Cichlid Mix

[GShorty1981]

I was planning on keeping a Severum,Angel,Firemouth and maybe a Kissing Gourami in my 30 gallon tank.

Would this mix work? (i would buy them all as Juvis together once my tank has cycled)

Is the tank big enough for all 4?

As far as i know Severums grow to 7-10",Angels 6-8",Firemouths 6-7" and Kissing Gouramis 8-10" so taking the highest into consideration the eventual growth would be 35" but this would not be until around 18 months plus..by that time my external filter would be lovely and mature.

Thoughts?

 

[markandhisfish]

firemouth would be ok but the severum needs a bigger tank than 30g and the angel needs tank at least 18" deep ( hight)

 

[GShorty1981]

Cool cool,my tanks 20" (50cm) high,32" (81cm) long and 14" (36cm) back. which is 38.52 US Gallons/32.07 Imp Gallons/145.8 Litres...which is actually a Juwel Rio 125 with the Filter Removed....but thats how the dimensions calculate.

I read the minimum tank size for a Severum and Kissing Gourami are both 25 Imp Gallons on a couple of diff sites,wheras others say Imp 35 Gallons and more so i though it best to ask..

Do you have any other Cichlid suggestions?

I will definitley go with the Firemouth and Angel (Aslong as they will be ok with one another)

 

[markandhisfish]

ive got 4 angels and 2 firemouths in my tank and so far no problems personally i wouldnt put a severum in anything less than 55g preferably bigger

 

[GShorty1981]

Oh ok,So if the Kissing Gourami and Severum are a bad idea in my tank,what should i replace them with? any suggestions? I kept a 10" kissing Gourami with neons and platys in a 4ft long 30 gallon a long time ago for 4 years until i sold him,i didn't buy him to go with them,he and the little ones came with the tank!

I don't want to keep lots of Firemouths and really wanted to have 4 medium sized specimens as almost 'pet fish' much like the Tang,dottyback,damsel and clown were in my old reef tank.

 

[markandhisfish]

how about kribs? lovely fish pretty peacefull only as with all cichlids can be quite territorial when spawning .

 

[GShorty1981]

There to small really,i have kept 4 pairs before...also near on impossible to find good specimens locally,infact so impossible that the normal boring Kribs are about £6 each with a grey/green colouration and little yellow speckles and zero purple/red....then i saw a amazing brighlty coloured female in a LFS going for £15....only one i ever saw!

I think Firemouths have better character and are a bit stockier and more robust....plus mixing Kribs with Firemouths in a 30 gallon would be a nightmare.

I'm interested in keeping Convicts also but i dont want a convict only tank.

What are adult Festivums like?

I kept a cichlid called Uaru once that was similar in appearance to Severums that got really ugly as it got bigger so i swapped it for something else.

I'm also considering 2 medium sized gouramis with a Firemouth,Angel and 2 other medium sized fish and a few livebearers.....maybe even try the kissing gourami idea again.

 

[markandhisfish]

kribs in lfs never look anything really as the colour is dependant on happiness of the fish and lets face it lfs tanks are usually set towards the customer more than the fish . when i got my kribs home and into my tank they soon coloiured up. festivums are supposed to be peacefull but i have no idea how big they grow and therefore couldnt tell you if your tank size was suitable. plus personally i find them quite boring. but its personal taste at the end of the day.

 

[GShorty1981]

The Kribs i had never coloured up and i am a total water freak,so no problems there.....its because of reef keeping,i'm test crazy

Kribs in the LFS's tend to be a hybrid of many different species (they will tell you that themselves) and espech around here it is near impossible to find a Krib that is not 20 generations of gene mixes to the point its a drab boring grey forever (including the female).

Still as i said to small for what i want really,my kids like biggish fish with loads of character but we have no room for anything bigger right now,they get bored of little brain dead tetras swimming around and like a 'pet' if you know what i mean.

So say i was to keep just Firemouths and Angels,how many would be the ideal in a tank of my size?

I obviously understand the inch per gallon rule but i'm talking adult swimming space/territorys.

 

[shroob]

Firemouths and angels may not be the best companions, the angels are probably too delicate for the firemouths and your tank doesn't provide much retreat space.

Having 4 medium sized cichlids will be pushing it in your tank size unfortunately, depending on species I would limit it to two in some cases (eg. firemouth and convict or convict and salvini) though there are more peaceful new world cichlids that you could probably have more of eg. 1 sajica, 1 festivum 1 keyhole cichlid in the tank.

The pet thing you talk about is refered to as a 'wet pet' and is generally about a single large, personable cichlid (or even non cichlids eg. mbu puffer) that interacts with the owner eg. oscar, midas, red devil, dovii, jag but unfortunately your tank is too small, and smaller cichlids do lack the character of bigger ones (in my opinion atleast).

 

[markandhisfish]

that is a valid point shroob regarding the angels and firemouths. when i said i have them togeher and so far no issues i should of said my tank is 100 gallon so theres room to retreat if need be

 

[foley69]

why not assess what fish you want the most ..by the sounds of it you want firemouthes base the tank around them and then look into fish that you can keep with them that fit your tank size and require the same needs such things as maybe a firemouth,t-bar and a bristlsenose would work well and say have some dither fish like tiger barbs that will add more colour and personality to the tank

 

[markandhisfish]

that sounds like it would make a nice tank. tiger barbs are cool fish i love em. and t bars a well nice . love the sound of your stocking in your 55g foley. id love a jack dempsey and especially a salvini. problem, is im fully stocked as it is and even if i wasnt the angels would have to go . no doubt sometime in the fuuture i will have a swap around so i can have them

 

[foley69]

cheers mark id love a tank yoursize then i could get a jag always wanted them my tank has just bin through an ich phase finally cured it with no loses ...im thinking of breeding t-bars when iv done breeding my convicts my mate wants my male he is a right stunna

 

[foley69]

also i would deffinatly have a salvini they are stunning i will get some pictures posted when i get ma nw cybershot phone and yea sounds a good idea about gettina salvini in the future only problem is make sure he/she is same size as the fish you have now or else you will have a problem because not all of them but typically salvinins can be nasty i got lucky and got a calm one my JD chases him around every now and then but apart from that my tank has minimal aggression