Dwarf Cichlids

Baby whales are best left in species tanks. As to the dwarves you can have, Kribs are a bit on the agressive side for angels, but there are a lot of others that would work, most apistos, Rams, that sort of thing. Just find something you like.

You don't want to be mixing dwarf cichlid species in such a small tank, while they may be small their territory is large enough that two species wouldn't co-exists peacefully in a 55 gallon. Some dwarfs tend to be fin nippers too and angels would be prime targets. IMO a 55 gallon is a little on the small size for adult angels anyways, you'd be best to opt with a group of 5 kribs and a couple schools or one large school of tetras. Maybe some cories to compliment the tank.

Check out apistogramma.com, it's your best bet for info on dwarf cichlids.

Http://www.southernapistos.com E-mail Mike, he's one of the foremost knowledgable guys in the Apisto field, really nice too, and has some super fish for sale.

NatakuTseng said:

Http://www.southernapistos.com E-mail Mike, he's one of the foremost knowledgable guys in the Apisto field, really nice too, and has some super fish for sale.

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and some REALLY f'n nice German Red Angels!!! I only wish that I could find them in canada. I badly want them.

You don't want to be mixing dwarf cichlid species in such a small tank, while they may be small their territory is large enough that two species wouldn't co-exists peacefully in a 55 gallon. Some dwarfs tend to be fin nippers too and angels would be prime targets.

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I totally agree on the mixing of dwarfs in small tanks (although I think it could be done in a 55g with the right landscaping). As always I believe it would depend not just on the species, but also on individual personalities within the species. I would opt for a species that is known to form harems (A. cacatuoides) and get one male and three females.

As for the angels... I did keep apistos in a 29g with juvinile angels. the angels learned to keep to the top of the tank, and the apistos only defended the bottom right side, but.... This was surely a temporary situation. Had the apistos spawned, they would probably have seriously harrased the angels, and if that didn't happen, the angels would have gotten so big that the tank would have become thiers alone (which is what I was planning on). As it is, I removed the apistos to a spawning tank of thier own before any problems developed.

My water has pH 7.2, GH=14, KH=4 and conductivity=350, so I know is not ideal for most Api species.

I tried rams before, they did well for a while, even bred in my water but then they died with no apparent symptoms. Can someone suggest me some hardy dwarf cichlids that will survive in my water. BTW, I don't want Rift lake dwarf cichlids as I already have several tanks of them.

I wouldn't blame the water for your rams dieing. A ph of 7.2 is fine for most apistos as long as it's stable. Your gh is a little on the high side, but that would only be a problem if you wanted to breed them. Even then cutting your water with RO water could bring the gh down low enough so that eggs could be fertilized. Go with A. cacatuoides. They are known to thrive at higher ph and hardness levels. I had a pair produce freeswimming fry in water that was ph=7.2, gh=7, and kh=2 (about what you'de have if you used 50% RO water). Again, the RO would only be neccessary if you wanted to breed.

In my personal opinion, one of the keys to keeping rams alive for their life span is keeping the water temp no lower than 80. Another key is getting good stock, not the asian bred LFS crap.