Cichlid with the most personality?

What is the Cichlid that could fit into a 30 gallon aquarium that would have the most personality? I have been leaning toward a trio of German blue rams of cockatoo cichlids but am open to anything and everything.

 

I have to say our yellow lab has a lot of personality!

 

You could do about 4 yellow labs in a 30 gallon (1 male, 3 females). I have six of them and they are awesome fish! Whenever I walk by the tank they all follow me to the other end. They are very social and completely adorable. I love my cockatoos and rams as well, but they are much more shy. They do well with some dither fish like a school of tetras and rasboras. This will make them feel safe and make them a little more bold

 

would the yellow lab need the rasboras also? would the labs destroy my plants?

 

Yeah, the labs would destroy your plants. They don't need dither fish in the tank with them (such as rasboras) but they prefer a setup with lots of rocks, caves and crevices to hide in and establish territories. If you have fake plants in your tank, they will do fine with those.

 

humm I love the planted tank look though. It will cost me a ton because of the CO2 and the plants them selves are expensive. on the other hand rocks are cheap. are there any live plants that the labs would leave alone?

 

Not really. They like to dig and they eat a diet that consists of a lot of plant matter. Unfortunately they will eat your plants. However, rams and cockatoos thrive in planted tanks

 

ok well ill keep yellow labs in the back of my mind. are there any other fish that like plants and have a personality?

 

If you like planted tanks I would suggest SA cichlids like Bolivian or German Blue Rams. We keep SA and africans and they all have personalities. The rams are fairly peaceful but bold with a few squabbles here and there.

 

Angels are very interactive. You could do two in a 30G. Mine always come to the front of the tank when I pass, nibble my fingers and even follow my fingers around the tank.
Carol

 

I would try the kribensis cichild, it's peaceful until they breed even then it's not that bad. They get along with pretty much any peaceful tanks/fish.
Angelfish are great but they do get pretty aggressive at times. Mine are very interactive...I can hand feed them blood worm. ;D

 

would Angle fish and Kribensis go ok together? or would angle fish and GBR go ok together? I would have a pair or each and 3 GBR's.

do angles eat my plants?

 

Mine don't eat my plants just peck algae and stuff off them.
Carol

 

would Angle fish and Kribensis go ok together? or would angle fish and GBR go ok together? I would have a pair or each and 3 GBR's.

Yes actually I had my kribs in with my angels too. I forgot to mention that. GBR can go with them too.

do angles eat my plants?

Nope, they just like to clean them off. No damage.

 

Would the GBR be not so shy with the angles or would Kribs be a better choice. You all have said rams need to have a sholl above them to make them feel safe. do Kribs need that also or woulg the angles surfice?

 

Would the GBR be not so shy with the angles or would Kribs be a better choice. You all have said rams need to have a sholl above them to make them feel safe. do Kribs need that also or woulg the angles surfice?

Kribs will pair off for life, if you have male and a female. The have no problem dealing with angelfish or vice a versa. If you want to be area specific with your tank than go with GBR, but I'd choose Kribs over them anytime. They are much more brave fish than the GBR.

 

Kribs it is. Shy fish would anoy me. SO I'm going to go with a pair of angelfish a pair of Kribensis 4 KuhliI loaches and just scrape the algy my self.

 

Kribs it is. Shy fish would anoy me. SO I'm going to go with a pair of angelfish a pair of Kribensis 4 KuhliI loaches and just scrape the algy my self.

Sounds good. That should be ok. Good luck.

 

Sounds like a good choice - I would like to get some kribs someday. For what it's worth my GBR pair is not shy at all. My male shares a tank with a female GBR, a male bolivian and 2 male dwarf gouramis and he is the boss for sure. They will eat off my fingers as well.

 

the biggest tank I can reasonably afford in a few years, and I've decided I want a cichlid, or a group if they end up being smaller, less mean types. anyway the reason I like cichlids is because of their personalities, so I want cichlids with really good ones. I've been considering Green Terrors, Convict cichlids, electric blue acara, firemouths, someone told me rainbow cichlids but I personally don't know much about them. and these are all just Ideas, not solid plans, and I'm open to all suggestions(as long as they fit in the tank, regardless of what you tell me, I'm not to put a flowerhorn in a 55 gallon tank). which of the options mentioned here are the best? which fish aren't here that are good?

 

How about angelfish? They have very fun personalities.

 

How about angelfish? They have very fun personalities.

Agree but I recommend at least two. Don't get two males as they will fight constantly.

 

How about angelfish? They have very fun personalities.

And when they don't, you have to remember they are cichlids after all.
I bet most of us don't think about angels when we say a cichlid tank, but it is true.

Well, a fun personality can mean something nice that gets along with everyone else, or some mean pain in the neck thing that will wreak havoc in the tank.

 

With angels, you need at least 4. With one, it doesn't meet their social needs. With 2 (Unless they are a pair) one will most likely assert dominance over the other and will constantly be attached. With 3 a similar situation happens. With 4 the aggression spreads out enough that all the fish won't be over attached and die from stress/diseases like fin rot.

 

I’ve had no problems with 2. I always keep 2. Yes 3 will be a problem as may 4. The pair kills them off one at a time. 2 females is best but I’ve had 2 males with out a problem. Got to say there not a great fish . Convicts,fire mouths dempseys are better choices. Geophagus Severums also are good. Raise the temp and get a tank full of rams. Just add some caves and plants . All better choices then angels.

