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small cichlids

4033 Views 17 Replies 11 Participants Last post by  OakRaid
I was thinking of getting a 55 or 77 gallon tank and that would mean a tank shuffle and would leave me with a twenty gallon tall empty. I've yet to have cichlids and was wondering if there are any smaller ones that won't outgrow that tank and will like a planted tank. Any suggestions? What would be possible tank mates?
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There are lots of small cichlids. If it were me I would get a pair of German Blue Rams or a pair of some type of Apistogram.
I just got A Male/Female Pair of Pelvicachromis teaniatus "Moliwe". They are awesome and won't be too big in my 55 gallon tank. Here is a link that shows the fish.

http://www.thekrib.com/Apisto/P-taeniatus.html

Matt
Hi, you can try going for the chess board, its a kind of dwarf south america cichlids. You can see the pic here :)

http://www.arofanatics.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=116263
Look into Bolivian Rams (Microgeophagus altispinosa) also.
Laetacara dorsigera or curviceps. Cute fish. And nice colors when in the right tank. Go over to apistogramma.com and check out all the apistos there. And when they breed...so cool. It's exciting to see the parents raise the fry.

Cool fish Corigan. I just got a copy of Cichlids From West Africa(Linke/Staeck). I know it's old but lots of info. Lots of cool dwarves from there also.
jeff_corwin said:
Hi, you can try going for the chess board, its a kind of dwarf south america cichlids.
FYI,

This is actually Checkerboard Cichlid - Dicrossus filamentosus
How common are these fish? I need something easy to find because I live in the middle of nowhere.
I've been looking around and these ones have interested me -
Apistogramma cacatuoides(Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid), Nannacara anomala(Golden Dwarf Acara), Microgeophagus ramirezi(Ram), Anomalochromis thomasi(African Butterfly Cichlid), Pelvicachromis pulcher(Krib) and Aequidens curviceps(Flag Cichlid). Are these ones fairly common?(I know kribs and rams should be)
Thanks
the other ones are fairly hard to get my lfs usually stocks kribs and rams ocasionally they'll stock dwarf cichilds or if you special order them they'll pick some up for you so ask them if they will order some fish for you or something like that
I'll have to see what is on my LFS list next time they do a fish order. THe only Cichlids I know what they are the angels and oscars. They do have these yellow ones sometimes and some others. I'll have to look closer next time.
Well looked at three pet stores yesterday. Only thing I could find was a lot of assorted cichlids and one normal finned Ram and some long finned Rams. They didn't look right though. The colors were really washed out and the body shape was more like a pregnant platy or molly. Is this normal or could they not be Rams, Anomalochromis thomasi maybe?
Going to look at my local LFS today and talk to them. See what they have.

Apistogramma cacatuoides(Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlid), Nannacara anomala(Golden Dwarf Acara), Microgeophagus ramirezi(Ram), Anomalochromis thomasi(African Butterfly Cichlid), Pelvicachromis pulcher(Krib) and Aequidens curviceps(Flag Cichlid)
Out of those fish would Rams be the most peaceful species? If not what would be the easiest to care for and most peaceful species? I wish I had a bigger tank because I saw some really nice angels yesterday, but I don't have a tank that would be suitable for them right now.
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I know that rams are pretty peacefull. When breeding they will defend their territory though.
Do you have Rams? What kind of setup do you have them in? What for tankmates?
Borellis dwarf chichlid

Hi .. Just wanted to ask for some input on keeping a pair of Borellis dwarfs in a planted tank. This tank does have some Amano shrimp..would the Cichlids damage the shrimp??
The tank is a 50 gl (I think?) is 48" long, 12" deep, 18" high.
This is a relatively new tank .. about two months running. Right now it has lots of plants, 10 neon Tetra, 2 SAE, 10 Amano Shrimp.

I would like to add the pair of Dwarf Borellis, a Yoyo Loach, and a pair of Neon Blue Gourami.
Do you guys think this would be over stocked?? And what do you guys think about compatibility issues??

THanks!!
I had two rams but one recently died :-( Im looking for a replacement now. I have them with discus, rummynose, columbian tetras, pleco, ottos, sae's, yo-yo loaches, killis, and i think thats it. they are in my 75 gallon planted tank.

Im not sure but I would think cichlids and shrimp would not mix.
Apistogramma borellii should do fine with your amano shrimp. I kept amano shrimp with Blue Rams (Microgeophagus ramirezi) together, and they coexisted peacefully.

Carlos
I had a great pair of Apisto Agassizi that were a great couple. The male was very protective of his mate, but never violent to any fish or shrimp. Their interaction was interesting and they were very beautiful.
tsunami said:
Apistogramma borellii should do fine with your amano shrimp. I kept amano shrimp with Blue Rams (Microgeophagus ramirezi) together, and they coexisted peacefully.

Carlos
Thanks Carlos ... What do you think about my plans on what fish I want to add...Do you see any problems there> and how about the fish load in the tank I described, Do you think I will be ok? Thanks
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