Wow great to hear this is going ahead
Stocking... I can see a few problems even in an 8 foot tank that is a hell of a lot of cichlids. Lets not forget this is an American tank not an African. There are a lot of groups so the odds of breeding are high which will cause issues and you have some very very nasty fish when breeding in there...
Judging a tank of this size is hard, Ive never had a tank this size my biggest is my current 6 footer and there have not been that many tanks this size on the forum in the time Ive been here.... (since 2009ish)
So Im going to try and show my thinking as if it were my tank...
First question - do I want to keep these fish for their full life span - 7 to 20 years in some cases. - for me this is a yes
Second question - how happy am I about rehoming fish - there are a couple of scenarios you need to think about here - are you going to thin out the stock as it grows and the non gregarious fish start to show their colours, specifically the threadfins here.... and how fast can you rehome the fish should you get one particular nightmare or the opposite and you have to rehome an fish that cannot survive in a tougher environment.
Third question - do I want to breed and raise the young fish - for me this is a no, it limits the over all number of fish in the tank and can cause aggression and fighting. And then this causes loss of scales and nipped fish which means not only do you risk disease, fungus etc it dulls the fish down through stress - particularly the Tapajos and the Threadfins...
Fourth question - how happy are you about mixing central and south americans? Personally I wouldnt do it... again, I was warned by people that had been doing this a lot longer than me that it was a bad idea. I ignored them and it resulted in my loosing a fair few fish over time and ultimately one of my most prized fish of all time... for me now, mixing centrals and souths is a massive no BUT it can work BUT I wouldnt recommend it.... There are also a few exceptions though, but that list for me gets slimmed down when you mix in breeding to the tank.
Im sure there are other things to consider but I will put together lists of what I would do.
List 1 - Souths
1 x Gold Severum
2 x Blue Acara
2 x Threadfin Acaras - (they can be very species intolerant and are near impossible to breed in aquariums but I think 2 could co exist in a tank of this size)
6 x Orange head Tapajo's
List 2 - Centrals
2 x Jack Dempseys
3 x Macaw Cichlids - (these are really a pairing fish but are very very fickle. 100% my favorite fish in the whole world and I would love a 4x2x2 to have some in with no other cichlids. Bearing in mind I just said they are my favorite fish in the whole world - they are an absolute bloody nightmare!! So argumentative but absolutely can not stand up for them selves. More info on them bellow
)
1 x Salvini
4
x Thorichthys ellioti or 4 x Firemouths - (again to avoid hybrids)
List 3 - the mixed tank
1 x Gold Severum
2 x Blue Acara
2 x Jack Dempseys
4 x Orange head Tapajo's or 4 Ellioti or 4 Firemouths.
If it were me I would go for the Southern tank
And then have the Nics in one tank and the JDs and the Salvini in the other. Those three tanks would make me EXTREMELY envious of you and I actually think you are onto a very successful set of tanks.
I think the Centrals would be good as well but if I am honest in this tank.... if I was doing centrals I would be doing giant centrals... like Boucourti and Vieja Argentina
See which suits you though, I do think you are going to have to cut down on number of cichlids you have in total though - right now you have 28 - I think the magic number for this tank with these fish is around 8-12
As for cycling - if your using mature media why not just use bottled ammonia rather than any of the bottled products
Its the best option really. Though if your adding mature media straight to the tank you could just add a few of the fish to keep the filter alive?
The Seachem salts - I would skip it - its selling its self on grouping Centrals and Souths together when actually they need different waters - Central water is cooler and harder with a neutral ph where as south is softer warmer and has a lower ph generally. It also sells its self as for South American tanks when it has a picture of a Texas Cichlid - aka one of the most northern found American cichlids out there.... Fortunately in your tank/tanks the fish are quite down the middle and are not overly needy for natural requirements - just dont go using stuff like ocean rock or aragonite like you would find in an African tank as your souths will suffer.
Hope thats helped
Wills
/www.youtube.com/user/Haz4rd0?feature=watch
