Community Cichlid Tank

[Zoeeannee]

I have a 450L tank with the following:
- 3x angels
- 2x cockatoos
- 2x German rams
- 6x sterbai Cory
- 12x cardinals

I’m looking for other cichlid suggestions that can live in this non-cichlid-specialist tank (meaning I have the water parameters but I just don’t have cichlids considered “aggressive” to other non-cichlid (or even cichlid) tank mates). So nothing that will eat my cardinals or attack any other inhabitants. I am aware of the “common” dwarf cichlids - apistogramma, rams (blue, German, Bolivian), kribs - so would love some other suggestions.

I do have a 75L tank with glowlight tetras and a bristlenose in which I can move any difficult fish in to if needed.

Just looking for ideas

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

Always good to have a back-up plan.
Your angels may eat your cardinals when they get big enough.
Any pair of cichlids may get aggressive towards other fish in the tank, when they've decided to claim a part of the tank for themselves...even if they're not actually breeding. That said, your tank does have a lot of room for special cichliddy spaces.

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

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Unless the tank is really big, you probably don't want to add anymore cichlids that live on or near the bottom. Once they start breeding, their aggression towards other tank mates can increase rapidly and there could be problems.

 

[Wills]

I wouldnt add any more cichlids in there I think if you have a balance there best to stick with what you have. I'd explore the diversity a South American tank can have with things like whiptail catfish, headstanders (spotted or ternetzi), unusual characins like splash tetras, hatchet fish, hemiodus. And increase your Sterbais and Cardinals in a big tank like this schools of 20-30 would look amazing!

Wills

 

[Zoeeannee]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

-----------------
Unless the tank is really big, you probably don't want to add anymore cichlids that live on or near the bottom. Once they start breeding, their aggression towards other tank mates can increase rapidly and there could be problems.

Last I checked I had the following (this is from my last 3 checks over 3 weeks and my Ph went from 7 to 7.4 so averaging 7.2)
Ph 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0.1
Hardness 12

 

[Zoeeannee]

Always good to have a back-up plan.
Your angels may eat your cardinals when they get big enough.
Any pair of cichlids may get aggressive towards other fish in the tank, when they've decided to claim a part of the tank for themselves...even if they're not actually breeding. That said, your tank does have a lot of room for special cichliddy spaces.

I didn’t add my angels with neons or smaller fish because I thought they would get eaten but in my experience cardinals are big enough to not be eaten - they are all fully grown.
My rams are both female my angels all male so that gets rid of breeding territorial behaviour but my cockatoos I have no idea what sex

 

[Zoeeannee]

I wouldnt add any more cichlids in there I think if you have a balance there best to stick with what you have. I'd explore the diversity a South American tank can have with things like whiptail catfish, headstanders (spotted or ternetzi), unusual characins like splash tetras, hatchet fish, hemiodus. And increase your Sterbais and Cardinals in a big tank like this schools of 20-30 would look amazing!

Wills

I know a big school of cardinals would look amazing but I’d like something else because although cardinals add colour they don’t add much character. Do you think sterbais would actually come out from under the wood and rocks I have if they were in a bigger group?

 

[Byron]

my angels all male so that gets rid of breeding territorial behaviour

Are you certain the three angelfish are male? How long have you had them together in this tank? Are they juveniles?

My reason for asking is that male angelfish will establish a territory regardless of females or spawning, and they will defend it especially against other males. And two or three angelfish is never advisable, though admittedly there is at least more space here (though we don't have the dimensions Colin asked for yet).

 

[Zoeeannee]

Are you certain the three angelfish are male? How long have you had them together in this tank? Are they juveniles?

My reason for asking is that male angelfish will establish a territory regardless of females or spawning, and they will defend it especially against other males. And two or three angelfish is never advisable, though admittedly there is at least more space here (though we don't have the dimensions Colin asked for yet).

Although it’s difficult to sex angels, all three have a sharp angle on the front of their heads and they’re about 6-8 months old - so 1 of them is 1.5 inch body and the other 2 are 1.5 inch body.
Tank dimensions
1.75m length
45cm width
50cm height