What Cichlids For A Community

[john68]

hi there i have got a  5ft 450l  

 Community tank  well saying that all i a have in it  is   clown loaches,  corys , 2 common plecs 1 big and 1 small ,1 bn 1 redtailed shark, about 5 inch 2xsilver shark, some one told me i  could put  american cichlids in with the fish i got  is this true?
 
 
i dont want any thing that is going to get big or be aggressive  like jd or oscars
 
i love  convicts  but    i know they are aggressive and bread like  wild fire so i know that them out . so would cichlids be ok in my tank if so which one s tia. or is the guy that told me they be ok  full of it 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
thanks...............john
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

[DerpPH]

hm... cichlidsare bottom dwellers and it seems you do have too many in that tank, that tank is mostly bottom dwellers

 

[the_lock_man]

Additionally, the redtail black shark is renowned for becoming aggressive and territorial when it gets older. Anything that is basically bottom dwelling will be a target. All your fish are bottom dwellers. I seriously fear for the cories, they are too small to stand up to the RTBS.

 

[star4]

You could go with a mid to top dwelling cichlid like a festivim, even a severum. If you like convicts, although yes they can get a bit on the mean side an alternative that is very placid is the green flier (Archocentrus centrarchus), I have kept all of these with the species you already have with the exception of the silver sharks.

 

[sawickib]

I would say severums, anglefish, or geophagus.
But i would rehome the silver sharks, as well as the plecos they get 2 ft long, then you can also get kribensis, apistogramas or german rams.

 

[john68]

one common plec is my friend that i am  just  housing till he gets a bigger tank 
 
i can easy get rid of the  sharks  the lfs shop has said he would take them from me  no probs are severums not aggressive ?
 
i like  rams and also  kribs i also  used to have  cockatoo cichlids  but   i can not find them any where to buy  at min 
 
i was thinking about key holes  are they ok 
 
i also got a 4ft 140l  tank with nothing in it  which i was going to use for americans  i dont what big ones  how many do you guys think i could get in  that tank ?
 
tia

 

[DerpPH]

one common plec is my friend that i am  just  housing till he gets a bigger tank 
 
i can easy get rid of the  sharks  the lfs shop has said he would take them from me  no probs are severums not aggressive ?
 
i like  rams and also  kribs i also  used to have  cockatoo cichlids  but   i can not find them any where to buy  at min 
 
i was thinking about key holes  are they ok 
 
i also got a 4ft 140l  tank with nothing in it  which i was going to use for americans  i dont what big ones  how many do you guys think i could get in  that tank ?
 
tia

in the 140 l you can house a pair of apistogramma cacatuoides with some dither fish like cardinal tetras, I wouldn't recommend other bottom dwellers with American cichlids unless they are discus or angels because they take up floor space.
 
 
But first what is the pH in your main tank? if your lucky to have perfectly soft water you can try your luck at discus

 

[john68]

i dont want discus never  been a fan of them 
 
me dad used to have them and i never like them

 

[gh74]

Hey John get the redtailed out he will cause havoc and kill your fish with stress i had to remove mine out of the tank,and all the size he was and still was a nightmare never again would i have one or a ruby shark either to much chaos with them i learned that

 

[chanish]

Ram maybe?

 

[Brodeur30]

I have a trio of female convicts (2 large normal and a small pink) in my cichlid tank and the 2 large ones only mess with with other the other cichlids to keep them in line (like the salvini). The pink one is pretty peaceful and the poor firemouth is at the bottom of the pecking order. The cichlids don't even mess with the albino bristlenose or the 3 Australian rainbows. My cichlids have killed a red tailed shark though