristlenose with any of these fish. There are no guarantees, it might be attacked... but probably not. I find cichlids mostly ignore plecos. I don't feed my plecos in my tanks, they eat algae. But you could give it veggie wafers if you didn't have enough algae for it to eat.
Dithers might be killed, but personally I'd give it a shot. In the wild, cichlids hide and watch the activity of small fish like livebearers, to tell if there are predators around. So the dithers, which usually are not scared of people, tell the cichlids they don't need to hide.
Catfish- you could keep a pleco like a bristlenose with any of these fish. There are no guarantees, it might be attacked... but probably not. I find cichlids mostly ignore plecos. I don't feed my plecos in my tanks, they eat algae. But you could give it veggie wafers if you didn't have enough algae for it to eat.
Yeah I’ve read once plecos get big the stop eating algae but idk if that’s true but having some action on the bottom of the tank sounds cool to me, what are your experiences with plecos?
I stick with the bristlenose, they only get to 6" and never really stop eating algae in my experience. I had a big gibbiceps that still ate algae at 14" too. I have heard that a lot of them do get lazy when they get big, and just wait for wafers.
As far as other oddballs, one idea woulr be erythrinus erythrinus wolf fish. Very cool fish. Upper jaw bichirs like senegalus also would work in this tank size. I am a cichlid guy, for questions on those fish I would head to the other subforums.
As far as other oddballs, one idea woulr be erythrinus erythrinus wolf fish. Very cool fish. Upper jaw bichirs like senegalus also would work in this tank size. I am a cichlid guy, for questions on those fish I would head to the other subforums.
