Good fish size to tank length ratio

[Curiosity101]

Following on from my other thread, I'm likely to be getting a 4 x 2 x 2 tank (possibly even 6 x 2 x 2). For the sakes of this question lets call it a 4 x 2 x 2.

I'm thinking about stock, and I'd probably like some small to medium sized cichlids in there.

My question is, would 3" cichlids be 'too small' relative to the size of the tank. As in would they look lost in it / would the tank always look empty?

At the moment I'm mostly look at anything around the 5" mark, the plan being to get a juvi group, allow a pair to form and then rehome the others. But should I change my range to 3-5", that way I can include a number of the dwarf cichlids too?

Or is this very much a personal preference thing? (Problem being I don't know what my preference would be)

 

[Wills]

I think its all to do with numbers and what other fish you are having in there. I had a group of Cupid Cichlids in my 6 foot tank for about 6 years and they looked great. It was amazing how big they got when they passed away, in the tank I thought they were like 3 inches but the biggest male was bigger than my palm.

Right now I have a group of Cryptoheros Nanoluteus and they are really really small but still fill the tank well. In a big tank even like the 4x2x2 you could probably keep a group of most of the fish in the size range you mentioned. Looking around at a lot of the good cichlid keepers the current thinking is that most of the smaller cichlids do best in groups rather than singles or pairs, obviously it varies from species to species as to how gregarious they are and its dependent on tank size but I think you should bear it in mind.

Whats your short list at the moment?

Wills

 

[Curiosity101]

Not quite a shortlist yet, but...
Top 3:

• Cryptoheros sp. 'honduran red point'
• Cryptoheros nanoluteus / Amatitlania nanolutea
• Biotodoma cupido - Cupid Cichlid

Still in the running:

• Redbreast Acara - Laetacara dorsigera
• Flag acara – Laetacara curviceps
• Laetacara araguaiae ("Buckelkopf")
• Keyhole Cichlid
• Bandit Cichlid
• Anomalochromis thomasi - African Butterfly Cichlid
• 'Geophagus' iporangensis

But if I were to open it up to dwarf cichlids / apistos too then the list would grow quite considerably. Maybe I should consider it. I think I'd quite enjoy a group of dwarfs

 

[Wills]

Most of the fish on your list are classed as dwarfs anyway

The Hondurans are probably the most aggressive on the list and from what I have seen are now quite hard to source with any real quality a lot have started to get crossed with normal cons which are trickier to keep. The Nanos are really hard to find - I got mine through a home importer (I'll PM you ) and I think they are the only ones that were for sale in the country. I've kept HRPs before and the difference between them and the Nanos is just incredible the Nanos are more comparable to a SA dwarf like a Nannacara where as the HRPs are typical CAs. Though its still early days with the Nanos and they are young.

Cupids are really nice, I had some Santarem Cupids which have a bit of red in their fins. I had a group of 6 that I got at a really small size and grew them into a good group, I lost one which was always the runt of the group - he was wierdly shunned by the other 5 but the others made a good group and developed a hierachy pretty quickly. I had 2 males and 3 females, their lifespan is usually stated as 3-5 years and I lost my first one after 4 years of getting them and lost the last one approaching 6 years old. Biotodoma is quite an interesting family there are quite a few suspected undescribed species that you sometimes see that offer different colours in their facial markings or fin markings etc and the location of the eye spot varies and its appearance, sometimes its just black othertimes it has a metalic edge.

I've not kept any of the dwarf Laetacaras but I love them, I kept a group of L.Thayeri which is the biggest species in the family and they were great but when they started spawning I had to move them on but I think the dwarfs will be much more peaceful. I've had keyholes and bandits in the past, the bandit I had was just a single adult I saw in a random shop and they were really aggressive so I had to return them. The keyholes were ok, I had them maybe 12 years ago I had a pair but I personally prefer the others on your list.

The problem you could have with the South Americans is that if your water is above neutral ph and hard you could struggle long term with some of them. Byron on here has explained to me how when kept in hard water, soft water fish can develop a form of calcium deposits around their organs which can shorten their lives quite a bit. The two Cryptoheros species would be a good option though

Just one to throw into the pot if you like it - Oscura Heterospila the Montecristo Cichlid. It has quite a good reputation when kept in a group of say 4 for being quite manageble but you wouldnt be able to have many plants and tank mates would be a bit limited but they are gorgeous fish and stay quite a manageable size for a Veija type.

Wills