Stocking Suggestions Pretty Please

[spudgun2k]

hello, i am bidding to buy a 3ft by 1.5 ft tank and will be wanting to start a cichlid tank, (i have a 50 gal community tank at the mo)

I want to have things that will go with my rams that are in my community, i need to know what type of cichlids i can get, ie, african or american (basic i know, sorry) and what you might stock it with, i will then lok at the species through google or whatnot to see what i think.
it will prob be i guess about 30 gals.

thank you in advance, lee.

 

[thegnu]

hi,
to build a cichlid community around your rams will IMO limit your choices. you could go with apistogramma species but they are quite expensive, a bit delicate and not freely available. i would stick with south, central american cichlids and wouldn't mix these with african cichlids. nannacara would work, n. anomala being a commoner one (goldeneye dwarf cichlid)
dorsigaris another and curviceps (sheepshead cichlid) flag cichlid (or is that the same fish) i would be tempted to leave the rams where they are and go with central american's like the keyhole, port arcara, festivum, angel which i have kept together and i even had a nicaraguens and a texas and they all got on brilliantly together but these are all middle sized fish and so need more room. anyway best of luck on what you decide on

 

[jayjay]

Hey spud,

First of all, just have a look around on the internet at which fish you like. Look at fish from African rift lakes and Western Africa and then have a look at the new world cichlids.

Choose if you just want cichlids or not. Think about do you want a "rocky" tanks or bogwood, planted tank.

Could make a few nice combinations from lake Tang. or I'd go for a pair of something from the new world.

 

[LisaLQ]

Festivums can get to 8" so wouldn't be suitable for a 30g.

But rainbow cichlids would, and they're peaceful so you can keep them in pairs with other community fish. Keyholes are another option. I've not personally had keyholes, but I've got rainbows and they're fantastic - colourful, playful, cheeky and yet peaceful too

They are very active though, so it might be nice to..well...give in for a slightly bigger tank? Although I'm sure they'd be ok in a 30g.

But apart from rams and the trickier dwarf cichlids, the rainbows and keyholes are probably the best starter small cichlid. Failing that there's convicts, they're cheap, easy and colourful - but they're not the easiest to find tankmates for - and if you kept a breeding pair (which your 30g would be the right size for but you wouldn't be able to have tank mates with them), you'd be stuck with a load of babies you couldn't even give away.

 

[jayjay]

I'm trying for more rainbow cichlid fry for you still. They are in full breeding colours the main pair, guarding a rock, should lay soon hopefully. Also if you have trouble with fry I can always help you out spud

 

[spudgun2k]

cheers jay, right been looking through google (blimmin difficult)

here goes, in the african rift lake cichlidsm i like,Tropheus, butterfly cichlid, 2 spotted jewel cichlid, blood red jewel cichlid, and kribs.

in the new world, the electric blue dempdey
charma snakehead and maybe a paid of midas cichlids.

now i know that some of these most likely cant go in or might be impossible to get. but that is some of the thingsm i like. obviously though i will still have the little guy (the survivor) so hopeflly can build tank around him. ps to all others who are not jay, the survivor is a rainbow cichlid.

i was thinkg rocky, poss slate the guy at hurrens said he has a ton of slate i can have, with that in moind do u want any slate i could get you some!

ps. the more fry the better. lol cheers.
pps, any pics of your latest fish and set ups?
spud

I'm trying for more rainbow cichlid fry for you still. They are in full breeding colours the main pair, guarding a rock, should lay soon hopefully. Also if you have trouble with fry I can always help you out spud

 

[jayjay]

Ummmm no pics, but I can take some for you, still need another tank around 25g. Oooooo slate I can use slate, since I've hardly any decor in my 90g at the moment. Thanks.

Hmmmm for your ideas, yes or no with a littler explanation -

Tropheus, - need big groups,
butterfly cichlid, - yup
2 spotted jewel cichlid, - yup
blood red jewel cichlid, -yup
kribs. - yup
electric blue dempdey - no, too big
charma snakehead - not sure what this is?
midas cichlids. - no, too big.

Some more ideas for you. N. brichardi, juliachromis, pelvicachromis, Egyptian mouthbrooders, small acara species, apisto's, rams, convicts, rainbow cichlids, shell dwellers, chromides, red jewels, angels, sajica, festivums, dwarf pike cichlids, small geo.s, Neetroplus nematopus, yellow labs.

Should keep you googling for a while, just look at images first, then come back with the ones you like the most.

 

[spudgun2k]

ok here's what i think of the other fish mr jay.

acara - i like the blue acara

apisto's like the dorelli is it?

convict i like it but not as much as others

chromides the orange is a nice fish

red jewel is really nice

sajica - no

dwarf pike is cool

geo's are nice

yellow labs - nice

what family are the red zebra cichlis part of the same family as the yello labs, they would look nice together.

i will get as much slate as poss i think it is a bucket load at least, will speak to him at the weekend!!

with the info you have to hand what would you do?? or what would you have i should say.

 

[jayjay]

Depends, I think a tanks with lots of slate or other dark coloured rocks and light substrate with a big group of salousi, you may like that idea, male dominant salousi are blue and the females are yellow/orange. You could probably go for 1m/5f with good filtration in my opinion.

I'm looking for some kind of snakehead but can't find any so I may go for a tank setup similar to the above.

Red zebras are from the same lake as yellow labs, not sure how well they'd work together in a 30g.

 

[spudgun2k]

i like the look of that, i am moving house poss in the next 6 weeks to cheltenham, i will set up the new tank when i have a few hours in the new house. where do you think i could get the little blighters?

will let you know when i have some slate.

 

[Clovenhoof]

This isn't first hand experience, But my DH says that jewels and rams get along very nicely together.

 

[jayjay]

Jewels and rams, will most likely end badly.

Spud, I have many hundreds of rainbow cichlids eggs as of today and the other pair look poised to breed. So let me know what stage you want these ones at?