Are cichlids worth the homicidal tendencies?

I've a 55 gallon tank that is begging to be restarted (was a salt water tank; lost it a couple years back while I was away unexpectedly for 6 weeks and, well, the family didn't keep it up).

I love cichlids, though the LFS suggested against it, as they always kill each other off (keeps him in business, he said). Are they worth it? As a kid 45 years ago, had a small cichlid tank, and the auratus killed all his tank mates.

Should I give it a try with cichlids? If so, African or South American?

Go for another community tank (already have another 55 gallon mixed community)?

Go for a single species tank as the LFS recommended as very rewarding? If so, what species are fun (he suggested rainbows)?

Open to any and all suggestions, though all the local salt water shops went out of business during the pandemic, so that's pretty much off the table. . . .

Thanks!

 

Auratus are the most aggressive fish. The male will kill everyone he sees.

Not all Cichlids are like this. Get some Jewels, or some Brachardis. They breed and take care of their young in groups.

Go single species for the Chiclids. But you can put some other kinds of fish in with them. But just one kind of fish with the same body shape.

 

I'm not really an African Cichlid guy, but I do know certain species will play nice with eachother, and some don't. If you go to the local store and get one of each kind of cichlid, you'll have a bloodbath - cichlids are a huge group of fish with wildly different preferences and care. Even within the same family of cichlids, you gotta pick and choose.

I'd check out some of Tazawa Tank's videos on Youtube - I think he's done a few videos on keeping Africans in 40 or 55 gallon tanks. I'm sure he'd give info on which ones work and which ones don't.

 

I have 3 electric blue acara and 3 geophagus topajay redheads in a 55 with Australian rainbows and loaches. They are not full-grown, I may need to separate them at some point. I am new to cichlids too. So far so good with the aggression. I did have 4 topajay, had to rehome one of them and now things are much more civil. These are fish with more individual personalities.

 

I've a 55 gallon tank that is begging to be restarted (was a salt water tank; lost it a couple years back while I was away unexpectedly for 6 weeks and, well, the family didn't keep it up).

I love cichlids, though the LFS suggested against it, as they always kill each other off (keeps him in business, he said). Are they worth it? As a kid 45 years ago, had a small cichlid tank, and the auratus killed all his tank mates.

Should I give it a try with cichlids? If so, African or South American?

Go for another community tank (already have another 55 gallon mixed community)?

Go for a single species tank as the LFS recommended as very rewarding? If so, what species are fun (he suggested rainbows)?

Open to any and all suggestions, though all the local salt water shops went out of business during the pandemic, so that's pretty much off the table. . . .

Thanks!

African cichlids aren't for everyone.
But I think they are awesome....but I'm a little biased.
I don't think that a single species tank is "necessary" but they can be cool.

Personally, in a 55 gallon...I'd put about 10-12 Peacock cichlids in there and over filter the tank (turn the water over about 8-10 time per hour).
But again.....im a little biased.

 

Decide first if you want a planted tank or not. That will narrow the options a little. Cichlidae is a huge family.

 

The GH of your town water supply would be my starting point. There are dozens of cichlids from most continents. As it’s a 55 forget about anything big in my opinion you would be better off with one of the dwarf species and build a tank around that.
Do you have hard water suitable for Africans or soft water only suitable for soft water species without adding minerals.

The plants or not question is a good starting point to.

One of the smallest cichlid ( shellies) don’t eat their young and are what is often called step breeders where the daughters help mum raise the next generation.

 

Without knowing water parameters of your water source etc, it’s hard to suggest a fish - soft water you are looking at south american/west africa, moderately hard central american and hard water you are looking at the rift lakes of east africa. But there is a cichlid out there for everyone if they want - whether that’s a dwarf right up to some of the larger tankbusters.

Cichlids have this erroneous reputation for being little murderers but if it gets to that then they haven’t been given the right conditions to live in. Some will be aggressive and territorial, but that’s in their nature.

 

I agree the water source is decisive here. No way around that.
The Cichlid group contains almost 2000 described species in the americas, africa and the indian subcontinent. Their requirements vary widely. As does their behaviour. There are species that completely ignore anything else. Some become killers when spawning. Some don't tolerate any other fish in their territory. Also sizewise: The biggest grow to about a meter. The smallest 2cm.

So... there are cichlids for everyone. Except you cannot stand any aggression in your tank at all.

 

Wow. Thanks for all the great answers. Looking at the municipal district's site, we have relatively soft water (source is a reservoir in the Sierra foothills) at 18mg/l. Ambivalent about the plants. So reading the above, looks like Central American or West African based on the soft water. Can species from those areas cohabitate?

 

I guess most here in the thread will tell you to keep them geographically separate. Some won't. And some will likely say it doesn't matter.
I myself say keep them separate.

Very soft water would rather say south america and west/central africa.

 

If your tap water is soft your options remain wide open. It’s simple to maintain hard water if necessary. Not so simple to do the reverse.

 

Been doing a little research. Like the Peacock idea, though I'd imagine I'd need to harden the water up for them. They might get a little too big, too. Acaras are interesting as well, though same concern with size, I think.

If I went for Kribs, how many can happily reside in a 55 gallon tank? Could add a lot of vegetation to it as necessary.

Similarly, like Rams and Apistogrammas a lot. Can those species cohabitate? How many could tolerate each other in 55 gallons?

Again, thanks!

 

If I went for Kribs, how many can happily reside in a 55 gallon tank? Could add a lot of vegetation to it as necessary.

Kribs are great fun. If you have never kept them, you should. 5 Kribs (say 3 female and 2 male) could work. They might claim their own caves and even breed in the same tank. In a 55 you should have room for them to be happy and will likely get a breeding pair. They will rearrange whatever you put in there to their liking. They can even move big rocks by digging out! They like caves.

The other option with cichlids is to fill the tank up with fish. They can't focus their aggression on any one fish. This is very expensive. Much better to breed your fish and end up with a party tank like this naturally.

 

Similarly, like Rams and Apistogrammas a lot. Can those species cohabitate? How many could tolerate each other in 55 gallons?

They can't. Whatever you do, do not mix dwarf cichlid species. They all claim the same parts of the tank and likely will start to show interspecies aggression. So it's one species of either Pelvicachromis, Microgeophagus OR Apistogramma (or whatever genus you fancy).

 

Whatever you do, do not mix dwarf cichlid species

I agree with Mac, I keep all my apisto's in dedicated tanks.