Salvini + Firemouth in 55 gallon?

[Big Vine]

Okay Central American cichlid people...will this work?
I've ran across several articles/species profiles which claim that keeping a pair of Salvini and a pair of Firemouth cichlids in a 55 gallon tank ought to work just fine (apparently they're found in the wild together as well).

Is this true and, if so, can any other Central American species be kept in this sort of setup as well?

I'm still very much in the planning stages for a 55 gal. setup that I haven't even bought yet, so I'm still open to other suggestions.

BV

 

[Big Vine]

EDIT: It's actually 11:39 AM (local time) where I'm at, so I'm not sure why this is posting ahead of TheFool's post.

Thanks...kinda figured that might be the case.
I've gotten feedback about this on the cichlid-forum from Salvini owners---one who has successfully kept a breeding pair of Salvini's and a breeding pair of Firemouths in a 4.5 ft. tank; the other who claims that the Salvini's completely 'owned' a 6 ft. tank (although he didn't specify what they were housed with).

I'm mostly interested in the Salvini's at this point, so can you think of any other CA cichlid that might be able to be kept with them in a 55 gal.?

There are quite a lot of nice, unusual Thorichthys and Archocentrus species around at the moment which are fun to breed. The smaller ones can mix nicely with some more unusual livebearers to make for an interesting biotope display.

I'm new to CA cichlids.
Could you please name some of the specific species that you are referring to?
Also, what sort of 'unusual' livebearers did you have in mind?

I appreciate the feedback---I'm really hoping to have several different CA species housed together, so maybe I'll opt for the latter idea of mixing smaller species. At the same time, if I can pull it off with the Salvini's, that would be ideal.

BV

 

[SinisterKisses]

I wouldn't try it with a breeding pair of Salvini. As TheFool said, any CA pair tends to get a bit rough when breeding, and in a small tank like a 55gal, the firemouths probably wouldn't be welcome.

If you really want to mix a few CA species in a 55, then yes, you'll have to stick with smaller species.

 

[TheFool]

I would think the salvinis would be a bit rough when they spawn- just those in a 55 I think.

There are quite a lot of nice, unusual Thorichthys and Archocentrus species around at the moment which are fun to breed. The smaller ones can mix nicely with some more unusual livebearers to make for an interesting biotope display.

 

[Big Vine]

If you really want to mix a few CA species in a 55, then yes, you'll have to stick with smaller species.

I'm still debating whether to just do a Salvini pair or a few pairs of some of the smaller species.

If I opt for the latter, which would you suggest mixing?
Firemouths + Rainbows + ???

It's pathetic, I've tried researching a lot of the CA cichlids, but I still have a very limited knowledge of them.

Any insights, please let me know. Additional info. on suitable dithers (preferrable from the same biotope) that might work with Salvini and/or Firemouths and some of the other smaller CA species, please let me know. I don't mind the occasional loss of some of the dithers either.

Thanks!
BV

 

[SinisterKisses]

Dunno about dithers, I never use them. Rainbows are great though, I absolutely adore my little guys. Firemouths are very nice too, if you can find nice-looking specimens anyway. Its kind of the same idea as with convicts...extremely common and most are washed out and ugly these days

 

[Big Vine]

Cichlids, cichlids, cichlids...

Sorry guys...I'm all over the place here.
I know there's stuff in here for CA cichlid folks, Tang folks, and Mbuna folks---you all know who you are!

Heck, SA cichlids may even come into the mix...

Rainbows are great though, I absolutely adore my little guys.

Yeah---one of the pics on cichlid-forum really caught my eye (I think it's pic #6 where they're in breeding coloration). I'm sure you've come across it.
Could you post some pics of your rainbows please?

I'm basically struggling between having just a pair of something (i.e. Salvini's) or a more of a mixed 'community' of CA cichlids, if there is even such a thing. At the same time, I don't want something too overly-common, if that's possible.

Basically I wanna do cichlids...not sure which.
IF I do CA cichlids, the ones that caught my eye were Salvini's and Rainbows. Firemouths too, if I can get a 'show quality' specimen.

I was also looking at some of the 55 gal. "cookie-cutter" Tang community setups...Calvus caught my eye. I like brichardi too. Hmm...
Would calvus, brichardi, and ocellatus all be possible in a 55 gal.?

Mbuna sounds like something I might try too, but even though I think they're beautiful, personally I'm not as keen on the bright blues and yellows. I like venestus, for example, and really I'm not sure what else is sort of 'plainer,' but beautiful in their own right.

BV

 

[Katie217]

Ahh BV I see you are drifting over to cichlid-forum eh?
Well, I dont really know much about Tangs, but for CA a Salvini pair would be pretty cool. I think you could pull it off.
Now I see you said something about the SA's
Severums are the first thing that come to mind for me, a gold and a green or some other types would look great in a tank like that. OR you could pull off a SA tank with some of the smaller Geophagus (sp) species, red head tapajos are great (lol Fishgeek )
Basically, your options are HUGE with a 55gal.

 

[Fuzz16]

personally, id say move your angels to a 55g. theyd be happier, i think
then maybe some rams or even apistos would be nice.
but then again you already have community tanks...

