I have been an avid South American/Central American cichlid lover since I was an early teenager and I'm curious why it seems like most pet stores have been serious lacking good fish anymore. Finding a nice cichlid is like finding a needle in the haystack anymore it seems so I'm glad I found this site. I've owned Jacks, Green Terrors, Severums, Oscars, Red Devils, Jags, Texas, Carpintis, Red Terrors-fake ones too, Dovii, Convicts, Black Belts, and some Umbees. I've been trying to find a "black nasty", a beani, more umbees, possibly a dovii, or a nice true red terror. I own a 75 gallon tank but I've learned that if you make enough hiding places and keep them under 5 inches you can actually blend a lot of these fish and make it work. I live in Louisville KY and would love to know if there are any breeders to these fish close by or someone would be interested in fish trades from time to time.

Howdy, and welcome to FWM!

Yer best bet for any of those fish would be to talk to yer local LFS and see if they can order them for ya. If not, a search on-line will result in plenty of websites from which fish can be ordered. Most of the species on yer want list are not commonly offered and will probly require ya to order from a specialized dealer.

Most of the fish on yer want list are gonna be limited to a single fish or a pair in a 75 gallon, possibly with a few smaller fish for variety. For example, in one of my 90 gallon tanks, I have a 13" redhead, a 9" blackbelt, a 6" salvini and several convicts, which were feeders that didn't get nommed on. The dovii and umbee should easily reach 18" or more as an adult and in reality are too large for a 75 when fully grown. They really should have a tank with a 6' x 2' footprint, i.e. a 180 gallon or larger.

The only way to limit growth is through poor water quality and/or poor nutrition; the concept that a fish will only grow to the size of its tank is true only if it's bein' given less than optimal conditions and it's growth is stunted. With all due respect and not lookin' to offend, but hopin' to help ya out, if yer fish are limited to 5" plus or minus, then they are not reachin' their full potential and their life span is gonna be severely shortened.

Regards,

WYite

I understand what you are saying. I trade my fish back in when they reach a certain size..I don't make them suffer in my tank. My umbee was growing good but got some kind of fungus a few weeks ago and kicked the bucket. I used to own a pair of dovii and were going to get rid of the rest of my fish but right before I did the male died on me. That's another reason I like this website..it would be nice to make good trades with people or sell my fish to people who know what the hell they are doing.