Most docile/community chiclid?

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lithe

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May 2, 2012
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If there be any, what is the most docile of the chiclids? I want to get the smallest, most docile possible because they are really the most colorful you can get for freshwater, but I want to limit the possibility it will eat my rainbow shark. The store currently has ones that are the size of a fingernail. Obviously, they grow, but the shark is three times that size and I'm hoping he'll always have the upper hand if its more docile.
 

SubRosa

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Jul 3, 2009
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Checkerboards, genus Dicrossus. One thing to consider with most Cichlids is that they usually reserve their very nastiest behaviour for guarding their territory and their young. It really comes down to space. A pair of Cichlids that are model citizens in a 150 could be raging psychopaths in a 55. Btw your Rainbow is no slouch in the aggression dept either!
 

fermentedhiker

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Nov 11, 2011
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Warren, Maine
What size tank do you have? What other fish are you planning for the community? The rainbow shark probably isn't going to be limiting factor. Any of the dwarf cichlids won't be able to hassle it and likely he/she will be the dominant one in the tank.

Tons of options really for small manageable cichlids depending on your water chemistry and tank size.
 

lithe

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May 2, 2012
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I have a 29 gallon tank that when the fish get too big for it, we are definitely moving up to a 55 gallon. We just have to save for that tank and right now, our fish are very small.

Today happened very fast, lol. My boyfriend basically said screw it and bought 5 african chiclids. They are super babies... about the size of my finger nail. They actually are doing really well with all the fish. There is only one of the chiclids that harass the serepae. In the mean time, we set up a completely separate smaller tank incase or when there is an issue between the chiclids, the loach, the serepae or the rainbow shark. I think my boyfriend just got tired of people telling him "no you can't put this fish with that fish and stay away from those really pretty colorful ones," even though that's all he wanted. It's been about 12 hours and everyone has their own cave, shell, or pot and they are all "on guard" but active. Swimming, eating, and NOT eating each other. So I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the time they decide to become more aggressive is a few months away so that we can get them all their own tank.

On another note, I keep hearing about water chemistry but I thought freshwater was freshwater. You treat it with the right amount of prime and then you salt it with aquarium salt and let it filter. Should I really be that concerned if none of the fish seem unhappy physically about the water chemistry? I mean, they seem active. The only one not active is the rainbow shark because its been sleeping all day and just came out to investigate the world now.
 

stephcps

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Jun 2, 2009
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Welcome to AC!!
You absolutely need to be worried about water chemistry. If you just set this tank up recently (less than 2 months). You are not "cycled". Which means you do not have the beneficial bacteria present to break down the extra food and fish poo (ammonia) into something that is not as toxic (nitrate). You need to go to beginner forum and read the stickies on cycling a tank. You need a liquid test kit so you can check your parameters daily. Ammonia and nitrite are extremely toxic to fish and will kill them.

Also people tell you about compatibilities for a reason. Fish kill other fish. There are a couple of recent threads on this. One person had most of her fish killed in a few hours by one lone bully. My suggestion is if you want an african tank....do the research and have an african tank. Some of those fish are just plain nasty.
 

fermentedhiker

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Nov 11, 2011
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Warren, Maine
If you were looking for docile cichlids he unfortunately went to the wrong place. If the African Cichlids are of the Mbuna type they are pretty much some of the crankiest ones out there, at least for their size. The fact that they aren't picking on anything much right now doesn't mean much since they are little more than babies. The older they get the more they will want to assert themselves and stake a claim to their spot.

As stephcps said do some research, if you want to do Africans then focus on a setup for them and exchange/trade fish you have that won't work in that setup.

All types of freshwater are not the same. Some fish(like the Africans you picked up) come from water that is very "hard", that is high in dissolved minerals and others are from places where it is "soft"(low in dissolved minerals) and are full of tannins to the point that the water looks like a cup of tea. Some fish can adapt to different water then they come from while others cannot.
 

BruinsBro1997

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Dec 12, 2011
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California
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Ben
Hi there!

Well..I have to agree what was said above. African cichlids are a very BIG and DIVERSE group to be labeled under. There are mbuna, peacocks, haps, frontosa, etc. and different lakes with different species hailing from them. If you want African cichlids, I would suggest you do some more research and get them a bigger tank (because african cichlids like a lot o room and more space to spread out their aggression) or return them. African Rift Lake cichlids have no place in the community setting.

As for water chemistry, you will need to worry about it. It's a big deciding factor in how well your fish do. I would suggest you buy yourself an API Freshwater Master Test Kit to find out your levels. If they look something like
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrites
~10-20 ppm nitrates
You're good!
If they look off like
1 ppm ammonia
.5 ppm nitrites
0 nitrates
Thats bad news. Let us know what your levels are please! :)
 

AqEnthusiast

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Dec 19, 2011
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I do have yellow cichlids with my tetra and angels and gouramis... Very peaceful..no incidents so far.. and yes their colours look great..



Sent from my GT-I9100 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 

stephcps

AC Members
Jun 2, 2009
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See, just saying yellow cichlids is not very helpful. What kind of cichlid are you referring to? There are so many different kinds of cichlids that you really must name them for it to be helpful to anyone.
 
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