 

[SinisterKisses]

If you do Tang, I wouldn't put brichardi in the mix. They get seriously nasty when they start breeding, I would never trust them with the Altos. I currently have my juvenile compressiceps, calvus, and brichardi all together in a 55gal tank, but I'm splitting them up into species tanks asap before they start breeding.

Here's some pics of my rainbows. They're still juveniles, about 2.5" now. They change colour quite a bit, sometimes being the lighter colour you can see in the first pics, and then changing back to their typical darker colouration.

On a side note, I personally would not keep a pair of severums in a 55gal tank. I originally had my male and female in a 55, and moved them to a 75gal because the tank started to look way too small for the poor guys. Works okay as a grow out, but once they start getting some size on them, IMO they should be upgraded.

 

[Big Vine]

Thanks for posting the pics, SK...cute little guys!

your options are HUGE with a 55gal.

That's the problem. It's a little overwhelming.

Even though I've browsed over lots of the profiles on cichlid-forum, I still feel like I don't even know where to start. I'm a beginner when it comes to anything even remotely resembling a cichlid 'community' setup...which is what I'm ultimately aiming at achieving.

That's why I'm almost thinking it would be best to just do something along the lines of what some of you guys have done here. That way I can get the guidance I seem to need.

Then again, a big part of me wants to do something different...so maybe...

for CA a Salvini pair would be pretty cool

...I just may do that!

Someone recommended tinfoil barbs or silver dollars (same thing, right?) as 'dithers' in with the Salvini's---does that seem reasonable?

BV

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Booooooooo CA. But i'm a bright flashy fish guy myself.

 

[Big Vine]

Silver Dollars as Dithers (w. Salvini pair)

Lol...yeah, I hear ya'!
And don't get me wrong, I love checking out your guys' Mbuna tanks and fish pics. I just wanna go a slightly different route with the Salvini's. Hey, they're still cichlids though, eh?

So do you think silver dollars would work well as 'dithers' in with a pair of Salvini's in a 55 gal. tank? I'd like to get them if at all possible.

BV

 

[Big Vine]

Salvini & Silver Dollars!

Just came back from discussing this setup over with someone experienced with keeping these fish together, and I'm happy to report that I'll be doing a tank with a pair of 'Cichlasoma' salvini (a.k.a. Yellow Belly/Tricolor cichlid) and about 5 Metynnis argenteus (a.k.a. Silver Dollar).

I'll probably start off with the 5 or so Silver Dollars and then add 6 Salvini juveniles which will be able to pair up on their own.

I'm getting more and more excited for this setup! *BOUNCINGS
Now I need to get my butt out looking for deals on a decent 55 gal. tank/stand combo...let's hope the car accident-related bills don't get too much in the way of this.

Wish me luck!
BV

 

[Helena21]

Cool BV, can't wait too see it! (still think you should have done mbuna tho...lol )

Good luck with everything

 

[Big Vine]

Thanks Helena! Don't worry, I'll do a Mbuna once we're in a house!
I like your signature with the saulosi pic, by the way! *thumbsups

BV

 

[Helena21]

LOL, thanks. Guy did it for me

 

[Big Vine]

Well, then good job, Guy.

BV

 

[Big Vine]

Have I made a huge mistake...?

As TheFool said, any CA pair tends to get a bit rough when breeding...If you really want to mix a few CA species in a 55, then yes, you'll have to stick with smaller species.

As you can see from the title of this post, I may have jumped the gun here a bit though, and I now wish to deal with the situation as best as possible...

I think I have just violated these guidelines...
(here's my latest post that you'll recognize from the cichlid-forum, SK...just in case anyone here wants to chime in)

Was in the LFS today---the only place that had salvini. They had maybe 8 or so, and they weren't expecting any more in anytime in the foreseeable future. So I bought 4 of them. Then I got to thinking that I would want to add the firemouths before the salvini. I didn't terribly like the ones I saw, so I ended up getting multispinosa (Rainbow cichlids) instead...4 of them.

Was this a mistake?

Now, here's the scary part...
The 55 gallon tank I just bought second-hand apparently has less 'viable' equipment than what I had expected, and I cannot afford to run out and buy what I need in the way of filtration, heater, not to mention gravel and decor for another few weeks. I'm still busy cleaning it up anyway (it was used for SW...yuck!).

The result...a big tank inhabitant-shuffle, ending up in:
-12 gallon Eclipse...4 rainbow cichlids, 4 black-widow tetras, 1 clown pleco
-10 gallon..............4 salvini, 1 clown pleco

Both tanks have cover---hopefully enough for the cichlids to live amicably during this transitional period. The tank the salvini are in has a lot of rockwork, so hopefully it will give them enough hidey-holes so that they don't kill each other.

I'll try to post some pics later of the fish in their setups so that you see just what sort of disaster I may have gotten myself into here.

Any constructive thoughts/advice in the interim?

BV

P.S. Keep in mind that I really wanna hang onto both the salvini and the rainbows! (a pair of each, anyway...I'm thinking opposite ends of the tank oughta be perfect for their spawning sites, so I can arrange aquascaping accordingly)

 

[Katie217]

Well, all I can say is I wish you the best of luck.