Cichlids in a 20 gallon long?

[TigerCrane]

Hello I am interested in getting either a single specimen or a mating pair of cichlids for my 20 gallon long tank. I know my choices are limited due to the tank size but I was curious which species I have to choose from.

The filtration is EXCELLENT, and I have a good amount of experience in fish keeping. Any ideas will be helpful......thanks in advance.

[ChilDawg]

Which part of the world are you looking at?

Africa: Shellies from Tanganyika, possibly Goby Cichlids, maybe Kribensis

Asia: Chromides

South America: Any of the Apistos

Central America: Convicts or Neets

[VoodooChild]

Chil's advice was good but I think you can broaden your African search abit. Any of the Neolamprologus would be fine. Also, Labidochromis, Copadichromis, smaller Melanochromis and Pseudotropheus would probably work as long as you made sure one mate wasn't killing the other. GL!

[ChilDawg]

Okay, I wasn't sure on those, so I went with what I know, but, if Voodoo says that's correct, I believe it!

[dbcb314]

if you want somethin easy, go with convicts. they breed like rabbits and ive seen them breed in a 10gal tank.

kribs are also a good choice. there not terribly hard to breed and there cool.

[firetank]

anomalochromis thomasi - dwarf jewel cichlid,
keyholes,
rams even??

[TigerCrane]

Thanks for all the input so far everyone ! All are good suggestions. So far these are the ones I am more interested in...

Mating pair of kribs (possibly along with a school of smaller fish, due to kribs being shy sometimes?)

Mating pair of Copadichromis azureus

Mating pair of Cichlasoma sajica

Mating pair of Cichlasoma spilurum

Mating pair of Herotilapia multispinosa

Mating pair of Laetacara curviceps(possibly along with a small school of tetras)

All those fish LOOK appealing to me and I read general information about them, but none of it mentioned thier "personalities" which I am very interested in. If anyone knows anything about the personalities of these fish please let me know, thanks again.

Decisions decisions............what to do what to do..........ahhhhhhhh hehe.:confused:

[ChilDawg]

I can make it easier on you by saying that a mating pair of Sajicas would be a little overwhelming for that small of a tank.

[ChilDawg]

I also think that breeding Spilurums in that tank might be a little much (4.5" a piece, and the Sajicas get to be 6" a piece).

[VoodooChild]

Are the spilirums the same as the Archocentrus spilurus? If I were you and I had that list I'd shoot for the curviceps. They're personable little guys.

[TigerCrane]

OK, well after MANY hours of reading and thinking(and ofcourse with everyone help here) I think I have come to a conclusion. And the winner is........

Laetacara curviceps ! YAY !


I do have a few questions about them....

1. From the sources I was getting my info, it says they like planted tanks, will they thrive with fake plants?

2. They also said it is generaly a good idea to add some dither fish(small schooling tetras), anyone have any ideas as to what kind of tetra/s would work?

3. In one source it said the addition of peat or peat extract to simulate blackwater is helpful, is this a good idea? Are there any drawbacks?

Thanks again everyone, I really appreciate the fast replies and wealth of knowledge you folks have.

[dcouture20]

The curviceps I own is super cool. It is owner responsive and has a great personality. It lives with guppies, danios, and dwarf and sparkling gouramis and has never gone after any of them. He is full size too. I don't think that he needs all the special care stated but everyone has diferent experiences and preferences with fish. Good luck!
ps I'm pretty sure the spilirums and spilurus are the same thing