Lone Cichlid

[funkyhoney]

First off, sorry for my abundance of threads.

I have an 80L tank (24" x 12" x 15") - so a 2ft square footprint - which is decked out for cichlids with a nice high PH, plenty of rocks etc.

I was planning to keep a pair of Princess Cichlids (Neolamprologus brichardi) in there, but now I am thinking maybe just 1 large® cichlid would be a nice feature. Can you guys recommend something that would go in there? I'm assuming something that has an absolute maximum of 6" would be ideal, so would something like a Rusty Cichlid (Iodotropheus sprengerae) be alright in there?

Thanks guys

EDIT: here's the newest picture of the tank, and also, would it be better to look into maybe an American cichlid if there are not any suitable Africans or just give up hope?

 

[Davo86]

Not really too hot on africans but I would say that they do prefer being kept in large groups, so the only ones that spring to mindwould be a pair of Kribensis. Possible american cichlids however could be 1 sajica or 1 Rainbow cichlid, a pair of keyholes, pair of flag cichlids, a trio of cockatoo dwarfs, or a pair of Rams. You may benefit from adding a few live plants if you decide to go for american cichlids though.

 

[funkyhoney]

Not really too hot on africans but I would say that they do prefer being kept in large groups, so the only ones that spring to mindwould be a pair of Kribensis. Possible american cichlids however could be 1 sajica or 1 Rainbow cichlid, a pair of keyholes, pair of flag cichlids, a trio of cockatoo dwarfs, or a pair of Rams. You may benefit from adding a few live plants if you decide to go for american cichlids though.

Thanks for the reply

Really? I thought a lot of Americans liked to dig and would uproot them anyway? (Oscars, Chocolate and Covicts spring to mind)

But thanks for the ideas

 

[Davo86]

Yeah,Most of the larger american cichlids will do, you may sometimes find this with the sajicas and rainbow cichlids too,
the rest of the cichlids i've mentioned should be fine.

(i keep keyholes and have no problem there, have kept rams in the past and a friend of mine has a trio of cockatoo dwarfs which are also fine in planted tanks)

 

[dthoffsett]

I'd go with american ciclids for that tank. A single mbuna just isn't going to be happy IMO.

 

[funkyhoney]

I'd go with american ciclids for that tank. A single mbuna just isn't going to be happy IMO.

Yeah that's what I was afraid of Do you know about any other Africans though?

Like the Rusty I mentioned or maybe a Cyrtocara moorii?

Do you know any suitable Americans or should I head into the other cichlid forum?

 

[dthoffsett]

The Rusty or iodotropheus sprengerae is an mbuna, the c.moorii is a hap, also unsuitable.

I don't know about them american cichlids, my knowledge on them is pretty much nonexistant , I'd suggest just posting over there on the tank setup you have and ask there opinion.

 

[funkyhoney]

The Rusty or iodotropheus sprengerae is an mbuna, the c.moorii is a hap, also unsuitable.

I don't know about them american cichlids, my knowledge on them is pretty much nonexistant , I'd suggest just posting over there on the tank setup you have and ask there opinion.

Damn I already made a thread over there, so are there pretty much no suitable Africans that can be kept alone in a tank this size?

 

[dthoffsett]

Not that I'm aware of.

 

[funkycat]

The Rusty or iodotropheus sprengerae is an mbuna, the c.moorii is a hap, also unsuitable.

I don't know about them american cichlids, my knowledge on them is pretty much nonexistant , I'd suggest just posting over there on the tank setup you have and ask there opinion.

Damn I already made a thread over there, so are there pretty much no suitable Africans that can be kept alone in a tank this size?

you could get some shell dwellers? something from the neolamporous family?

 

[funkyhoney]

The Rusty or iodotropheus sprengerae is an mbuna, the c.moorii is a hap, also unsuitable.

I don't know about them american cichlids, my knowledge on them is pretty much nonexistant , I'd suggest just posting over there on the tank setup you have and ask there opinion.

Damn I already made a thread over there, so are there pretty much no suitable Africans that can be kept alone in a tank this size?

you could get some shell dwellers? something from the neolamporous family?

I was thinking about that, but under the advice (and donation ) of my new supervisor at work (who also happens to breed african cichlids) I'm putting a male flameback (Haplochromis sp.) in there. As well as that I may add a few small haps/dwarfs in the future.