Cichlids in a community tank?

[breese31]

I don't trust my LFSs, is there a cichlid that will leave smaller fish alone? I have guppies, danios, and dwarf gouramis in a 55 gal tank.

[redlessi]

maybe a bolivian ram

[Shawnie]

depending on how many gourami's, angels or firemouths could work also ...but only if you have 1-2 DG's

[thorpbrian]

Blood parrots will generally work. They're a hybrid though, which some people don't like.

[critter_fritter79]

I loved my blood parrots! Sadly, I hadn't found fishlore yet and the day I bought them for my 75gallon tank, I also got 4 baby oscars. All went well for a while but the parrots were the first to start getting whooped on when the oscars started getting bigger. I rehomed them before they got injured. Sad, but I gave them to my local feed store. The manager is a very nice lady and put them in a tank with angels and a few DG. They have been in her tank for about 4 months now and doing great! Plus, I get to visit them whenever I want to!

[breese31]

I have two gouramis right now, I've heard the angel would be good but wondering if my guppies would be driving it crazy with fin nipping. Firemouths look interesting, would I be overdoing it by adding a firemouth and angel? I have 6 guppies, 2 long finned zebra danios, 2 dwarf gourami, 1 rapsobora hem, and a ghost shrimp.. Also, I have hard 7.4 pH, 78F water.

[Shawnie]

I think you could add 1 angel and 1 firemouth.......the ph is fine just acclimate them slowly ...the temp is great also my guppies dont bother my angels..if anything, the angels chase them but arent as quick as the guppies lol ...is your aquarium info correct? if so, I wouldnt get the angels or firemouths until the tank finishes cycling..angels are pretty sensitive to ammonia/ nitrites

[Tropical Aquarist]

I would recomend at least two angles. IF you got you PH down then the Ram cichlid would be great, but I have made the mistake of putting them in hard water and they die within a week.

[Nick G]

Kribs or any of the Apistos will work in a community tank.

[Shadowbeam]

Hey, was thinking about getting a ram cichlid but saw you mentioned they die in hard water, i was wondering how i can find out if i have hard or soft water? And if my water is hard is there any way to change/condition it?

[TedsTank]

Look into keyhole cichlids also....they are not very colorful but in my experiences are gentle. Angel fish as mentioned above would be good too and or Kribs..

With any of the cichlids....if you end up having a pair, and they want to spawn there will be some nipping going on at least

And I strongly recomend that you use NO chemicals to alter your water parameters(Ph). It's a full time job for water changes, to be sure your PH remains stable....and one big mistake on a major water change can be deadly....not good for a fun community tank.

Keep up your research and recomendations from the forum members and you will find a fish to fit your needs/wants without altering your water.

[Tropical Aquarist]

Yeah well Rams don't like high ph if your ph is stable though you could give them a try. Just bring your water to a fishstore and they should test it for you. Then you can know if Rams will work.

[Kivstev]

I've had success with Kribs, German Blue Rams, Bolivian Rams, and even an Elec Blue Jack Dempsey that was way too wimpy for my SA tank. The GBR's would sometimes chase him away.

[fishingman001]

i kept 2 angel fish with guppies, glofish, and cherry barbs with no problems.

[harpua2002]

Bolivian rams would do fine. They are much more tolerant of higher pH than GBR's, and a lot more hardy in general.

[kacie]

Wait what about the dwarf gouramis being too territorial for the rams. I would worry about that.

[harpua2002]

I wouldn't. Bolivians could hold their own with DGs IMO, they are tougher than they look.

[chrislikesfish]

i have a firemouth chichlid with my gouramis and danios they work well but dont get a male and female b/c they will pair and get very vicious but haveing one is perfevtly fine, and they are beautiful chichlids!

[MissMTS]

Great suggestions above I have many cichlids in Community type set ups and they are doing great; however, you do still need to select tank mates carefully. I would avoid a firemouth if I were you though. I have had a couple of them (and currently have one in my CA tank right now) and they can be vicious! I wouldn't put it past one to kill an angel or to eat your guppies (especially since the guppies aren't very quick swimmers). I think an angel is a great idea though. Bolivian rams, keyholes, festivums, apistogramma species, Rainbow Cichlids, and even some smaller Geophagus species would be excellent choices to look into as well

[Shawnie]

i have 3 firemouths with my angel pair,cories, and JD fry......they use to be with jd's and cons in my 75g, but they got picked on way too much....maybe i have the wimpy firemouths.. LOL ...zero agression from them in the new tank ...

[MissMTS]

Wow Shawnie, lol, I wish mine were that nice. I guess all fish really do have their own personalities

[Shawnie]

Originally Posted by MissMTS

Wow Shawnie, lol, I wish mine were that nice. I guess all fish really do have their own personalities

I agree!! I got the 3 to have something different in my NW tank..but the cons and jd's had a field day with them i was sad!!!!!

so they are in the 55g with what i mentioned...grrr lol ..wanna switch fish?

[steve_58]

I keep a bolivian ram and a gold ram in a 55g with cherry barbs,various tetras including neons and they all get along just fine.I also have a 55 g with an 11" chocolate that has giant danios around 2", a 2 1/2" green severum and a 3" gold severum and they all get along fine. When it comes to cichlids it is pretty much trial and error,lol. Each one has its own personality and temporament.What works for one tank might be a disaster in the next.I had 2 firemouths and one was very peaceful towards his tankmates and the one in the other tank was very hostile towards his.

[DRock914]

I agree with Steve_58. We have a tank with a gold severum and a green severum and the gold one chases the green one all day when he comes out of hiding whereas in his tank they get along. I had DGs with Bolivian Rams but I couldn't keep the DGs alive. The DGs are good tank mates if they last.

[Sussex Cichlid]

Hi guy's, I would suggest Angels as they are peaceful, but Bolivian rams would do all right. I guess its a matter of taste and what you fancy really. I wouldn't recommend firemouths because like with all cichlids, they can vary so much in temperament. I also think that Keyhole cichlids would work, as well as Rainbow cichlids, the list is endless really, always a case of 'suck it and see'

[crazy4fish_123]

bichardis are good ones to put in community tanks