Cichlids

[tom54]

Hi all my first question, what south american cichlids will live quite happy together,my tanks is 4 foot long approx 150 lts . Wont be ready for a couple of weeks yet just getting an idea of fish and cost Thanks Tom.
If the above not possible how about gouramis..

 

[Akasha72]

Hi and welcome to the forum. Do you mean a group of the same species or do you mean mixing different species?
 
With a 4ft tank you could get a group of 4 to 6 angelfish but you must get them all at the same time as young fish or you risk bullying and fighting. Angelfish are not aptly named and can be very aggressive but if they grow up together from young fish it can work. Angelfish do also make tank mate choices limited so you will need to consider that before getting angelfish. Any fish small enough to fit in their mouths is liable to become food.
 
If you were wanting to mix the species I would look to the dwarf species. There are dwarf species of cichlid that are quite shy and so aggression is very limited. I had a breeding pair of bolivian rams living with a breeding pair of laetacara curviceps. They decided on territory at the opposite ends of the tank (this tank was slightly smaller than 4ft) and they lived happily together for many years. Aggression was minor and limited to breeding times.
 
Another easy going cichlid would be the keyhole cichlid. It can be a very shy species and will need a heavily planted tank so it can relax and hide. Another reasonably easy going cichlid would be german blue ram or the electric blue ram. Alternately you could go with a stunning centre piece fish such as the severum. These are known as the gentle giant but again, like the angelfish any small fish could become food.
 
What would be more important with all of these fish would be your water parameters. All of these fish need to be kept in soft water with a low pH, gH and kH. They will also need a well cycled tank as they are sensitive to poor water quality. 
 
A good place to research fish is www.seriouslyfish.com - it's a place most of us use to research the in's and out's of any fish we are considering and we often link to them.
 
Can I ask how you are cycling your tank? 

 

[Munroco]

I would be wary of mixing dwarf cichlids, even in a 4 foot tank

 

[tom54]

fish less cycling with added ammonia Thanks for the reply 

 

[tom54]

i would like to mix different type together if possible.Hi neil can you give a little more information on why not to add dwarf thanks

 

[Akasha72]

I wouldn't try to add any more than two different species and I would be sure to provide plenty of plants, wood, rocks and hidey holes and I would look to add them together as very young fish. I think it will only work if you go with the non-aggressive types like I mentioned and do it with caution and be prepared to remove one species if the aggression gets to be too much and damage is getting done.
 
At one point I had my curvicep cichlid pair, my bolivian ram pair and a pair of angelfish too. It was world war 3 in the tank and the angels had to be rehomed. The rams were in the left corner defending that as their territory and curviceps was in the right corner defending that side and the angels just had nowhere to go without getting attacked