Oscar, JD, and ??? upcoming 90 gallon tank

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

You’re trying to come up with an exact algorithm or recipe that will work every time

I'm not. I'm sharing the experiences of those who have done the mix and have also done species/dominant tanks for comparison.
Nowhere did I mention every time, or any recipe/algorithm.

Unfortunately with husbandry of plants animals almost nothing is set in stone

Never said it was. I said (as mentioned) the experience of all those who did it and did a setup without it too has turned out bad, therefore I would not advise it.

and I would hate to handicap my experiences or worldview strictly from others experiences or takeaways

It's not handicapping, it's learning from thoroughly accounted for scenarios.

for instance seriously fish is a good starting point for research but I would, in most cases, take everything on that site with a big grain of salt.

Although my own experience tells me they are usually giving appropriate advice for fish I keep, you are absolutely entitled to take them with a grain of salt.

we’ve hijacked the OPs thread enough already

I don't know about hijacking, since loaches and cichlids was one of the queries.
But it might be a good idea to leave it here, since we've gone on for a long while.

It comes down to this: there’s many different ways to do things.

And not all of those ways are advisable, good for all parties involved, or will produce desirable results.

 

[PhishMon84]

I don’t see any value in sharing experiences that are not my own.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

To each their own, I suppose.

 

[Something Fishy Here]

Do you think i could do a green terror and JD with some dither fish or bottom dwellers like yoyo loaches?

 

[Cichlids+Oddballs]

Are you looking at cichlids only? Senegal Bichirs are pretty active and fun to watch, in my opinion. Could potentially have multiples in a 90. In my personal experience, GTs are more active, interactive, and fun than JDs. Flowerhorns might be an option as a solo fish. On the smaller side, EBAs are pretty interactive, too. Angelfishes are also an option.

 

[PhishMon84]

i think they are too similar.. ive kept them in the same tanks temporarily but one bullied the other i think it was the GT being the punk

 

[Deadeye]

I’d agree keeping a gt with a jd is a battleground. They basically fill the same niche in nature which is never a good combo in small quarters. Probably a good idea to pick one.
Any of the acara types would be a good fit. The aggression levels varies from minimal (pulcher) to high (stalsbergi), so there are plenty of ways to keep them depending on which species.
I have a jd now. Timid when young but now he doesn’t take crap from anyone.

 

[Something Fishy Here]

Yeah i want a couple bigger cichlids center stage, i love the oddballs but just filling in the bottom or cleaning the glass. Not really a fan of the angels. I'd be happy with a pair of GT or JD if i could still have some bottom feeders and top swimmers.

 

[Deadeye]

You could. My jd is about 7-8 inches now and plays nice with Buenos Aires tetras, Aussie rainbows, and giant danios.
You could do a solo jd with smaller cichlids like female convicts or rainbows.
Medium to large bottom dwellers would go well too. Mine is with a Raphael cat, but I rarely see it.

Severums also make really good centerpiece cichlids with more mellow fish.

 

[MultipleTankSyndrome]

Do you think i could do a green terror and JD with some dither fish or bottom dwellers like yoyo loaches?

I would skip the loaches unless you're willing to skip the cichlids, for all the reasons above.

For bottom dwellers, I would look into plecos, emerald catfish, Raphael catfish, hoplo catfish, or perhaps jaguar catfish.