Cichlids for a 29g Planted Tank?

[tomm10]

I have a 29 gallon tank that I'm in the process of setting up. It will be home to the fish in my existing community tank (4-7 long fin zebra danios, 5 pygmy cories, and amano and ghost shrimp) as well as some plants (anubias, crypts, rangeri sword, micro sword).

I was planning on getting a redtailed black shark and poosibly a bristlenose pleco and calling it a day but a trip to an LFS (Uncle Ned's Fish Factory) has me reconsidering. They a TON of cichlids and many of them were beautiful. All were very interesting.

The guy in the shop said he could recommend some of the South American Cichlids for a community tank of 29g. He mentioned an Apistogramma he had ( I can't remember exactly which kind). According to him this variety was not very aggressive towards other community fish.

Are there an cichlids I could look at for this tank that won't eat or torture my other fish and plants? My water is about at 5 degrees GH (haven't got a kit yet for KH) and runs steadily with a 7.2 ph.

Any help would be appreciated as I know squat about cichlids. A point in the right direction for an introductory article to them would be helpful too.

[peifc]

There are plenty of Apistogramma species that are great for community tank. And yes, they aren't aggressive at all. They like plants. If you have floating plants, definitely a plus for them. They like to hid amount the plants. If you have caves, they will hide there too.

[tomm10]

Thanks. I'll check what the LFS has but so far I really like the cockatoo apistos. There are a bunch of caves and other hiding places in the tank and there will be a fair amount of plant so they should have plenty of places to hide.

[DanL]

a Blue Ram (http://www.aquariacentral.com/species/db.cgi?db=fresh&uid=default&ID=0306&view_records=1) would also work well with your setup