Recommended Cichlids For Community Tank?

[chesterjohn]

I'm planning on what to stock my tank with, currently there are just some guppies, and soon to be adding cardinal tetras. What kind of Cichlids could I put in with these? I'm looking for something colourful that won't attack the other fish.

I've seen kribensis and Apistos, which I like the look of, will these be ok with smaller fish? And are there any other suitable Cichlids out there?

 

[kaivalagi]

Any of the smaller cichlids should be okay, it's more about mouth size than anything else...although if you have a breeding pair of cichlids they will turn nasty no matter how nice normally.

Other options are the various rams, Bolivian rams being quite hardy.

You need to know you tank pH and temp, and look at what fits...let us know what these 2 things are. Also has the tank been setup long? Some rams cichlids ideally need to go into a tank that has been matured for a bit first i.e. cycle done with and then another couple of months of running nicely.

 

[me499]

i kept a german blue ram (stunning), and an electric blue ram (also stunning) with guppies and had no trouble once the rams had decided who was boss.

unfortunately my electric blue died extremely unexpectedly and after reading more info, i think it was due due to the temp, so now keep it at 30 and every ones happy. i have also read that electric blues are rather weak when it comes to water conditions?? but im not sure.

from my experiencee i would recommend the german blue ram, stunning fish and a good tank mate to all the others

 

[Dan-CR4]

I got Bolivian Rams and Keyhole Cichlids in with Mollys and they are all doing well together.

 

[chesterjohn]

I like the look of Bolivian and German blue rams. I'll have to check out the ph of my water and see if it's suitable.

The tank is new and not ready for anything like this yet. I'm just sticking with guppies for a couple more weeks, then putting in some cardinal tetras and hopefully a gold nugget plec after that. This is just an idea so I can look out for fish that I want.

Would there be any problems with rams and apistos in the same tank? I don't really want to be overrun with baby fish either, are males ok to keep together?

 

[kaivalagi]

I like the look of Bolivian and German blue rams. I'll have to check out the ph of my water and see if it's suitable.

The tank is new and not ready for anything like this yet. I'm just sticking with guppies for a couple more weeks, then putting in some cardinal tetras and hopefully a gold nugget plec after that. This is just an idea so I can look out for fish that I want.

Would there be any problems with rams and apistos in the same tank? I don't really want to be overrun with baby fish either, are males ok to keep together?

one male of each would be okay, not sure with more than one of each...

If I were you I would go with Bolivians rather than German Blues, they are far more hardier IME...

I think some Apistos can be kept in < 7.5 pH...

best to get some reading done anyway, just to know for sure...I'm going from memory

 

[PDSimon]

I like the look of Bolivian and German blue rams. I'll have to check out the ph of my water and see if it's suitable.

The tank is new and not ready for anything like this yet. I'm just sticking with guppies for a couple more weeks, then putting in some cardinal tetras and hopefully a gold nugget plec after that. This is just an idea so I can look out for fish that I want.

Would there be any problems with rams and apistos in the same tank? I don't really want to be overrun with baby fish either, are males ok to keep together?

one male of each would be okay, not sure with more than one of each...

If I were you I would go with Bolivians rather than German Blues, they are far more hardier IME...

I think some Apistos can be kept in < 7.5 pH...

best to get some reading done anyway, just to know for sure...I'm going from memory

Do people say bolivian rams are more hardy because basically they can handle more nitrates, a higher pH and a lower temp/temp changes better?

 

[kaivalagi]

Do people say bolivian rams are more hardy because basically they can handle more nitrates, a higher pH and a lower temp/temp changes better?

Less fussy, can take messier water (higher Nitrates therefore less water changes required, once a week is fine) and you have more of a range of pH and temp to play with I think, when compared to blue rams for example. My opinion was based on trying to keep blue rams before, they didn't last more than 4 weeks, partially because of the setup being borderline for them (I had a pH of 7.5 and temp of 27C to allow for other stock) and partially because they were poor stock I think.

 

[PDSimon]

Do people say bolivian rams are more hardy because basically they can handle more nitrates, a higher pH and a lower temp/temp changes better?

Less fussy, can take messier water (higher Nitrates therefore less water changes required, once a week is fine) and you have more of a range of pH and temp to play with I think, when compared to blue rams for example. My opinion was based on trying to keep blue rams before, they didn't last more than 4 weeks, partially because of the setup being borderline for them (I had a pH of 7.5 and temp of 27C to allow for other stock) and partially because they were poor stock I think.

I would be happy to keep bolivian Rams but the electric blue ones are amazing

I think the electric blues are closely related to the german blue ram

Theres not much information on the electric blue ones but as you say the germans are much more needy

Thats why I'm annoying waterdrop with all the questions about pH and cycling And to be fair to the LFS all their fish look in amazing condition...

 

[kaivalagi]

Very nice looking but once you've got them you are restricted to a small selection of other fish in comparison to keeping say Bolivians...

You may be lucky, you might get some that are hardy and can take the parameters needed by others e.g. lower temps and higher pH

I think you're best finding nice fish which match your natural pH and going from there, far more straight forward and a lot less hassle.

All my own opinion obviously, each to thier own

 

[PDSimon]

Very nice looking but once you've got them you are restricted to a small selection of other fish in comparison to keeping say Bolivians...

You may be lucky, you might get some that are hardy and can take the parameters needed by others e.g. lower temps and higher pH

I think you're best finding nice fish which match your natural pH and going from there, far more straight forward and a lot less hassle.

All my own opinion obviously, each to thier own

I know exactly what you mean and you're right its better to be safe than sorry! I just don't want to look back and think with a bit more commitment I could've had so and so. Luckily I have plenty of time for more research but i'll probably get the bolivian rams anyway!

I'd like to cycle my tank with a lower pH ~6.5 and see what happens in the last week, or an additional week. I'd be happy doing bigger water changes and what not.

 

[meguro]

electric blue rams and blue rams are both the same fish, mikrogeophagus ramirezi, so too are gold rams. other fish that might interest u is apistogramma sp. steel blue, though it is suspected that theyre a hybrid, and apistogramma baenschi

 

[fluvial]

Appistogamma Njisseni -
beautiful fish and the sexes are completely different to look at

 

[james_fish]

I keep Rams in a community and they are fine, I also have Kribs but they can be a bit funny. I had to remove two the other day but the remaining two seem fine at the moment. Check my signature to see what they are in with.

James.

 

[chrisbassist]

Keyholes are great, they can happily adapt to a huge range of ph's anywhere between 6 and 8 would be fine, they are fairly adaptable to temp, just don't go too hot, and they are perfectly suited to a community tank since they can be quite shy, but don't attack anyone, if they have enough caves they will come out and greet you though.

Out of the apistos, the cockatoo (cactuoides) will adapt to the higher ph easier. But as is said all the time, if you introduce properly, and have a consistent ph, that's more important.