Cichlids in community tank

[ArkyLady]

Are there any cichlids that are suitable for a generally peaceful community tank setting? These look like very interesting fish, but most seem to be quite aggressive.

Thanks!

[O-man21]

I haven't heard of any.

[slipknottin]

firemouths, angels, discus.... there are more.

[O-man21]

I totally forgot angels, I don't think discus willd o goo din communitys because they are GENERALLY shy and requare exact wtaer specs.

[vfrex]

I'm sure some small cichlids...like the apistos, kribs, and rams. It might have to be a somewhat selective community...

[fish_freak]

Rainbows and Keyhole would also be good. Depending on what fish are in with them firemouths can get aggresive. I also agree that discus require very soft water and a much higher temperture then most community tanks.

[O-man21]

Rams would make very good community cichlids

[FishmasteR2002]

I have a firemouth and he is fine. He is the 3rd I have had so far. If you don't have any small fish(neon tetras) then you should be ok with a firemouth. Angels also do very well I have two of those as well. Very pretty fish.

[slipknottin]

i know a few people (and some breeders) who keep schools of tetras and cories in with their discus....

i had my firemouths in with tiger barbs and some cories and ottos with no problems.

[Slappy*McFish]

I've had the best luck with Angels, kribs, keyholes, and most dwarf cichlids(apistos, rams).

[O-man21]

I reccomed angels for the community aquarium.

[ScottoMacD]

Festivums
Rainbow cichlids
keyholes
rams
blue acaras (depending on tankmates)
severums (depending on tankmates)
sajicas (blue eyes)
herichthys spilurus (formerly of the Archocentrus genus)
red pendex (with larger fish as tankmates. I learned the hard way. If it fits into a red pendex's mouth it will eat it. Otherwise it's fine)
flier cichlids (Mojo could tell you more about them though)

I have own all but the rams and the fliers at one point or another. And I have found them all peaceful to a certain degree.

Remember though that aggressive is a relative term with cichlids. They all are to a extent. Even the most doicle cichlid will kick the snot out of a smaller fish if given the the chance, and the circumstances are right.

[O-man21]

all those listed are good fish, but not for a beginner.

[goldfries]

rams are good. i bought a few of them recently, very nice fish. and colorful too.

[O-man21]

Iagree.

[ArkyLady]

Thanks for all the helpful replies! I'm trying to preplan the fish I want in my new 100gal tank that'll be ready next spring so I can get them living together between now and then in the 55gal tank.

I want to do a west african habitat tank because I fell in love with my ropefishes so much and there are some interesting fish from that region.

I think I will try kribs since they are also commonly found in the niger river/basin area same as the ropefish. I hope they won't be small enough for the ropefish to eat, but they aren't overly aggressive and have quite small mouths. They don't seem to bother any of the other fish in there with them currently (pl*co and bala shark, but they are very small around 2-3" while the ropefish are about 9-11").

[Kit Walker]

I second the apistos,kribs and rams. Another very peaceful small cichlid is the keyhole cichlid. Angels will work if purchased as juveniles and your tank has the space (mine are now adult but still ignore my school of neons). Discus can be a community fish, given you have no species which are flighty and will spook them.

[Faramir]

I have a large blue acara in a community. Never touches the other fish. A small neon got in there by accident (scooped up accidently by the fish shop), and he didn't even touch it, although it would have been an easy snack.

[val]

I'm in the process of changing a tank (55g) and I've already got my four keyhole cichlids. I'm looking for cardinals, mostly because they get bigger than neons, and I want to add a pair of angelfish. If I've got a lot of mature, biggish neons when I add a pair of baby angels, they won't be in the habit of eating them, they'll be acclimated to eating pelletted food. Note, this last is at least what I'm told, I am new to the world of cichlids. But, it makes sense to me...

Val

[O-man21]

blue aracars arn't usually that nice, I wouldn't take the chance

[firetank]

arkylady, my eventual set-up i hope is going to be a west african biotope--good choice!!:D

i did quite a lot of research on the web(not easy to find is it...)

ill dig out any links i can and post them on for you.

i currently have a pair of anomalochromis thomasi(african butterfly cichlid) in a 20g community tank, and they are an almost ignored, beautiful little cichlid

http://www.mongabay.com/fish/biotope.htm
http://www.geocities.com/bwe407/setups.html
http://www.fishkeeper.co.uk/hr/west_africa_cichlids.asp

ill find some more if i can......

http://blackwater.50megs.com/fishroom.htm
(this has good links on african riverine fish.

[O-man21]

those are great looking fish

[ArkyLady]

Awesome firetank! Yes the info is somewhat hard to find. I posted in the general freshwater section asking for any other input. I'm putting all the information I've been gathering into a website so maybe others will have a little easier time finding information than I have so far :)

I had found the mongobay link, but haven't seen the others yet. Going to check them out now. One other I had ran across that you didn't have listed yet was:

http://www.biotopeaquariums.co.uk/africa/niger_basin.htm

But some of those fish are NOT ok for a community tank according to info I have read (such as the puffer heh), so I've not used them in my list.

Keep in touch and let me know how it goes for you and what fish you end up having luck with and I'll do the same. I'm going to keep a detailed photo log of the whole process once I get started in the spring. So excited already hehe