South American-Chiclids- Tank mating

Question
After viewing your profile I was excited, as I think you may be jsut the expert opinion I need.

I am going to purchasing a 55 gallon fish tank, and am going to adore it with New World Chihlids. I absolutelt adore this family of fish, and was hoping that you would specifically help me out with some general questions on tank mates and compatibility.

Here are the  finalists that I did research on and think fit well
- Bala shark
- Albino Oscar/ Pink Oscar
- Fire Mouth
- Blue Acara
- Pleco
- Pink Convict
- Severums

* Not crazy about really aggresive fish like the Jack DEMPSEY, and green terror.

* Ideally I would like to be able to house 4-5 fish in this tank.

1) Whats your feeling on housing a pair of the same fish? Do you think there is less tension in a tank if only one of each fish  is present?  I know some of the above get
  hostile during breeding and dont want to take a chance of that happening. I'd prefer a nice stable peaceful home for them :-)

2) What combination, do you think is the msot aesthetically pleasing. I know fish can be boring to some, but I want the most exciting once available.

3) Who would be your final 5 selections.
  I was thinking if I was forced to decide today: Oscar, Firemouth,  Blue Acara,  Bala Shark, pleco ( I think he's needed to help stabilize the tank)

4)  Lastly is 55 gallons enough. I can possinly get a 75 but thats max with the space I have available


Any advice/ recco  you have would be greatly appreciated. Thanks so much for taking the time to help out a fellow chichlid enthsiast

Regards,
Thomas


Answer
Hi Thomas!
The world of cichlids is consisted of many, many dozens of beautiful species, each with their own interesting habits and spawning behaviors but their only drawback is their always present territorial issues and aggression. This can hardly be avoided when you mix cichlids together and it's ten times worse when you have a established pair in spawning. For this reason I wish to caution you first--despite well-meaning reccomendations of compatability...Each individual fish is different in their temperaments and it is well known--plus with my own experience that mixing cichlids is always a gamble in that a book may say they are nicely matched in their temperaments, but you can also get ahold of very nice tempered fish from the same species that is always claimed to be agressive--and vice versa.

~Yes you can probably combine your list of fish together alright. That is a "probably" only. Not that I am trying to keep you from mixing fish all together. Aquarists frequently keep many different cichlids together. But they often pay the price of unsuspecting fish loss from that mean old oscar who use to be peaceful when he was small. Fish always change when they grow and become mature and unfortunately I cannot guarantee success longterm with that group. Only from experience if you want to know the honest truth, I would predict your convict would get aggressive as he/she got a little older and bully your other fish..And your Oscar would grow larger than the others and decide to try and snack on your firemouth, acara, and convict or just bully everybody to one corner of the tank. I really don't wish to let you down on all this. But on the bright side I would suggest you try it out. Cycle your aquarium first with bala sharks carefully--don't subject them to high ammonia levels ever. Do a water change when ammonia levels are above safe bounds--at least 30-50% and use Amquel+ or another water conditioner to help keep ammonia toxiciity at it's lowest.

Once everything is established you should then buy your cichlids... Ideally starting with the most peaceful. Firemouths, Acaras... It's best not to start by adding a territorial fish first because they may lay claim to the entire tank and not be able to accept newcomers very well.
Even better is if you can add all your cichlids at once so everybody is introduced at the same time into neutral territory. Just make sure to test for ammonia after adding those fish to insure it wasn't an overload for the beneficial bacteria.

*Your aquarium is pretty small. You can grow out baby cichlids in this size just fine. But be SURE to upgrade for their sake and wellbeing--especially your oscar.... A 75 gallon is a reasonable size, but much larger would be wonderful.

~Another tip about cichlid aggressive is I have found adding plenty of small and large rocks and pebbles scattered about on the bottom help to reduce chasings and nipping between fish. In addition, thick plants reaching to the top of the surface also is very beneficial in helping cichlids take stake of their individual territory areas. And thick plants and large rocks help cichlids "get out of each-others face" when they feel they need to.

~*~All in all, I believe your setup would be very aesthetically pleasing and interesting to watch the different behaviors of all those great cichlids.
Just be sure to watch for any extreme bullies. Remember this risk is high with just about any cichlid (even angels) and you should always step in before more timid fish get hurt.

If you have anymore questions, feel free to email me...

Well, I really hope this helps! Best of luck!
Best wishes, and happy fishkeeping!
Karen~