best chiclid
- Thread starter fishdude92
- Start date
well fist of all their called cichlids not chiclids.weird . not the first time i hear a newbie calling them that. anyways we could help you a lot more if you tell us what tank you plan to keep some in ad what you were looking for. if you do youll have 100 posts in the first hour.
I plan to keep them in 55 gallon aquarium and I am looking for any kind of chiclids.Michael_G said:
An oscar(Link) would be perfect for a 55 gallon, but you'd only be able to keep one. Check out the African cichlids from Lake Malawi(Link) , which are very common and beautiful. Most get about 6-7" long and you could probably put quite a few in your tank. African Cichlids allow you to get more creative with your aquascaping because they need lots of places to hide. Oscars, on the other hand, are considered the aqua dog. They have a personality similar to a dog, like petting them and hand feeding them and everything. You just can't take em out.
or you can try a mix of medium cichlids like convicts, firemouths, jewels, acaras and im probably forgetting some
Firemouths, convicts, jewels, or Salvinis. Avoid stocking a 55g with anything that grows over 10". A Jack Dempsey is about as big a fish you'd want to put in there.
Whatever you choose, you have to make sure the fish are from the same region. By that i mean if you go with South American fish (green terrors, oscars, ect.), then they all have to be south american (with few exections like plecos and catfish) and if you go African, the you have to stick with either fish from Lake Malwai or Lake Tanganika(spelling) and as far as i know, you can mix tanganika and lake victoria fish, but they're harder to care for and not as colorful. Then theres the Texas Cichlid from well, Texas. and it required different conditions as well. Its really about the Ph levels of the water b/c it varies greatly. Also different cichlids like different decor. Personally, I would prefer to have Lake Malawi Cichlids. They are colorful and common. They like a rocky terrain with pleny of hiding places. Also before you choose, check out their levels of aggression and choose accordingly. a mellow cichlid with an aggressive one is sure trouble.