Cichlids Wot Type And How Many

[blue acara]

Hi ppl

ive just got a new tank 4 foot about 55 galons and im wondering wot cichlids would be good.
Ph 7.5
quite hard water
as the water is hard im thinking central american cichlids(could have african but want plants). as my name suggests i luv the look of the bule acara so a pair of them is a must.

Any suggestions of other types of chiclid and number i can keep is appreciated

thanx

 

[saboy]

I think that the the blue acara is a south american,


for a tank that size, you would need to go with the small central americans, like from the archocentrus genus, you could have flyer cichlids, t bar cichlids, blue eyed cichlids , convict cichlids.

And they also like hard water and ph of about 7-8

 

[RadaR]

I second what saboy said. In my opinion, Tbar Cichlids are much better than Convicts in everyway. They are a little harder to breed, they look better when breeding, they aren't as aggro and they leave nearly all plants alone.

 

[saboy]

Yea, second what radar said as well,

I said convicts as they are in the archocentrus genus, but they can be real meanies,#


Here is a nice pic of a t bar

http/www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Archocentrus_sajica.php

 

[blue acara]

ty for replys

i really like that fish u both suggest the t bar, great bump on his head, very nice fish ill defenetly look for them. (never seen them before) I thought about having convicts but they are aggressive it would probley have to be a species tank.
The blue acara is from colombia, panama, northern venezuela so 'northen south america'- not in the soft acidic amazon basin
also saboy i live in herts as well wot levels of nitrate do u get out of ure tap water bty

 

[saboy]

I got a water quality report from three valleys water, and there is 33 nitrates, from the way that i think the report should be read.


Just for interest sake , wher abouts you in hertfordshire ?

 

[blue acara]

yer im on three vallys to and im getting a high nitrate level on the test kit. I wanted to keep it to below 25 but that will be near impossible without more expence... i guess below 50 is ok for most fish neway.
Im from borehamwood

 

[scrappy]

Isnt Borehamwood where the Big Brother House is situated?

Btw I have bred about 100 Sajica (also known as T-Bar Cichlids) spawned in early March, They are in process of being rehomed but heres a pic of the fry about 3 months ago:


Note: There is no decor in this tank as I needed to keep an eye on them, there only about 2cm here

Heres a picture of them in their current home which has some decor, btw they are all between 1.5" & 2" now.

And here is Mommy Sajica (left), & Daddy Sajica (right)

 

[kubora666]

nice sajica, i have tons of spawn from a male sajica and female jade eye, luckily the result was positive on both fishes best feature and my lfs is selling them as "blue eye sajica"
mine looked just like that but with baby blue eyes, sadly i ahve no pics, good luck on rehoming the fry though

 

[blue acara]

yer great pics scrappy, those lill babies r so cute and parents look in great condition

erm yer i live really close to the big bro house it just up the road near tesco