best mid-sized cichlids?

[spazmattik]

Hey everyone :) After 10 years of being aquarium free, i decided to go for a cichlid tank again because i loved having my cichlid tank so much when i was younger.

If anyone has any suggestions as to what the best mid sized cichlids are as far as color and personality that would be great. The first two i bought for my cichlid community were a albino tiger oscar and a salvini. The salvini was an impulse buy as i was staring at tanks at my LFS and had never seen one before... once the google images popped up for adult salvinis i had an employee bag one up for me.

At this point I am thinking an electric blue jack dempsey based on some of the research I have done, or maybe a blue acara. Is there anything close to a miniature fiestae? Anything colorful that would go well with these two?
I just don't want anything bigger than the oscar.. so something around the savini's size

I don't have a final tank yet, just temporary for the juvis.

[GuppyAteMyDog]

geos , honduran red points, convicts maybe a flower horn or pike cichlid if you can dilute their aggression
my fav cichlids are rams they're always awesome but will be eaten by those guys if u mix em lol

[MCHRKiller]

You are going to need at the very very bare minimum of 75gallons, 125G+ would be best. There are many mid sized cichlids which will work with your two. Severums are an obvious choice...you would be forced to go for a tank in excess of 100G with choosing them with your O and Sal. A female JD would also be good, Green Terror is another option, Convicts, larger Thorichthys sp., larger Cryptoheros sp., Eartheaters, etc.

If it were me I would opt for a 125G...go for a small shoal of black line redhooks(5-6) your O, your Sal, and then add a male Rotkeil Severum, and a Green Terror along with a few smaller cichlids like a group of Cutteri.

[spazmattik]

thanks for the suggestions. MCH where in va are you? I am in northern virginia. Also, I cant find anything on the red hooks you mentioned. Green terror would be cool.. i may end up going with a 75-90. I guess it depends on what kind of good deals i can find on craigslist

[MCHRKiller]

(not my fish) This is what I am referring, most reference lists them as simply Black Bar SDs..however there are a few different morphs...and this one which also has the red extended anal fin of a red hook SD is IMO the most attractive.

In a 75-90G you will be very limited in what you can keep with your Oscar...I would keep it simple and only put the O, the Sal and one other Cichlid that also taps out about 6".

I live about 2 hours away from Roanoke

[Rocksor]

Those red hooks (Myletes rubripinnis) are monsters (up to 12") compared to the run of the mill silver dollars (Metynnis argenteus - 5-8")

[Rocksor]

Hey everyone :) AThe first two i bought for my cichlid community were a albino tiger oscar and a salvini. The salvini was an impulse buy as i was staring at tanks at my LFS and had never seen one before... once the google images popped up for adult salvinis i had an employee bag one up for me.

At this point I am thinking an electric blue jack dempsey based on some of the research I have done, or maybe a blue acara.

Most EBJD are not that aggressive and won't be able to stand up to a salvini. You would have to purchase one already 4"+. Why not a t-bar cichlid? Make sure it is the same sex as the salvini so that you won't get it pairing up with your salvini and having hybrids. A blue acara is good too, and stays much smaller than a green terror. You won't have to worry about it mating with either the Oscar or salvini.

[Cerulean]

Your cichlids are in the upper range of aggresion and will need a very spacious tank size, if you plan on adding other fish you will need to go up too about 100 gallons at least. Then you can think about getting larger shoaling fish ie Silver Dollars, as well as cichlids such as the T-bars, blue acara, mayan, female green terror or perhaps a jack dempsey? There are many fish you can mix with your two given enough room