Mayan cichlid in reef?

[Pridedcloth3]

Follow up to the mystery fish recieved. The two fish i found with my daggerblade have almost been both identified. One is some small species of goby but the other is 100% a Mayan cichlid and is still going strong in full saltwater, aggressive eater and lightning fast. My question is does anyone know how if it would be fully compatible in my full reef tank? So far it's only bullied the daggerblade shrimp around but has predated standard ghost shrimp. The current setup in a repurposed won't support it too much longer because it's growing fast. I do have a 65 gallon tank but it's currently housing my super hot pepper plants until the weather levels out which will put a decently long delay on getting it setup and cycled.

 

[Peace River]

Mayan cichlids are highly invasive throughout central and south Florida. While I have never seen them in saltwater, I have bred them in a freshwater aquarium. They are known to be able to thrive in brackish water and exist in a wide range of salinities from freshwater to full saltwater. Although they can tolerate the salinity, I would not consider them to be reef safe. There strong appetite and aggressive nature are likely to cause issues in a reef tank especially with other fish.

 

[Pridedcloth3]

Mayan cichlids are highly invasive throughout central and south Florida. While I have never seen them in saltwater, I have bred them in a freshwater aquarium. They are known to be able to thrive in brackish water and exist in a wide range of salinities from freshwater to full saltwater. Although they can tolerate the salinity, I would not consider them to be reef safe. There strong appetite and aggressive nature are likely to cause issues in a reef tank especially with other fish.

The invasive part explains how it appeared for sure. Next question considering most of all cichlids are aggressive in nature (the dovii i had years ago as an example) and we usually keep them with other similar natured fish, I have a moray, surgeonfish and wrasse in the tank which are all relatively tough. What's your opinion on things going normally considering everything is considered semi aggressive in nature.

 

[Peace River]

As you likely know, one of the best ways to counter cichlid aggression is to overstock the tank. Even though you have some aggressive fish in the tank, because there are not that many there will potentially be an issue. I am not saying that it won't work, but it will definitely be important watching and doing what you an to manage tension.