# Salvini Cichlid



## BlueLineAquaticsSC (Jul 16, 2021)

My LFS got some nice looking Salvini's in and I have always thought they were a cool fish but I don't know if they would work with my set up. Just how aggressive are they? Some people say they evil little fellows at the best of times and others say a single salvini isn't all that aggressive. right now I have 2 nics, a flier, a Firemouth, and a Senegal Bichir in my 90g that he would go with.


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

BlueLineAquaticsSC said:


> Just how aggressive are they?


I have a fair amount of experience with this fish. Have kept them now for over 20 years. Bred them well over a 100 times. I've grown 3 males to 8" size and a number of other males to 7"+. Actually owned many more females since I often housed them in harems (one male, 2 or more females). I've grown females to 7" though many did not get much more then 5 1/2" long. Kept them as singles in tanks as well. All males I have owned I would describe as very aggressive. Females, IME, are quite a bit more mellow though of course they can vary considerably.
Kept all the cichlids on your list, but before I ever owned any salvini. The CA/SA i have kept them with: Black Belt, convicts, JD, Dovii, Red Terror, Oscars. Kept them with the "West African " cichlids _Coptodon zillii_ and Jewel cichlid. Also kept them a lot with Malawi mbuna which IMO, and IME, is a much, much better tankmate for salvini then with CA/SA/West Africans. 
If you are going to try salvini with your stock, I would definitely only consider a female salvini. There easy to sex at an early age because females possess a dorsal spot (though sometimes that can fade entirely on young fish if they are are scared after seeing a net). There is no telling whether or not it will work out OK but it has at least some chance.


BlueLineAquaticsSC said:


> little fellows


There actually not that little. Medium sized. Salvini are deep bodied and get to a similar size as a Jack Dempsey. Not quite as long, but heavier bodied.


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## gabby harold (Sep 17, 2021)

BlueLineAquaticsSC said:


> My LFS got some nice looking Salvini's in and I have always thought they were a cool fish but I don't know if they would work with my set up. Just how aggressive are they? Some people say they evil little fellows at the best of times and others say a single salvini isn't all that aggressive. right now I have 2 nics, a flier, a Firemouth, and a Senegal Bichir in my 90g that he would go with.


They are really mean fish. The only thing that makes it tolerable is that they don't get too huge. I see an electric blue acara in the background. My old salvini was super aggressive and would have likely ripped apart an electric blue acara which are usually pretty peaceful.


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## veloron2008 (Sep 22, 2021)

BC in SK said:


> Kept all the cichlids on your list, but before I ever owned any salvini. The CA/SA i have kept them with: Black Belt, convicts, JD, Dovii, Red Terror, Oscars. Kept them with the "West African " cichlids _Coptodon zillii_ and Jewel cichlid. Also kept them a lot with Malawi mbuna which IMO, and IME, is a much, much better tankmate for salvini then with CA/SA/West Africans.


I also have a Salvini, who is currently my favorite fish. Quite the character, with interesting colors and body shape. Such a cool fish. 

I recently added 4 Mbuna cichlids to my CA/SA tank, which has had the effect of reducing overall aggression in my 75g tank. It was understocked with only 2 Convicts (2"), a Firemouth (1.75") and the Salvini (2"). Oh, and some Giant Danios as dither fish which are fantastic. Prior to the addition of the Africans, the Firemouth and Convicts were pretty much always at war, with all of them retreating from the Salvini who mostly ignored the others. 

The Mbunas range from 1.5-2" and immediately dominated the tank, including the Salvini. The tank is at a nice equilibrium now with the Africans mostly ignoring the CA/SA breeds and focusing on each other. The CA/SA retreat from all the Mbunas, which seems to distract them from fighting. End effect is a more peaceful tank. Occasionally, the smallest Mbuna will face off with the Convicts who team up, which is pretty comical to observe. The fins on all fish are undamaged and they all eat voraciously, so I'm not too worried. 

When I first started keeping Cichlids decades ago I had a healthy, longstanding tank composition that combined Africans and CA/SA. That worked well for years without losing a single fish, until I made the mistake of adding a RD to the mix. Lesson learned there.


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## Auballagh (Jan 29, 2003)

Agree with all regarding the _Trichromis salvini, _or 'Mini-Guapote'. This Cichlid is a dedicated piscivore. And really does offer up some hugely unpredictable behaviors.
And they are an absolutely fascinating Cichlid to keep in the aquarium. 
I've only kept one, a lone female in this case that was first kept for almost 3 years as an individually maintained 'wet pet' in a 29 gallon tank. When that tank ended, the female Salvini was then transferred over into a 33 gallon 'long' aquarium that was heavily rocked and bog-wooded. Original occupants of that tank were a WC pair of Honduran Red Points and over a dozen, adult/full-sized Black Widow Tetras (3 inches plus length).
Almost a year later, (and two spawns from the HRPs later) I hadn't lost a single (adult) fish in that tank.
-
That girl was then transferred over to a 180 gallon community set up. A WC Red Motaguense and re-homed/rescued Black Belt Cichlid were the featured 'tough guys' in that one. Everyone in there kept a close eye on the 18-plus member school of WC Nasty Tetras (Honduras), And, I can only guess how many F1 _A. spilurum_ were in that tank (A dozen? More?).
And NO ONE in that 'tough guy' tank messed with the lone, female _Trichromis salvini. _ Nope.
But then again.... with a Salvini stocked in a community aquarium, you're just as likely to wind up with this:









Salvini 114g


My salvini male, who was a decent docile guy for four years, yesterday decided that he wants to try the "extremely agressive" mood of his species. When I got back home it turned out that he've butchered the convicts and the firemouths in the tank, leaving only two nicaraguan cichlids with him...




www.cichlid-forum.com





And as they sometimes say in the ultimate 'catch all': *"Your Individual Mileage May Vary".*


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## BlueLineAquaticsSC (Jul 16, 2021)

gabby harold said:


> They are really mean fish. The only thing that makes it tolerable is that they don't get too huge. I see an electric blue acara in the background. My old salvini was super aggressive and would have likely ripped apart an electric blue acara which are usually pretty peaceful.


I don’t have an EabC, that’s probably the Flier you are looking at


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## Martin545 (Oct 10, 2021)

You should keep in mind that the fish is an aggressive one. They are especially aggressive towards its kind.








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