Cockatoo Cichlids

[sheree]

Hi,

I've bought a pair of cockatoo dwarf cichlids today. They are both quite small proably only about 1"-1.5" long. I've put them into my 40ukgal community tank containing varous tetras, bala sharks, cories, clown loaches, harlequins and rainbows.

Has anyone had any problems with these chaps? I know they tend to favour lower ph and mine is 7.6 so i'm hoping they will adapt. All other stats are ok and i carry out regular water changes every 7-10 days. Any advice would be grateful.

 

[sylvia]

The clown loaches and balas need a much bigger tank...

The only problem you could potentialy have is, if they breed and your cories are only in a small group, the cichlids might start bullying the cories. You shouldn't otherwise have problems (besides over-crowding at the moment) and the pH shouldn't be an issue as long as you don't expect them to breed (they may not breed unless you lower the pH - which I would not reccomend you do).

 

[Miss Wiggle]

they can be surprisingly aggressive for such little fish. I've 5, they're less than an inch big, seen them chasing off 4 inch gourami's before! Personally I'd keep a bit of an eye they're not bullying your smaller fish. Also the m x f ratio should be 1:2 or 1:3, might be best to find another female or two.