A Cichild Stocking Question

[RobberyinCSharp]

Hi everyone,

I'm a little new to cichild keeping (I've only owned German Blue Rams before) and otherwise I've always owned community fish like livebearers. I just finished cycling my tank (2 months, fishless) and now I'm itching to add some fish

I have a 20 gallon planted tank. I know for a fact that I want to have GBRs in my tank again, as I love them. :love: I recently read up about two absolutely beautiful cichilds that I've never been familiar with before. One of them is Apisto. cacatuoides (cockatoo cichild) and the other is the Kribensis (pelvicachromis pulcher). I would LOVE to have one of these beauties in my tank!

So my first question is: Do you think that this would be possible with my tank size? I've read these cichilds only get to about 3-4 inches in size, which is good. It still makes them a dwarf cichild.
My second question is: What are these species like? I did a lot of reading and found so many conflicting articles Some people have said that these species are peaceful and don't bother other species in the tank. Others have said their Kribs have attempted to kill everything in their sight! Can I get some accurate advice from actual owners of these fish, please?
Also, the Cockatoo Cichild is very expensive, so I need to know just how sensitive these fish are. I've kept GBRs very successfully in the past with your standard 10% water changes per week, etc. I've also been able to acclimate them to water that is a little harder or alkaline than they're used to with no problems at all. But, I don't know how well the Apisto or Kribs would handle this. I usually do drip-acclimation (salt-water style ) until I know they're ready for the tank.

Would I be able to keep one GBR and one Apisto (or) Krib together in a tank without it being an all-out battle brawl?

Any help would be super appreciated! Thanks everyone

 

[r.w.girard]

Question: how big is the tank, in surface area?  The problem with cichlids is that they are territorial, especially when they are breeding. For a pair of rams, I think it is generally a square foot of territory.  For an apistogramma, look for something like 2 square feet.  So to keep both, you would need something with a 3 foot footprint.  So in a 20g long, which is 30 inches rather than 24, it might be possible to keep one ram and one apistogramma. I don't really know anything about kribensis.  They are African rather than South American if that matters to you at all in your choice.

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

My tank is the standard 24" long. It's 24"x12"x16"high. So...2 feet long. I've been told that having African cichilds introduces much more agression into the tank, but then I watch things like the Yellow Lab cichilds (which I've been told are African) and they don't seem to appear very aggressive to me, even in a tank with other fish of identical species. Maybe I just haven't watched long enough, but that seemed to be the behavior I observed over time.

 

[dougie]

The only fish if the 3 I've kept is the Kribs. I wouldn't say they are over aggressive at all. Until they pair up & have babies. They are brilliant parents & watching them shepherd their fry around the tank is really interesting to watch. However, like many cichlids and being fantastic parents, they will vigorously protect the fry. Fish much bigger than themselves will be attacked, harassed etc in order to get them away from the fry. With the other two you're keen on being not too dissimilar in size, I would be concerned with your tank size that there would be no where to hide.
I've never kept a single Krib, so don't know if that would work.

Good luck!

 

[RobberyinCSharp]

Thanks for the advice, Dougie! I'm definitely going to look into the Kribs do you have any advice on how to achieve that brilliant colorization?

 

[dougie]

If it's colouration you want, then I guess you'll want to encourage breeding? The female is the more colourful of the two, with a bright purple belly when she's in condition. They pair up fairly readily, and at a surprisingly small size: my male was about 5+cm, but the female was tiny when they first had a batch! In a smaller tank, I wouldn't want too much competition in the lower reaches of the tank as they tend to hang around more towards the bottom. I gave options for territories, stones, built up wood caves. They picked a cave in the corner, every time, so a cave would be preferable. Mine chose a plastic cave over a hand made slate one, so you've plenty of options.
Although they are African, they do well in similar conditions to SA cichlids. Drift wood, soft water etc. They will appreciate plant cover (which they won't touch). They are excellent parents & you pretty much just leave them to it!
The above is just my experience, others may have had it different.
Perhaps I should add mine were in with 1 bristlenose, shoal of 10+ silver tip tetras & 2 keyholes. I had them for about a year, then my brother had them off me & had them for another 3 or so years. I think their life expectancy is about 5 years.

Hope this helps.

 

[Electric Warrior]

Yeah, as said above, I would choose one and stay with that in a tank that size. I have a breeding pair of apisto cacs in my 200l, which is 3 feet long, and the dominate the bottom throughout the entire tank. When they are spawning, which is all time, they will chase after anything on there, no matter what the size (except the bristlenose for some reason). You have said most likely you will do kribs now, but if you kept gbr successfully before, I am sure you would have no issue with any other SA's or CA's.