# Best CA Cichlid to breed in a 75 Gallon Tank?



## MonsterCichlids (Jan 25, 2012)

I need some opinions on what the best central american cichlid would be to have a breeding pair of in a 75 gallon tank with possibly some dither fish. Please, no convicts, bred them quite often over the years. I'm looking for something medium sized, nothing that grows any more than 8 inches so that the male and female can have some decent swimming room and be able to get away from eachother when need be. I'm thinking Salvini's would be really cool, but *** heard lots of stories of the male randomly becomming homicidal or something and killing the female out of nowhere...Firemouths would be cool too as i really enjoy their "puff up" display with their gill covers. Please any and all ideas are welcome, and if someone could shed some light on Salvini breeding and how successful it would be in a 75 gallon. Dempseys are also great but *** heard they can be somewhat difficult to breed? And I'm not sure 75 gallons would be enough for a pair once they are fully grown, correct me if im wrong!


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## smitty (May 7, 2004)

I think the Salvini is a great choice. So is Jack Dempsey even Rainbow cichlids.


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

You really have a ton of options as a 75 gallon tank is large enough for pretty much any pair of medium sized CA cichlid. Are you only wanting a single pair? If your really wanting Salvinis, I wouldn't hesitate to try them. I would start out with 5-6 young juveniles and wait for a pair to form, then remove the extras. This will give you the best chances of having a strongly bonded pair.


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## aggriffin3 (Aug 15, 2009)

I too would second the Salvini for that size tank. I have Sajica or T-Bar Cichlids which you might consider, which are similar to Convicts, but better looking, and not quite as aggressive. Although mine are very aggressive during breeding.

Art


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## MonsterCichlids (Jan 25, 2012)

Well the thing is my LFS only carries one size Salvini, every few weeks or so they get in a group of about 10 Sals that are all around 4.5 inches already and are $15 bucks each. Because of this, I wouldnt be looking to go out and buy a group of 6 of them and let them choose their own pair. Im worried though that if i just go pick out a nice male and female that they won't be well bonded and the male could end up killing the female suddenly while in the breeding process at some point. Would a JD pair be a good match for a 75 or would that not be big enough for the two of the once fully grown? I'm either going to keep a breeding pair of CA cichlid in this tank OR set the tank up as a native tank with some young Bluegill and pumpkinseed sunfish and stuff like that (i live in massachusetts). *** never set up a native tank but *** also never bred Sals so I'm not sure which tank set up would be more appealing and cool to have! What do you guys think?


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## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

If you go with the Salvinis, when you go to pick 2 out look for signs that two may have already paired off or are at least showing interest in each other. You could also even get 1 male and 2 females and let the male choose which female he wants to pair off with. Just be sure to have the tank well scaped regardless of which scenario you go with.

I also feel a 75gal will suffice for a pair of JD's as well, however I would definitely give the Sals a try before I went with the JDs...


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## bwestgsx06 (Sep 21, 2011)

You can view my thread if you wanna follow along - first pair of sal's I've had and they're doing great. The female
Is actually the aggressor in my setup and beat up my
Male pretty good about a week ago. But the sals are my
Favorite fish and have them in with 7 giant danios who draw some attention whenev they drift down to close to the fry. I also recommend one male with two females although he'll probably just choose whichever one acclimates
Best and shows color first.

Scaping goes a long way tho - my f wouldn't let the m in the area after eggs were hatched so he built his own little area close to their spawning site to protect everyone. Also, if you still haven't found small sals in a month or so I'd gladly send you some.


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## CiChLiD LoVeR128 (Mar 22, 2006)

I would go with Neets, bartoni, and so forth. I would go with uncommon not everyday fish. Salvini are great and would love to have them again but they are readily available. You can also get ideas from the American Cichlid Association in the C.A.R.E.S lists :thumb:


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