Considering Changing From Community

[benthyer]

Hi Guys,
 
I am considering moving away from a community fish tank and venturing into Cichilds.
 
I just wandered what your opinions are?
 
Would I be better off getting a larger tank first as mine is only 115L?
 
Any other ideas about what I can try?
 
TIA
 
Ben

 

[Chad]

I feel this is really a personal choice. I like less aggressive fish and like the variety I get having a community. I'm also a fan of smaller fish, especially nano fish, so for me that keeps me away from keeping cichlids again. 
 
What are your needs when it comes to the hobby?

 

[Wills]

It depends on what kind of cichlids you want. If you want Africans you are looking at a bigger tank or you could do shell dwellers and other tanginikans in a 115. If you went Americans you would be looking at dwarfs and mid sized cichlids but there are loads to choose from, dwarfs are things like Apistogramma, Panduro and Hongsloi are my favorites, Laetacaras, Checkerboards, Cupid Cichlids. Or depending on foot print you may be able to look at a pair of blue acaras or rainbow cichlids there are others that would be suitable as well just depends on what you want With Americans you are actually best off doing it as community around the cichlids as they often have better confidence and colours around other fish as it shows them its a safe place to be where as cichlids kept in bare tanks with no dither fish tend to be quite reclusive.
 
My tank in my signature is based around larger South Americans but something on a smaller scale is recreatable in your tank.
 
Wills

 

[benthyer]

I just like a lot of the colours and variations that you can get, also the different behaviours. I would also be happy to consider having some cichilds in with my community fish but not sure how many compatible species there are.
 
I think this has come about as I would like to make some big changes to my tank to make it look smarter so if I was to change fish I feel like this would be the ideal time.