Nicaraguan Cichlid

[GAB99]

Hi there! I have some questions about this fish because my research has turned mixed results/I couldnt find anything

I have a nearly empty 55 gallon that is going to be revamped, and while I have a stocking that will work for now, I am trying to add a centerpiece.

Currently the tank is home to an angel, a cory, and striped raphael catfish (remnants of what was there before)

so first things first, is this fish easy to care for/ can take a hit or two? When i leave for college in august i will try to come back every other week for water changes. I have a very strong filter im more worried about feeding and evap.And since im hoping this to be a planted tank, how bad does this fish dig? Substrate will be changed to pool sand.

will this fish tolerate what stock I have now?

if so, will it tolerate bloodfin/lemon tetras? Rams?

If it cant tolerate the current fish or is not hardy, can you guys suggest an alternative?

if it cant tolerate some/all the future additions, what fish could work?

I usually find asking a stocking question is like yelling in a room where everyone has earmuffs on, but I would really appreciate advise on this as the only cichlids ive done seriously have been discus (they did very well when I cared for them, didnt make it though and that caused the tank to crash )

 

[Wills]

Hi I wouldnt put Nics in this tank, your Angels and Cories would be a bit at risk - I have had a few Nics now and had to rehome 4. My first was Elsie the female in my display pic and she was great I had her for nearly 2 years and she grew from 2 inches to a big chunky 7 inches in that time. She always ran the tank and got in fights that either settled down or I had to rehome something else to keep her which I was happy to do at the time - unfortunately she got in a big fight with a Severum the night before I was taking the Sev back and died of the injuries But the thing is they do have great characters and if you have the right tank then it would be fantastic. I then tried a further 4 to try and get a similar kind of character and they were all far worse than Elsie even when they were tiny and in the end I had to rehome all of them... they were very nippy to much bigger fish and were actually causing quite a bit of damage... so for their safety and the other fish I rehomed them.
 
Also in a planted tank its not a great choice as they do dig a lot. Especially in sand.
 
And since your having to leave the tank for some time each week I wouldnt trust a nic in an unattended community for similar reasons as to what happend with mine.
 
That said though if you had your 55g and had a female Nic in it (males get too big for a 55, and its the females you want for the colours) you could get a great tank set up with things like big Hoplo Catfish, Marbled Headstanders, Silver Hatchets, Swordtails, medium sized Disk Tetras like the Lemons that you mentioned. That way you have quite a diverse American tank with a fantastic character in the middle with the Nic
 
I think if you wanted to keep your other fish though I would look at something like a Rainbow Cichlid
 
Wills

 

[wrightt3]

+1 for rainbow cichlids!
Other cichlids that may work are firemouths, festivums, acaras, sajicas or possibly honduran red points (to name a few).
Just remember that there is no guarantee with how a cichlid may behave so do keep an eye out.

 

[GAB99]

Thanks! I think it might have actually been you that suggested a nic a long time ago back when I had bigger fish, im sorry about your first nic she was really beautiful.

I do like the look of the rainbow cichlid, I might go with that

will a pair of rams go well in my tank or am I better off not getting them?

 

[Wills]

Bolivians could work - mixing a community with Blue Rams is never a great idea really.
 
I would get small young fish though since you have a cichlid already in your tank - adding cichlids is often risky and as wrightt33 said they can be problematic in the future as well but I find adding small fish to an tank with an established cichlid in works better than adding one of a comparable size.
 
Wills

 

[GAB99]

Cool, im going. To get young fish anyway since its fun to watch em grow up.
I dont know what to do with the angel though, hes gotten bigger (around half dollar size) so I dont know if I should add same size angels or smaller ones (smaller ones at the same time?) Or leave him by his lonesome.

 

[GAB99]

Would a festivum and rainbow work with 2 angels and Bolivians?