Beginner Chichilds

[fishygurl]

Hi im setting up a community tank i am not a total beginner but im pretty new.

This was my original stocking plan for a 20 gallon long

6 penguin tetras

4 cherry barbs

1 dwarf gourami

3 pepper corys

Now my question is.. If i ditched the barbs or tetras are there any beginner chichilds that would fit in?

( Ph 7.0 medium soft water)

Also how do you pronounce chichild?
)
I dont want to walk into a pet store and sound like an idiot>

 

[IMCL85]

Best beginer cichlid I could think of for ur tank and water stats is south american dwarb cichlid aka ram . you can grow arround 3-4 in that tank but once a pair is form you should remove the others.

Species that could keep in ur tank:
Ram(most of the ram species can be kept)


so far thats all I can think of. You can go check out our forums fish index for more info. Since ur tank ph on a mid lvl so african cichlid can not be kept. And the size of ur tank r too small for most of the larger south america cichlid as well . Good luck to ya.

 

[fishygurl]

I know its too small for most but you think rams would be ok?? (Im thinking a pair?)

 

[IMCL85]

Yea most of the species is fine since they dont grow any bigger then 3". but mostly I suggest you to start with 5-6 young rams and grow them up so they will found their mate once they get older. And remove what ever left if you r lucky you might found 2 pair out of the 6 fish. They can be kept in a 10g for breeding since they dont require as much space as other.

 

[fishygurl]

Ok mabye i should have said two not pair.. At the moment im not really interested in breeding and i wouldnt have anywhere to remove the others to.. Can i have 2 of the same sex in there?? Or could i have just one or do they need to be in groups?

 

[sylvia]

With rams it's best to get a pair. Keeping two of the same sex usualy leads to trouble in this sort of size tank and keeping one alone isn't fair on the fish. They aren't the hardiest fish either. You could try keyholes though. They are larger and could probably eat any very small tetras (so add them late once your tetras are full grown) but they are peaceful enough to keep two of the same sex (IME anyway) but I'd still try to go for females rather than males. One problem is that sexing them at a young age is difficult, if not impossible. It's also a good idea to heavily plant the tank as they can be very shy and they may also chase each other around a bit. You could also probably try keeping 2 completely unrelated cichlid species (only peaceful dwarf types though) together. I should also add that cherry barbs are not a schooling fish so get a trio (1 male, 2 females) instead of the 4 that you have planned. Also, if you have to skip a fish, I'd skip the cories (however much it pains me) as they'll be competing with any cichlids for space and they should idealy be kept in a group of 4 minnimum anyway.

 

[fishygurl]

Brain flash Mabye i should skip the community tank idea and just breed a pair of rams? But do you think a petstore would take the offspring?

 

[sylvia]

That would work but perhaps consider bolivian rams instead (as you were asking for beginner's cichlids and rams aren't realy that hardy and realy, idealy, need a relatively mature tank). Bolivians are slightly more aggressive, less picky and, IME, easier to breed.
You could keep them with a few schooling fish as well. Something like zebra danios would be ideal as they'll stay near the top of the tank and out of the cichlids' way.
Most LFSs take dwarf cichlids of most kinds but it depends on the LFS when it comes to just how much they are prepaired to actualy pay for them.
BTW, I don't know whether anyone told you how to pronounce 'cichlids'. It's 'sicklids' and is a refference to their body shape.