90 gal tank stocking ideas (south american cichlids)?

A 90 gallon is borderline on the footprint. There are some 90 gallon longs I've seen that are 6 feet, though a more common footprint is still four feet but deeper and wider then your normal 75. Your footprint really is going to narrow down what's going to work and not work so well.

Assuming you have a standard 4 foot tank, if I were going to start up a SA set up, I'd probably go with my main fish as Blue Acara, as these I find have a nice look, similar to a Green Terror but not nearly as aggressive, and group in some very nice colorful Apisto's. There's a chance you could probably mix in some Severums as a second species, but I don't know as much about SA's as some other people do. I mostly keep Africans which is a whole different aspect as well I hate answering stuff like that on YA because there's too much BS being said out there since this is a social forum. Social forums do not promote accuracy in answers, they just want people to answer and get points, being right or wrong or even knowing what you are talking about is totally secondary.

You may find better help then this forum at:

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/ (Note of caution here, posting in the forum itself, you might have to wait a few days to get an answer)

http://www.eastcoastcichlids.org/

http://www.nycichlids.com/

http://www.gcca.com/

All these forums I have viewed or joined and will vouch the integrity of the answers there are 100% better then answers given on this forum.

Cichlid Tank Ideas

OK, 90 gal with an Oscar, thats sensible, but it limits what else you can add. I would go with another large but relatively peacefull cichlid like a Severum or similar, and a large Pleco or other catfish. If you buy the ciclids small and let them grow up together they are less likely to fight. Get a big pleco so it doesn't get mistaken for food as the Oscar grows. The tank will look empty to start with, but once the fish all reach a foot long it will start looking pretty small..

Dont bother with plants, the large cichlids will just destroy them. Get some big rocks, a couple of large lumps of driftwood and some gravel. Dont worry about where you put the gravel, the fish will move it about to suit themselves. Get a large 'hollow log' type ornament for the pleco.

I'm setting up a 80gal, mostly for my big pleco, but will get a large cichlid or 2 for it as well.

Ian

As a happy owner of many a oscars, I can tell you that there are many decorations you cannot have. Live plants, rocks, decorations will all be moved around by your oscar whether you like it or not. I recommend using low decorations, meaning decorations that do not get in the way of the oscar as it swims. Terracotta plant pots that have been severed in half provide good hiding spots for other fish, catfish, and other members of your tank. Large gravel if you don't want it moved around, and large flat pieces of slate work well with oscars. PVC pipes can be used and to beautify them you can epoxy (water safe) rocks and gravel to them to disguise them.

Start small too, get a young oscar, red devil, or dempsey all about the same size. Large oscars will eat smaller fish, or even moderatly sized ones.

with an oscar you can do 1, 3, or a big school. (warning: oscars get big so dont put too many in)oscars are good fish due to their puppy personalities. you can hand feed them and pet them and the recognize and greet you. with oscars you need other big.cichlids. this includes jack dempseys some texas cichlids, terrors, and others. if you can be swayed from oscars, i would put a school of discus. discus are beautiful south american cichlids that you should look into. they form pairs for life. since they are shy and peacefull you should put in a school of tetras (id use neons) which the discus wont attack. the tetras show the disscus that the tank is safe.

Go to www.liveaquaria.com. You can purchase all kinds of fresh and saltwater fish as well as plants and decorations. Also, there is a compatibility chart, so you know which fish will be peaceful with one another. As a rule, for every gallon of water, you should have no more than 1 inch of fish/plant/decoration to allow your fish to have enough room, so you can have up to 90 inches of things in your tank.

With the oscar and chiclid you should only put heavy things with them as they will uproot any plastic or real plants. Try rocks or driftwood. These work well.

I have always setup large tanks with live plants and fish like angels tetras and discuss. Looks are very cool and everything is natural. This is personal preference. You can make it look good with rocks and driftwood to.

I personally think sand is a great substrate for your type of tank.You can skip plants and decorations. Your cichlids will only move them around so it's pointless to have them. You should also consider buying a medium-large pleco. If you have all that, you're pretty much set.

I love doing a pirate theme.

I would start of with either several smaller fish that can be together. Or maybe 2 oscars and the least. Seriously consider this thow, you don't wanna make the wrong choice.

i would get a theme for the decorations, like dinosaurs or Buddha or something like that. then your tank will look really cool. i would also get plants that fit the theme.