40g

[joecoral]

I'm considering changing my current 40G community set up to some sort of cichlid set up, and I was just wondering what I could do / keep with 40 imp. gallons? Ideally I'd like either a few larger cichlids or several smaller ones

 

[rocknurworld2006]

what are the dimensions of the aquarium??

 

[joecoral]

101cmx41cmx50cm. It's a juwel rio180
obviously these are gross dimensions, the actual capacity will be slightly less

 

[joecoral]

I like the idea of a Jack Dempsey or other large individual. would this be acceptable in a tank this size, and what would I be able to keep with it?

 

[shroob]

I have the same tank as you, and will be putting a pair of CA cichlids when I do some re-arraning in there, havn't decided on which ones but the ones I am thinking of are:

Convicts,
Sajica,
Salvini,
T. Ellioti
Firemouths

At the moment salvini are top of my list.

If you have good filtration you may be able to have a pair of JD's, though definately watch out for aggression, males can reach 8" and I have seen pictures of some bigger so you may have to rehome if you find you have a unusually large grower.
You may also be able to get away with a JD and other cichlid like a convict, though again watch for aggression and have good filtration.

If you wanted a single fish, you could possibly have a female texas or female Parachromis losselli/mota/freddy. Again these should only reach 10", which I think with good filtration and water changes should be Ok in your tank. Make sure you get females though as males will get bigger and not be suitable for the tank.

If you were serious about having one of these larger fish, I would definately remove the internal filter and replace with a larger external. I'm planning on getting a tetratec EX1200 when my exams are over. For £60 quid with all media and P+P you can't go wrong.

 

[joecoral]

i've got an eheim pro 2 (2026) which is rated up to 350L on the tank, so filtration isnt a problem

 

[fishwatcher]

I'd do a firemouth and a blue acara and then a small group of rosy or tiger barbs, or a pair of either and the barbs.

 

[joecoral]

a shoal of tiger barbs and firemouth/blue acara combo sounds good. what could i have in terms of scavengers? i like the pictus cats, could i get away with one of those?
and also, what about the decor? i currently have sand substrate with a reasonable amount of plants such as vallis, swords and egeria

 

[fishwatcher]

I'm not sure about the pictus cats, but I'm sure someone else can answer that for you.
For decor I'd just add some driftwood and rocks so there will be broken up areas that each cichlid can claim for territory. The rest of your decor sounds fine.

 

[Crazybob]

you might have to watch out with the plants, as most cichlids like to rip up roots. the swords will probably be okay, but the other two may be looked at as snacks. as far as a cat goes, i like to synodontis petricola. theyre a peaceful cat, and fairly slow growers... tho they are similar to pictus so there ya go lol .

 

[catfish101]

that community sounds good 1 firemouth , blue acera and maybe 6 tiger barbs. I would go with them and not the rosys because in my experiance rosys are a little more docile and calm and might get bullied. As far as a pictus gos I dont think you will have any problems as long as you dont get a very small one. Iv pictus with all kinds of cichlids including south amercican and the cichlids dont seem to even realize their there. But if you do go with the pictus you might want to and 2 or maybe even 3 as they are very active and socal fish.