 

With angels, you need at least 4. With one, it doesn't meet their social needs. With 2 (Unless they are a pair) one will most likely assert dominance over the other and will constantly be attached. With 3 a similar situation happens. With 4 the aggression spreads out enough that all the fish won't be over attached and die from stress/diseases like fin rot.

Lol, follow what SouthAmericanCichlids says. I mean he has an angelfish as his profile pic.

 

I’ve had no problems with 2. I always keep 2. Yes 3 will be a problem as may 4. The pair kills them off one at a time. 2 females is best but I’ve had 2 males with out a problem. Got to say there not a great fish . Convicts,fire mouths dempseys are better choices. Geophagus Severums also are good. Raise the temp and get a tank full of rams. Just add some caves and plants . All better choices then angels.

I think severum should really have a 75 at least.

 

I’ve never had an issue with angels. They also have such fun behavior that I just keep getting more... it seems like I have an angel for every tank with no fin nippers at this point.

 

The thing is I think most cichlids, American ones anyway, from Apistogrammas to oscars have great personalities, its difficult to pick just one best one.

 

Any experience with Green Terrors? They're really pretty, and they get a good size, while still staying smaller than something like an oscar, a flowerhorn, or a severum, which would need a much bigger tank. I just want to make sure it will have that big personality I'm looking for before I decide on a fish. I want one that will swim up to the front of the tank and greet me like an oscar or a flowerhorn would, but I don't have room for an oscar or a flowerhorn.

 

Yellow labs are really cool. And I don't have experience with green terrors.

 

We had a beautiful black convict with two Ruby Oscars in a 29 gallon. No issues. We upgraded them to a 36 gallon and the convict bullied the Oscars to the point they would lay on there side as the convict hovered over them.

I recently have rehomed the convict after finding one of our Oscars dead from jumping out of the tank. I swear the opening is not that large but he sure aimed precisely for it.

Research the convicts before going all out friend.

I vote for an Oscar or a Jack Dempsey.

 

Oscars need at the very least a 75g imo, for 1.

 

Dont forget T-bar cichlids. Sime dwarf cichlids can be fun to play around with aswell.

 

I know that bigger is better but for the immediate time here and now 36 is better than 29. For now.....

 

We had a beautiful black convict with two Ruby Oscars in a 29 gallon. No issues. We upgraded them to a 36 gallon and the convict bullied the Oscars to the point they would lay on there side as the convict hovered over them.

I recently have rehomed the convict after finding one of our Oscars dead from jumping out of the tank. I swear the opening is not that large but he sure aimed precisely for it.

Research the convicts before going all out friend.

I vote for an Oscar or a Jack Dempsey.

As much as I love those fish, Oscars and JDs both get too big for the tank

 

I agree..... Had I did my research years ago.... I would not have gotten the Oscars.....its bittersweet....one is easier to plan for than two......

 

I agree..... Had I did my research years ago.... I would not have gotten the Oscars.....its bittersweet....one is easier to plan for than two......

well, I hope whatever you do with them works out.

How about angelfish? They have very fun personalities.

I do like angels, and will probably keep some at some point, but at the moment I was looking into more cichlid-y cichlids.

With angels, you need at least 4. With one, it doesn't meet their social needs. With 2 (Unless they are a pair) one will most likely assert dominance over the other and will constantly be attached. With 3 a similar situation happens. With 4 the aggression spreads out enough that all the fish won't be over attached and die from stress/diseases like fin rot.

If they fight each other, couldn't you keep just one so nobody gets bullied?

Convicts,fire mouths dempseys are better choices. Geophagus Severums also are good. Raise the temp and get a tank full of rams. Just add some caves and plants . All better choices then angels.

If I got convicts, it would probably have to be a species only tank because they're so mean right? I like firemouths, from what I've heard, dempseys are slow growers but will eventually get bigger than an oscar, which is already too big for the tank I can afford. Could look into geophagus. I love severums but they're too big for that tank size.

The thing is I think most cichlids, American ones anyway, from Apistogrammas to oscars have great personalities, its difficult to pick just one best one.

yeah, they're all fun.

Yellow labs are really cool. And I don't have experience with green terrors.

I'll look into those.

We had a beautiful black convict with two Ruby Oscars in a 29 gallon. No issues. We upgraded them to a 36 gallon and the convict bullied the Oscars to the point they would lay on there side as the convict hovered over them.

I recently have rehomed the convict after finding one of our Oscars dead from jumping out of the tank. I swear the opening is not that large but he sure aimed precisely for it.

Research the convicts before going all out friend.

I vote for an Oscar or a Jack Dempsey.

Yeah, if I get a convict I may not be able to have anything else on the tank. Oscars and JDs both won't really be comfortable in a 55 as the tank is too small.

Dont forget T-bar cichlids. Sime dwarf cichlids can be fun to play around with aswell.

I'll look into those.

 

I have 2 angels in a tank both ended up being males(2 years old now) and I have 2 electric blue acara( a pair). Both species see me when I go into the room and beg for food, the angels eat out of my hand and harass me during water changes. The electric blue acara are similar but scare very easy. Ive never had aggression issues towards community fish with the angels. The EBA can be in a community tank but limited to tetra body type fish as anything with flowing fins will be harassed or killed. I kept lemon tetras with them without issues.

 

So could a electric blue acara, firemouth, and perhaps a convict live together since a single convict should be less aggressive than a pair that's protecting fry? or would the con still be too mean? Or perhaps instead I should just save up a few years and get like a 125 with an oscar and a severum.