Can I consider Cichlids?

[FaFaFooey]

I don't know much about them YET, but was wondering with the tankmates in right now, could I consider Cichlids for my aquarium, and if so, what species? I have a 70g tall with multiple driftwood and quite a few fake plants. I live in San Diego, Ca so my water is pretty hard and I keep the temp around 80-82. I have 1 Rainbow Shark, 1 Blue Paradise Gourami, and 6 Corys. Any info on some new tankmates would be much appreciated.

[dvsgp6]

yeah you could consider some cichlids but not the aggressive ones because they will kill your fish i had 2 gouramis with 3 of my south american cichlids and in 3 days they killed them all so i suggests u get rid of some of those fishes before you consider to get cichlids but it also all depends in the kind you want to get, what kind are you considering to get?

[coupedefleur]

Some possible choices:

Some of the dwarf rift lake cichlids might work. Birchardi, perhaps? Maybe some of the Julies? They come from hard alkaline water.

Kribesis and thomasi might also work- they would rather have soft water, but if you get them locally they're probably adapted to your water. Your corydoras and gouramis would rather have soft water too, but they adapt.

On the South American side, Angels would work- and they like high temps. So do rams. Nanacara anomala would be good if you can find them. Keyholes would be peaceful and they get larger. I really like them, even though they're not colorful. Many of the geophagus would be peaceful, and the plastic plants wouldn't be bothered by their digging. Blue acaras also might work in a large tank, and they're really nice fish.

[jm1212]

alot of the peaceful S.A. cichlids wouldnt do well with your rainbow shark, and the vibrant african cichlids you find a most LFSs like petsmart are to agressive for your and corydoras.

i would get rid of the rainbow shark and get some S.A. ciclids like Angels, severum, rams, etc.

[sarcare]

The problem you had with the angel was the paradise fish--they can be mean as all get out--you will have a hard time finding anything that can go in with a mean paradise fish. The more agressive cichlids will kill it, and the less agressive ones will be picked on by it.

[FaFaFooey]

I just thought I'd ask.....it never hurts ya know. I think I'll stick with the swift moving small schooling fish to go in my tank.