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What would be the best possible tankmate for the green terror?? maybe an oscar? Jack dempsey? what would it be??

there's no way to suggest a tankmate without knowing the tank size first.

65

A JD or a Jag would probably be alright... I wouldn't put an oscar in a 65 tho, they get too big. I'd personally reccomend at least a 125 for an oscar, but some people will put them in smaller tanks...

I would NOT recommend a Jaguar Cichlid for a 65 gallon aquarium. Jaguar Cichlids are Guapotes - 16 inch plus juggernauts. Though a Jag would hold its own in the same aquarium as a Green Terror, you'd need a LOT more than 65 gallons for that pairing. I'd think twice about putting a Green Terror in a 65 because that fish can reach nearly 12 inches on its own. If that was me, I'd be looking at a 125 for the GT, and 250 if I paired it with a Jaguar Cichlid. If you think that's overstating the case, go take a look at some fully grown Jaguar Cichlids next time the opportunity arises, and your eyes will be on stalks. There isn't a single Parachromis species to my knowledge whose fully grown adult size is smaller than 16 inches - biggest of them all, Parachromis dovii, is a 30 inch long behemoth that needs 300 gallons all to itself as a bare minimum setup if it's going to grow nicely.

If you're looking for a feisty smaller Cichlid with a bad boy reputation to go with a Green Terror in somewhat more limited space, a Salvini might be appropriate. May be smaller than the GT, but it's a little demon when it wants to be, and gives hardly anything to the GT in terms of aggression. Even so, I'd watch that pair like a hawk, because the scope for some serious internecine warfare breaking out between them, especially in the absence of dither fishes, is considerable unless the aquarium is planned very carefully.



Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

one last question about the tank...is it a 65 wide or a 65 tall? a 65 tall has the same footprint as a 55 but is a little bit taller, whereas a 65 wide has the same footprint of a 75 but is shorter.

Cali, there are 6 guapote species. 3 of them grow larger than 16" (jag to ~18-20" reportedly, P. splendida to ~18" and P. dovii to ~30" and the other 3 max out around 12" (P. loisellei, P. friedrichsthalli and P. motaguenses though I've heard male motas may be able to get to around 14" but 12" is more common).

I've also heard that in some cases male salvini have been known to grow to ~12" but there has never been proven pictorial evidence to support this.

It's kind of amusing to read that, Jason, and think to myself "Oh, a Guapote that ONLY grows to 12 inches ..."

12 inches is still a lot of fish to find aquarium space for.

Oh, and the Loiselle article on Guapotes makes hilarious reading if you're a fan of Cichlids that exude personality in larger than life quantities. This quote is an example that had me chuckling when I read it:

Virtually everything that has been said elsewhere about the tendency of large cichlids to rearrange their immediate environment (Mortensen, 1978; Loiselle, 1980) applies in spades to the guapotes. It's not that they are any more given to moving gravel and pushing rocks over than are Red Devils or Chanchitos. The problems mainly arise from their larger size, which makes them so much better at this sort of underwater demolition than smaller relatives.

This piece is also highly amusing:

Individual guapotes will sometimes develop a violent aversion towards filter intake siphons and heaters. Such an individual will try to eject the offending objects from the aquarium with a few vigorous upward flips of the snout. Such efforts, when successful, produce a remarkably faithful imitation of a Poseidon missile leaving its launching tube and result in either an inoperative (and possibly burnt out) power filter or a broken heater.

Jags in particular are personality fishes par excellence. I've even heard of instances of them putting on threat displays to passing cats and dogs, which frequently sit in front of the aquarium looking somewhat bemused while a Jaguar Cichlid puts on its best "come on if you think you're hard enough" posture ... The other Guapotes will provide similar entertainment.

On the subject of protecting aquarium technology from Guapotes with sociopathic tendencies toward heaters and the like, Loiselle writes this amusing paragraph:

The only way to prevent such sabotage is to deny the fish access to both intake siphons and heaters. Simply attaching these implements to the tank wall with suction cups, the remedy usually recommended doesn't work very well, as large guapotes can pull them free with very little effort. The best means of protecting these appliances is to fence off the two rear corners of the aquarium with a perforated partition before filling the tank with water. A pre-cut piece of plexiglass with I/4" holes drilled to allow free water circulation or a similarly trimmed piece of plastic egg crate sheeting, cemented in place with silicone elastic sealant will serve this purpose admirably. Any guapote capable of overcoming these protective measures should be donated to the Navy as a candidate for an underwater demolition team!

Some people can't handle this, and give up on big Cichlids as unmanageable aquarium criminals, while others rejoice in the fact that everything about these fishes is on a heroic scale - including appetite and capacity to dump filter-clogging gunk in the water after digesting a big meal. They're definitely fishes that polarise attitudes, there's no middle ground, you either love them or hate them


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002