I have just sat up a 55 gal tank and I am very green. My small children liked the looks of a lot of the community fish, so we ended up setting up the tank with these types of fish. I personally like the cichlids, but I know that most cichlids are very aggressive towards other less aggressive fish. The last thing i want to do is put introduce a fish that will start eating my kids fish for lunch. Any recommendations for cichlid types or am I just SOL?
Any Cichlids that will live in a community tank?
- Thread starter plthomp24
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Depends on what cichlids you'll be happy with. There are a number of cichlids that do well in community tanks with small fish. Kribs, angels (though not with really small fish like neons), apistogrammas, rams...Most will breed happily in a community setup, but you need to make sure there are lots of hiding places for the other fish to take refuge in while they pair has babies.
These are lake Tang cichlids from Africa. They are usually only kept with other rift lake cichlids since they need water with a higher ph and hardness than most community fish like. I'm not saying you can't do it, just that most people feel you shouldn't.
The Apistogrammas, keyholes and rams are all great choices. None will get big enough to eat your other fish, and a pair will give you some fish that actually have interesting behavior to watch while the kids ohh and ahh over the tetras.
Laetacara curviceps are small, peaceful cichlids that do well in peaceful community tanks. They will change colors before your eyes too - very neat to see. They are commonly known as flag cichlids or curvicep cichlids. Here's a pic of one of mine:
What about Electric Yellow or Blue?
Also Rift Lake Africans unsuitable for a planted Community. (Picture four and five inch cichlids moving your substrate around by the mouthful). The Electric Yellows are generally regarded as the smallest, and most peaceful mbuna. Most are tank raised and do fine in most water. Alot of people keep them in mixed community tanks, but I wouln't. If it doesn't dig up your plants and terrorize/eat other fish, then it will at least mess witht the overall feel of the tank.
Trust me the dwarf SA cichlids mentioned may be small, but in my opinion display at least as much interesting behavior and spunk as other cichliks in a much more cummunity manner. everyone here knows I'm an apisto gunky. they're the best of the ones mentioned IMO because the males and females will bond and set up house wherever you make a network of shale caves. They are very sexually dimorphic, and beautiful once they color up. They will constantly perform pre-spawning behavior. Of the apistos, A. cacatuoides is the most adaptable and easy to find. For beauty I vote a pair of A. panduro.
They're the ones in my avatar and a bigger pic can be found here:http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56227
Try www.apistogramma.com www.thekrib.com for good info on dwarf SAs
Also Rift Lake Africans unsuitable for a planted Community. (Picture four and five inch cichlids moving your substrate around by the mouthful). The Electric Yellows are generally regarded as the smallest, and most peaceful mbuna. Most are tank raised and do fine in most water. Alot of people keep them in mixed community tanks, but I wouln't. If it doesn't dig up your plants and terrorize/eat other fish, then it will at least mess witht the overall feel of the tank.
Trust me the dwarf SA cichlids mentioned may be small, but in my opinion display at least as much interesting behavior and spunk as other cichliks in a much more cummunity manner. everyone here knows I'm an apisto gunky. they're the best of the ones mentioned IMO because the males and females will bond and set up house wherever you make a network of shale caves. They are very sexually dimorphic, and beautiful once they color up. They will constantly perform pre-spawning behavior. Of the apistos, A. cacatuoides is the most adaptable and easy to find. For beauty I vote a pair of A. panduro.
They're the ones in my avatar and a bigger pic can be found here:http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=56227
Try www.apistogramma.com www.thekrib.com for good info on dwarf SAs
tricksterpup
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