Whats an easy to care for cichlid?

[Cory Lover]

For a med/sm tank, I'd go w/ a Firemouth. Tough, small, lots of personality, pretty.

Hi,

Aren't Firemouth to big for a 13 or 15 gallon?

I would get some South American Dwarf Cichlids. For a 15 gallon tank, you could go with a Ram, Agassiz's Dwarf Cichlid, Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid, and some other S. A. Dwarf Cichlids.

Cory Lover

 

[grannylvsfish]

if I was to have nothing but fire mouths, how many to 29 gallon tank? I have pots and such in my tank, can I have like 5 fire mouths, seems like a waste of a big tank to have just 2 fire mouths in it.
question 2. if I have 1 fire mouth, could I add several different cichlids ? or should I stick to just the one breed. ? and what is the best fish to get to go with a lone fire mouth?? . thanks.

 

[jm1212]

a 29 gallon will hold no more than two- there is no way five would fit. you will still have room for a school of larger tetras like balck skirts or red eyes.

if you only have one firemouth, you could have an angel or a convict, but rams will get bullied, and anything bigger than an angel is to big for your tank.

 

[cuticom]

Well we ended up buying an 80 L tank. We will be getting a rainbow shark to go in it as well. Would any of thsoe cichlids live with a rainbow shark?

 

[fishlips]

Here's the deal, Don't bother with South American fish. Most of your africans and Central Amercian cichlids are robust fish and you should have not much of a problem.

That said I say go for a female (orange spot on belly) convict and get a male convict too. Don't put any thing else in the tank or it will be killed!

Let them spawn and have fun with them!!! Watch how they take care of the young etc. They may eat the first couple spans but will get it right. Feed the fry to other large fish or give them away to others as fish food. You'll be hooked to cichlids for life!

A perfect newbie cichlid setup. Don't worry about them outgrowing the tank. The male will kill the female at some point in time and you'll be left with the male to grow fat.

Convicts are very easy to care for.

 

[johnlarson66]

I always thought Convicts were South American.

Convicts are fun and hardy. I do not know about using the fry for food.

 

[cuticom]

Um no offence but i wnat a PET, not something that will go and kill other things. Or something that will just be killed when its mate grows bigger. I cant see how anyone can say things like that, all animals should ahve an equal chance at life, if you know they are gonna kill each other, you shouldn't house them together. Feed babies to another fish? no thanks, I'm a vegetarain, can you really see me feeding helpless fish to another one becaue I dont know what else to do with it?

It's like saying you can house a python and a lapdog together, sure one will kill the other, but it'll be interesting.

Sorry but that just really annoys me

 

[Star_Rider]

Um no offence but i wnat a PET, not something that will go and kill other things. Or something that will just be killed when its mate grows bigger. I cant see how anyone can say things like that, all animals should ahve an equal chance at life, if you know they are gonna kill each other, you shouldn't house them together. Feed babies to another fish? no thanks, I'm a vegetarain, can you really see me feeding helpless fish to another one becaue I dont know what else to do with it?

It's like saying you can house a python and a lapdog together, sure one will kill the other, but it'll be interesting.

Sorry but that just really annoys me

actually your example is not quite the same.

it is natural for fish to eat their own kind especially the babies. it is a built in mechanism that helps control the population.

in reality the fish do have an equal chance it's just that some have a better chance.

in the real world many of the species compete for space. cihlids eat small fish . a defense mechanism in some small fish is to school. the schooling distracts the predator so they have difficulty targeting single fish.
they also have large spawns.

Many folks see the fish as pets and others see them as food.

 

[cuticom]

To me the example is the same. I understand that in the WILD that is what fish do. Fish kept in tanks are captive bred, and are bought and cared for as pets,

Anyways, thats definately put me off cichlids, i think I'll just stick with the shark

 

[johnlarson66]

My guess is that if the shark had fry, they would eat them too.

Big fish eat little fish. I think that is true for most of them.

Convicts are great, but your tank is too small.

I think a few yellow labs would be great for you, nice bright color and active.

Maybe agresive fish are not your liking. Either way, cichlids are not saltwater fish and for the most part, not that hard to care for.