Looking For Gentle Dwarves

[pica_nuttalli]

As much fun and stress as breeding Kribensis can be, I keep having this nagging guilt about producing so many pretty babies that aren't really suited for a gentle community tank. I also know that most of my babies still haven't sold in the LFS yet. I feel bad about contributing to the ill-housed fish problem.

Are there any krib-sized or smaller dwarf cichlids that won't grow up to be tiny terrors? I'm not looking for guppy-safe, but something that I could keep (or even breed) with smaller tetras in my 60g. I've been thinking that German Rams or Cockatoos might work, but I'm open to more exotic suggestions. Slate spawners would be my preference, since I'm not keen on changing my substrate and the plecos have FINALLY ironed out who gets what cave.

 

[Ben]

Checkerboard Cichlids,Dicrossus Filamentosus, are a great addition to a community aquaria. They are guppy and neon safe and usually don't bother anything. They are rock and substrate spawners so they could probably spawn on the slate.

DD

 

[lucky62]

nannacara anomala aka golden eye dwarf cichlid

cockatoos............ I have both ...........in a 60 gallon , think would be fine with your other fish

smiling acaras are iffy , curvieps [ mine bred many times , I think my water was too hard ]and dorsiger .




non cichlids

Badis badis [ prolific ]

and peacock gudgeons [ raising fry can be a challenge ]'

I read that P taeniatus are less nasty than P. Pulcher.......can't say for sure , but the other fish I currently keep , even checker boards , though I haven't tried lowering PH and hardness so they can breed for me , the others have all bred , gotta move my Cockatoos , fry keeps getting eaten , but I have 3 gudgeon fry , quite a few badis , and 40 to 60 1/4 " nannacara fry

 

[freddyk]

Keyhole cichlids are just about the best community cichlid you'll come across - very mild tempered and best kept in a planted tank. Not the most colorful species, but it's got nice markings and fins and character. They're a tad bigger then kribs, which I just can't see being a problem in that size of tank.

 

[AnthonyRobinson666]

not a cichlid but badis badis was a great suggestion...
I really like the scarlet var.

checkers, any rams sound good may have the same problem with keyholes...

what are the water par?

ARobinson

 

[pica_nuttalli]

the pH in the 60g is about 6.6, very soft water.

does anyone have suggestions regarding goo-obo gudgeons? they've got some really good deals on those and a sweet trio of peacocks on Aquabid right now. i'm extremely tempted by the peacocks, but i think i recall where the males are very aggressive while guarding the eggs. i'm not in a posistion to run anymore tanks and i'm trying to get rid of my 2.5g as it is.

lucky, don't you guys have some goo-obos? how's that working out for you?

i've been thinking about swapping the betta into the 20g with some tankmates and removing puffer to the 10g as soon as i clear out the last guppies. do you think it would work to put (out of 6) the female goo-obos with one male in the 20g with the betta and bristlenose? and the remaining males would live in the 60g? (the 20g has a limestone centerpiece and a pH of about 7.4)

 

[pica_nuttalli]

*boomp*

 

[fishykisses]

how about killifish?!

 

[pica_nuttalli]

i dunno on the killifish... i'm more interested in fish that exhibit brood care. I'd also like something that won't have to be separated from their babies/mates for sucessful breeding.

 

[chrismr]

I don't know why you don't think kribs are suited to communities. My currently spawning pair are in a community, and really have not treated the other fish roughly. Sure, there was a bit of chasing, but not much.

Having said that, I have had one krib in the past which was just a moody and nasty old thing, and beat on just about any fish it could...

Anyway... you could always try one of the laetacara family, such as curviceps or dorsigera. Doresigera apparently the more peaceful of the two, but more challenging to breed.

Keyhole cichlids are really cute fish, even though they are not very colourful. I have no idea what their behavious like when spawning though.

dicrossus filamentosus (checkerboard cichlids) are lovely little fish, but apparently can be a bit of a challenge to get spawning. I am hoping I will get mine to spawn!

If you were to go for apistogrammas, I would suggest keeping away from the more readily available fish such as cacatuoides and agasizzi, etc, as they seem to be everywhere (where I am at least).

Or... can't remember if anybody has suggested this already, but why not go for one of the kribs cousins, pelvicachromis taeniatus? There are some absolutely stunning colour variations.

If you are in the uk, I can suggest to you where to get some of these.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

I don't know why you don't think kribs are suited to communities. My currently spawning pair are in a community, and really have not treated the other fish roughly. Sure, there was a bit of chasing, but not much.

Having said that, I have had one krib in the past which was just a moody and nasty old thing, and beat on just about any fish it could...

i say this because my male has nearly killed the female several times and they've both done numbers on smaller, more delicate tankmates. they definately beat 3-4 guppies to death before i caught on to the fact that the sweet juvies had finished growing.

the thing is, i have a 60g and all this aggression. i know that the 20-odd babies that i'm producing every couple of months will not all be housed in more 60 gallon tanks. i'm also pretty confident that there is not a large market in my area for tough-fish communities. just to ease my own concience, i want to stop producing so many babies that won't be going to suitable homes or worse, kill off all of some poor sob's platys.

thanks for the suggestions though! cockatoos are new to my little USA backwater, but i'll keep their relative common-ness elsewhere in mind.

 

[Griz]

There are many varieties of Apistogramma available now. Some are easier to breed such as cacatuoides and borelli and are therefore more common. But there are others that can can be quite challenging, even to the experts.

 

[pica_nuttalli]

related question: what the heck is a "Nannochromis transvestitus"?!? very-small colorful transvestite?