Dwarf cichlids in a 60L with lots of hiding spaces

Hi there,

So I’ve tried to create an aquascape rich in plants and caverns as you can see (the water is still cloudy since it’s in maturation).

Where I live, the water is quite hard, however I manage to keep pH at 7 and Gh measured with strips give 1degree but tap water supplier analysis say 19.. I bet strips aren’t accurate and tap water is known to have a quite high CaCO3 content.

Question is, once matured, how about a 1m+2f kribs ? Or a small group of rams?

I have another fish tank same size since last year with betta, neons, minnows (quite hardy).

I’m missing cichlids, I used to have much bigger tanks with mbunas that I’ve been keeping and breeding for a long time

Rams...are you thinking the common or blue ram (in any of its several varieties, all are the same species Mikrogeophagus ramirezi), or the Bolivian Ram (M. altispinosus)? In a space this small (to the fish) either species would have to be no more than a bonded pair (male and female that select each other from a group of the species and bond), or a solitary fish (male usually) with some suitable dither fish. There is also temperature...the M. ramirezi species must have warmth, in the range of 82-86F/28-30C, which is quite warm and too warm for many "tropical" species. The M. altispinosus is OK in the slightly cooler temps around 77-80F/25-27C.

Byron said:

Rams...are you thinking the common or blue ram (in any of its several varieties, all are the same species Mikrogeophagus ramirezi), or the Bolivian Ram (M. altispinosus)? In a space this small (to the fish) either species would have to be no more than a bonded pair (male and female that select each other from a group of the species and bond), or a solitary fish (male usually) with some suitable dither fish. There is also temperature...the M. ramirezi species must have warmth, in the range of 82-86F/28-30C, which is quite warm and too warm for many "tropical" species. The M. altispinosus is OK in the slightly cooler temps around 77-80F/25-27C.

Click to expand...

Hi,

I was thinking about a one species only anyway, so I’d say German blue rams (M. ramirezi) at 28degrees.
What about P. Kribensis?

TTboy79 said:

Hi,

I was thinking about a one species only anyway, so I’d say German blue rams (M. ramirezi) at 28degrees.
What about P. Kribensis?

Click to expand...

I have not kept P. kribensis but I know there are other members here who have posted on them so they can fill in the blanks. But this is not exactly a small fish, at 3-4 inches/8-10 cm, and I believe tanks in the 3-4 feet/90-120 cm length are recommended. Others can advise.

A single pr of Kribensis would be fine. Don't keep Kribensis in 3s because they do better as a pr (1 male & 1 female).

Thanks Guys, however I understand that I’d be a bit limited, I might get a bigger tank for cichlids and use this one for small schooling tetras