What New Cichlid(S)?

[AmazonFTW]

This weekend I rearranged one of my tanks (240ltr, 120x40x55cm) and openned it up a fair bit, it now looks very bare so I want to add more fish. I would like to add a species of Cichlid to the tank to add that little something to the tank. I need the Cichlid(s) to fit with the current stocking:
3x Banded Rainbowfish
2x Goby sp. (2.5", worm like, fast)
3x Bristlenose
2x Kuhli Loach
1x Kyathit Danio
1x Cardinal Tetra (Can be moved if it is at risk)
(Soon to be added: 7/8 Congo Tetras, 1x Synodontis sp.)

I have 'Algae' shrimp in the tank and it would be nice if the Cichlid could cut down the number of these things (4 shrimp became 400 )

Thanks,
AmazonFTW

 

[minnnt]

If you're looking for a cichlid then you could look at a pair of rainbow cichlids?

 

[Wills]

Wow blank canvas

Right I would move the Cardinal like you said and get him some friends. Then up your schooling numbers for the Rainbows, Danio and Khuli Loaches.

And then since you are keeping mostly eastern fish how about sticking with that side of the world, like Kribs, African Butterflies or Blockheads/Lionhead Cichlids? There are some stunning rarer species of kribs if you can track them down I have seen a blue one before stunning! Alternatively I love albino kribs especially when they get the red bellies

For me I would go for a pair of Albino Kribs and a pair/trio of Lionheads - again a few species to choose from

Wills

 

[AmazonFTW]

I much prefer SAs and CAs tbh. I do like Kribs, Lionheads etc. but they're just not what I particularly want.

Rainbow Cichlids sound nice but I've heard mixed views, some say they're very peaceful, others say they aren't.

Oh and the Khuli loaches - I never see the ones I've got, they just hide under the wood. Is this because they want more buddies?

 

[Wills]

Lol I am the same but for me its with all types of fish the Americans are just better for me

With the Khullis they could gain confidence with more in the tank

Okay so Americans that could work. If your after breeding maybe consider dwarfs? A large hareem of Apistos are always nice And if you can get a species with colourful females like Nijsenni or Panduro even better!!

Or you could go for a comm of singletons, like blue acaras, rainbows etc I really like Yellow Convicts atm and would grab them the first time I saw them

Rainbows on the whole are pretty calm even when breeding, most smaller cichlids are generally fine in comm tanks for breeding as they will get a territory and defent it from on comers and the other fish will learn to avoid them - though greedy plecs may try to get a snack

Wills

 

[minnnt]

Honduran red points? Mine are brilliant. Nice temperament even when breeding. Worth a look.

 

[AmazonFTW]

All seems great, Blue Acara are lovely and a fish I have looked into in the past. Apistos are a big no, but only due to my water chemisty as the rainbowfish prefer a higher pH and hardness.

Heard of Honduran Red Points before, never looked into them though, I assume they're similar to Cryptoheros Cutteri in terms of personality, behaviour etc?

Yellow Convicts but getting them would probably be quite hard?

And yes, I'm looking at a community of singles OR a pair of breeders.

Thanks for the comments so far.

 

[Wills]

Yeah Yellow Cons are hard to find but not impossible! Have a look around on Aquarist Classified a few people are selling some on there

HRP are similar to Cutteri yes and either could work in there though with HRPs you have to be careful you dont get what are called Blue Convicts which are HRP x Convicts hybrids as they are more aggressive. Though good quality Convicts should be blue as well so either way a bit problematic but no real differences between them So just need to get a pureish source

Wills

 

[ChilliPepper]

I keep Rainbowfish, Apistos, Rams and Dwarf Acara together in hard water with no problems. It can be done.

I'd recommend Keyholes for your tank. A group of 4 or so would look lovely. They are gorgeous fish when mature, and very cute as babies.

The Khulis need to be in a bigger group, at least 6. You'll see them then.

 

[minnnt]

Keyholes or rainbow cichlids in my opinion. Rainbows aren't aggressive from my experience so would for right in. My pair are joined at the hip. They're never much further than an inch apart... very nice to watch and their colouration is brilliant.

 

[AmazonFTW]

I've tryed Apistos, Rams etc. before and they weren't successful. As for Keyholes, I have on of those too.

Oh yeah, I went out to buy Congo Tetras today (which are shoaling with my rainbowfish ) and I also came back with two 2" severums... may not be a wise choice but I couldn't resist them... I might get something else though as I've heard Sevs are peaceful for one of the larger cichlids. Rainbow Cichlids were down at my LFS - they have some 6" ones, might get one of them.

AmazonFTW

 

[ChilliPepper]

Hope you're upgrading your tank soon then, with 2 Sevs!

 

[AmazonFTW]

Hope you're upgrading your tank soon then, with 2 Sevs!

I've read in a fair few places that a pair of Sevs will be OK in a 55 Gallon tank, and the guy at MA said they'd be OK and if there were any problems I could take them back. I'm hoping that there won't be as at the moment they seem like the best of friends. I am unsure whether 55 Gallons means US or UK but mine is 52.79 gallons(UK/Imperial) and 63.40 gallons(US).

I'm hoping they'll be OK as they're stunning fish, but if any problems arise I can always do a swap around with my other 240L and split them. I also plan to keep on top of water changes to make sure the water is top quality.

AmazonFTW

 

[Wills]

With Sevs a good rule of thumb is - common Green Severums (Heros Efasticious) Gold Severums, Super Reds etc need 75g minimum for 1 - where as Rotkiels and true Heros Severus 65g is okayish.

I had an adult male Heros Severus in a Roma 240 (guessing yours is similar to that) for a little under a year and he did okay but getting him into a big tank has made a big difference. And he is only small male really.

You will be okay for a short while but the tank isnt really ideal - especially for Severums that are capeable of getting 10-12 inches quickly.

Wills

 

[AmazonFTW]

Hamfist just told me it's a Green Severum. The tank is the same dimensions as a Roma 240. If I don't think they're OK in the tank size then I'll deal with that when the time comes but for the moment they seem tiny compared to the size of the tank.

AmazonFTW