Entertaining Cichlids

[jlines]

Im thinking of getting a ~100g tank to fill with a school of cichlids that would be playful and entertaining to watch. Firemouth's look pretty cool.

Any thoughts?

 

[Ruben Tolon]

firemouths aren't going to school, but a pair along with other stuff would like nice.

 

[Vicious_Fish]

...or you could get one big, entertaining, personable cichlid species like a Jag!

 

[krytan]

Or a pair of oscars

 

[Star_Rider]

a school of discus.

 

[jlines]

i would want to get something small enough where i could have more than 1 fish so they could interact. Not sure if i could mix oscars and firemouths. I also dont want to worry about any of them breeding cause im under the impression that some fish will need to be alone in the tank for that. ive read that for oscars, not sure about fire mouths. either way i dont want to have to remove fish cause i wont have anywhere to put them

 

[jlines]

i also want something thats a little aggressive and will hunt down feeder fish on occasion, maybe thats a little sadistic but whatever, its nature.

 

[Star_Rider]

you are going to be liited..you want schooling cichlids in a 100..that is going to trim the fish you can get.

many of the cichlids are not schooling. many are too big to have in multiples for a 100 g tank.

feeders. in general do not make good food for the Cichlids..and the schooling fish that will hunt feeders are relatively small so you would have to have small feeders.
any time you get a school of cichlids you run the risk of pairs forming.. in which case the 100 will get even smaller.

 

[jlines]

thanks for all the good info, im realizing that in general the fish i like the most are in fact not schooling fish, so i guess my desire to have a school is less important.

it also seems that i will have little control over breeding since i do want multiples of the same species

i would not have a problem sticking with a single species if that would make the tank more peaceful in the event of breeding

also, ive read that feeder fish are not a good staple diet, and that they increase the risk of spreading disease, etc it would just be an occasional thing

i found this list and am most interested in the medium aggressive category
http://www.bestfish.com/tips/111998.html

 

[wataugachicken]

severums may be a good choice, especially if you are able to find several different colors. (green, gold, red-spotted gold, red shoulder.)