Rainbow cichlids adult size

Does anyone have experience with rainbow cichlids reaching adult size greater than 3” or is that truly where thy top out in an aquarium setting?

I have a 60 gal tank with 2 electric blue acara, 6 Congo tetra, 1 Siamese algae eater and 1 clown pleco. I would like to get another community friendly centerpiece cichlid for my tank. My current top pick is the rainbow cichlid, but was hoping for something larger than 3”, something closer in size to the acara. I have also considered the geophagus, but don’t have a sand substrate (mine is a combo of pebbles, gravel & some sand) so would have to redo my tank for that one. Also just recently saw some references to peacock cichlids being community friendly. Any suggestions / feedback?

 

I don’t know the adult size of a rainbow, but if you want a community friendly cichlid, I would go with keyhole cichlids. They aren’t huge, but they’re big enough to be noticeable, and they’re very peaceful. They do best in small groups and look great when established.

 

Thanks! Do you think I should add more than one then? I am trying not to overstock the tank. How many cichlids do you think I could add to this set up?

 

I would add 3-4 of them. Also, how friendly are your acaras? Keyholes don’t really fight back, so they’re very easily bullied. An aggressive acara could easily take down a keyhole in a fight.

 

My acara are still juvenile so they are not agressive at all. Do keyholes get much color? I was hoping for a pop of color which attracted me to the rainbows.

So adding 3-4 mid size fish wouldn’t be overstocking? I am still learning the socking rules. I saw that with acara were 30 gal min plus 15 gal per additional fish, but elsewhere they suggested calculating only 4 gal per additional cichlid, so not sure how that all works.

 

From what I have heard and researched, rainbow cichlids get a bit bigger at around 4-5 inches. They should be fine with electric blue acaras in a 60g.

Keyholes are notorious for not doing well with aggressive cichlids. Housing them with electric blue acara is probably not going to end very well, especially when the acara reach maturity. I would only house them with very peaceful cichlids like rams.

In terms of stocking, just use yours and other peoples judgment instead of following a specific stocking rule. No stocking rule works for every fish. I think adding 3-4 rainbows would be fine.

 

I'd skip the Keyholes with the Acaras in the tank. Keyholes really do best when they're the biggest cichlid on the bottom (they work well with Angels from what I know, never tried it myself). They also do well with Bolivian Rams as well (the Keyholes tend to be bigger).

Keyholes aren't colorful fish. They change coloring a lot depending on their mood and to blend in with what's around them / lighting, and have some yellow around their fins but their base color is a cream / olive with the black "keyhole" and another black bar over their face. They're known for their personalities and shoaling behavior more than being colorful.

 

Look at the Firemouth Cichlid. An XL male would reach a max of six inches, females top out at about four inches.
They aren't very aggressive towards other species, but males will harmlessly flare at each other. Firemouths do better in groups. Four or five would do fine in a 60 gal.
Here's pics of Firemouths I once kept.

 

From what I have heard and researched, rainbow cichlids get a bit bigger at around 4-5 inches. They should be fine with electric blue acaras in a 60g.

Keyholes are notorious for not doing well with aggressive cichlids. Housing them with electric blue acara is probably not going to end very well, especially when the acara reach maturity. I would only house them with very peaceful cichlids like rams.

In terms of stocking, just use yours and other peoples judgment instead of following a specific stocking rule. No stocking rule works for every fish. I think adding 3-4 rainbows would be fine.

Great advice thank you! I may go ahead with 3 rainbows in that case. Do you think adding another acara to that mix would work or is it best to stick with a pair?

Look at the Firemouth Cichlid. An XL male would reach a max of six inches, females top out at about four inches.
They aren't very aggressive towards other species, but males will harmlessly flare at each other. Firemouths do better in groups. Four or five would do fine in a 60 gal.
Here's pics of Firemouths I once kept.
View attachment 762512View attachment 762513

Those are pretty too. I’ll check them out thanks for the suggestion!

 

Great advice thank you! I may go ahead with 3 rainbows in that case. Do you think adding another acara to that mix would work or is it best to stick with a pair?

I would stick with 2 EBA and 3-4 rainbows. 2 EBA might pair up and bully the third.

 

I would stick with 2 EBA and 3-4 rainbows. 2 EBA might pair up and bully the third.

looking for an update on advice. I ended up getting 1 rainbow cichlid b/c my local fish store happened to have a nice 3” one in stock. There was initially some territorial battles with the electric blue acara that has since calmed down, but the rainbow still seems stressed and glass chases all day. I believe that I do have a male/female pair of acara and am now worried they may be too aggressive for the rainbow. Rather than getting more rainbows and risking a blood bath when the acara breed, I’m considering swapping out the rainbow for something else that the acara won’t view as a threat. They totally ignore my Congo tetras. I’m looking for a pop of color. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Do you think a gold Severum could work or would I have the same issue? Another thought I had would be to do a group of 4 all male electric acara instead of a breeding pair.

 

Gold severums grow a bit bigger than a rainbow so it may not be the mid size cichlid you are looking for (6 inches and under). It might be able to handle the acara aggression better though. The issue might be that you seem to have a pair, so if they breed they will be hostile to anything that goes near them, regardless of size. How is the rainbow doing now? Any more hassle from the acaras?

 

Rainbow cichlids can grow 6.5 inches In the wild but more commonly max around 3 to 4 inches and rarely 5 inches.