Stocking a 55 gallon tank with cichlids!

[briang6]

Im going to get a 55 gallon tank and I wanted to know what I could put in it. Here are some fish I want to put in it, what combinations of these fish can I put in. I know that I cannot put all of them.

Electric Blue Jack Dempsey
Jack Dempsey Cichlid
Oscar
Red devil cichlid
Severum
Texas Cichlid
Midas Cichlid
Red Parrot Cichlid
Jaguar Cichlid
Blue Acara Cichlid
Green Terror
Flowerhorn Cichlid
Firemouth Cichlid
Uaru cichlid

Your advice will be appreciated!

[skullduggery1]

You could put a (one in a 55) adult;Uaru,severum,oscar.flowerhorn,red devil.Maybe if you wanted to go with two then, blue acara, dempsey's,.when juvenile you could put more in but remember some are territorial,and most oscars,uaru and severums are not very aggressive compared to the others.

[Cliff]

IMO, some of the fish on your list will get too big for a 55 gallon and some of them can be very aggressive. Out of the fish in your list, I would suggest the following:

2 or 3 Severums
2 or 3 Blue acaras
2 or 3 firemouths

I have kept all three types of these fish in a 55 gallon tank before (right up to being fully grown). I would not go with more than 3 fish in total (form the above list) as they can get big when they are fully grown.

[MCHRKiller]

I would actually stick to 3 different fish to prevent fighting over having the same genders or breeding. I would go for the Firemouth and the Acara, with that said I would suggest you look at a 3rd option being a Blood Parrot, Rainbow cichlid, Sajica, Cutteri, or female Convict....something that sticks around the 4-5" range and is fairly peaceful. The Severum would be a good mix with the Firemouth and Acara but they honestly do best in tanks 75G+...a 55G is pretty cramped for an adult.

Reasons why the other fish are not great candidates:

Electric Blue Jack Dempsey-weak fish, would probably die...very few make it to adulthood
Jack Dempsey Cichlid-grows to 9" and is territorial, good for a species only tank
Oscar-can get up to 16", tank is not large enough
Red devil cichlid-highly aggressive also grows to 14"
Texas Cichlid-aggressive, would work as a single species tank in a 55G
Midas Cichlid-same as red devil
Jaguar Cichlid-grows to 18" tank is not large enough
Green Terror-aggressive, would work as a single species tank
Flowerhorn Cichlid-grows to 12", tank isnt large enough also very aggressive
Uaru cichlid-grows to 9" and needs to be kept in a group of 5+

I would also add a group of large bodied tetras with your cichlids to serve as dithers and aggression control...Buenos Aires are a good choice.

[briang6]

Could i put one jaguar and a couple of rams?

[Brhino]

A jaguar cichlid is too big for a 55 gallon tank.

[KingFisher]

Why are you asking the same question in two identical threads? You should stick to one or the other.

[MCHRKiller]

Could i put one jaguar and a couple of rams?

Sure you "could" but you really shouldnt. The jag would kill and/or eat the rams and it will grow nearly half as long as the tank and wont have the ability to turn around in it...of course grotesque stunting may prevent it from reaching its full potential. Which will result in the fish suffering until it finally dies :22:

[briang6]

Could I do a severum and like two blood parrots? Or would that still be too cramped?

[skullduggery1]

that woul be fine as long as the water changes were done weekly.55 gallon right?

[briang6]

What does the ph need to be at for severums?

[MCHRKiller]

I personally wouldnt do a Severum and 2 parrots in a 55G...Severums are massive fish at maturity and Parrots are beefy fish as well. However if you were up on large WCs and had an excellent filtration system it could work. You would need to do at the very minimum of 50% changes per week and use a large canister filter on the tank...actually I would toss a HOB on there for good measure as well. A Rena XP3 and an AC70 would make an excellent combo for the fish.

Preferred pH for them is 6.6-7.2...however tank bred fish are not terribly picky about pH levels.