Smallest Cichlids

prolly a single shell dweller

Yes its a small african cichlid that lives in shells you can probably keep a pair someone who has more experence with them will chime in soon I am sure.

in my opinion, there are no cichlids that will prosper in a tank as small as 5 gallons. no cichlid will be able to exhibit normal behaviour in 5 gallons ... even shell dwellers, which are certainly small by cichlid standards should be maintained in at least pairs and this is best done in a ten gallon tank minimum.

Emg has a breeding team of shelldwellers in a 10 i think

In the past I have bred a few small shelldwellers in a normal 5.5 gallon tank but would never put any cichlid in a 5 gallon TALL.

Yeah I agree unless they were very docile or on thier own (which they dont like) even the tiny shelldwellers would be too cramped in a 5 gallon. They can be aggressive, and the small space doesnt work well in helping the victim escape. I kept a quad of ocellatus in a 10 gallon and it wasnt big enough- the male eventually killed off all his females due to aggression issues.

-Diana

The ONLY shelldweller I would suggest keeping in a 5 gallon would be the brevis....only because they don't go ANYWHERE ! Lol......they hover over thier shells and only move about 6 inches in any direction. I find that behavior very boring....but they are a very pretty fish and if you want a cichlid and a 5 is all you have. They can work well...but ONLY 1 pair....and you would have to have somewhere to put any babies they produce.

I don't have any breeding in a 10...anymore. I had put mine in a 10 temporarily because the store had them at that time and I wasn't sure when they would be getting anymore in.

I now have a trio of stappersi in a 15 and 2 colonies of multis in a 20long. The top female multi takes over the larger portion of the tank, while the second female has a nice little brood of her own off to one side...with a big pile of sand between them...lol.

Truthfully....you should ony have one pair of stapps in a 15....My third one has no place to call her own in there. Their territories are much larger than the brevis and they are a bit more aggressive towards each other. I just can't bring myself to take her back...lol. She's holding her own quite well, they are a tuff little fish !

OH....and the multis are probably the smallest size cichlid...but I wouldn't put any in a 5....they breed like rabbits....maybe worse....and thier fry have an uncanny rate of survival !!

Also, ocellatus are probably one of the most aggressive of the shelldwellers. I'm not surprised a group of those didn't work in a 10. Stappersi are probably just about as aggressive and I wouldn't put anymore than the 3 I have in my 15....and really...only 1 pair would be better. They only enjoy each other's company for about as long as it takes to spawn.

I agree that brevis would work in that tank, but that's probably it as far as shellies go. EMG is correct about thier habits. Their territory is quite possibly the smallest of all cichlids, and as long as you have a few inches of space around thier shell, they should be happy. I think a single male Apisto (smaller species like borelii) would be happy in a well-landscaped 5 1/2, but a tall......probably not. What's the footprint?