Cichlids Or Not?

[shelley120861]

Haven't had a tank since 93' and I'm new to the hobby again!  Can't decide whether I want to go with Cichlids this time or reguar tropical fish again?  Please feel free to comment with pros and cons, your experiences.  I need help making this decision.  Thanks!

 

[thelaw]

Haven't had a tank since 93' and I'm new to the hobby again!  Can't decide whether I want to go with Cichlids this time or regular tropical fish again?  Please feel free to comment with pros and cons, your experiences.  I need help making this decision.  Thanks!

i say both are great but in my opinion i like cichlids more they have more personality and like most other fish they come in a huge variety from small to huge to colorful and not so much but it really depends on what you fell is best but if it is a really hard decision try to with both like ram cichlids they are small peaceful and are still cichlids and if you have a big enough tank say a 55 gallon you could do a group of rams and allot of other community fish like tetras cory catfish and smaller plecos like clown pleco or bristle nose plecos i hope you fined what you really want to keep best of luck to you        

 

[DrRob]

Personally, I'd start with the local water, then look at the options that suit a tank size and find something that you really like the look of, then stock around that.

 

[malfunction]

There's no reason why you can't have both. There are many cichlids which can be mixed with non-cichlid tropical fish. I find that they tend to be more interactive than other fish, so it's always fun to keep them. And the array of colours and shapes they come in means there's bound to be one you'll like. The downside is their aggression (particularly when breeding), and their uncanny ability to destroy your plants. But, if you do your research before buying them, then the majority of problems can be avoided. Like DrRob said, you can save yourself a lot of trouble if you find out your water parameters beforehand, then select fish based in that.

So do you have any particular fish in mind?

 

[shelley120861]

Thanks, to all who posted!  I was looking at the Peacock Cichlids.  Also maybe some neon tetras, swordtails and angelfish, but i'm not sure about angels with cichlids!

 

[malfunction]

Peacocks are very pretty little guys!

I think you might struggle to house them with neons and angelfish though. The tetras will be meal-sized, and although peacocks are meant to be more peaceful than other African cichlids, they'll probably be tempted to eat them. Plus there's the issue of water chemistry. If you're going to maintain the tank at a high pH and hardness, the other fish you've mentioned will probably struggle with it. I'm not saying it's impossible, but probably not the best idea.

Have you considered american cichlids?

 

[shelley120861]

I have not considered American Cichlids!  I haven't looked at them or anything.  Would this be a better fish?

 

[thelaw]

I have not considered American Cichlids!  I haven't looked at them or anything.  Would this be a better fish?

ok if its american cichlids you want to look at and still be able to get other fish with them i know of two very good stockings for two different size tanks. stocking 1. a 20 gallon with one ram cichlid a school of 6 to 7 tetras and maybe like 5 cory catfish stocking 2. this stocking is for a 55 gallon tank one fire mouth cichlid a group of 11 tiger barbs 3 pictus catfish one bristle nose pleco and some nerite snails. i hope this helped best of luck  to you.     

 

[shelley120861]

Thank you, it DID help!  Will certainly keep American Cichlids in mind when I'm ready to stock my tank!