Deciding On Cichlids..

[Bretzz]

I have a 10 gallon tank set up, with 6 little bloodfin tetras. They are fairly active but mostly just float around. I was wondering if I could get a pair of Cichlids for the tank, and if so, which? My LFS has a special on Golden Rams right now so I was thinking about those... Any ideas? Im not even sure 10 gallons is enough, I'm getting conflicting info from the web!

I also saw a 20-gallon on Craigslist for super cheap so I might pick that up, How many Cichlids could fit in there? Could I do multiple breeds?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Wills]

Hi, the 10g would be okay for some really small cichlids called checkerboard cichlids and some very small apisto species but if you can upgrade to a 20g that would be even better and open your options up greatly then depending on species you might be able to get two pairs in the 20g but again depending on the foot print of the 20g things could change. Your tetras will be compatible with the cichlids in a tank this size

Wills

 

[Balloons&killies]

I have a 10 gallon tank set up, with 6 little bloodfin tetras. They are fairly active but mostly just float around. I was wondering if I could get a pair of Cichlids for the tank, and if so, which? My LFS has a special on Golden Rams right now so I was thinking about those... Any ideas? Im not even sure 10 gallons is enough, I'm getting conflicting info from the web!

I also saw a 20-gallon on Craigslist for super cheap so I might pick that up, How many Cichlids could fit in there? Could I do multiple breeds?

Thanks in advance!

i see youve only posted 10 on this forum! Weclome To the forum.

You might be able to get multis, there african, but you'll have to keep it as a species tank, mabye look into those?

oh Wills, do you have to Heros severus females now?

 

[Bretzz]

Thanks guys

I was hoping a 20-gallon could be turned into a community tank, if I can only get 1 pair that'd be fine. Its not a long tank, its tall, if that makes a difference.

 

[Balloons&killies]

Thanks guys

I was hoping a 20-gallon could be turned into a community tank, if I can only get 1 pair that'd be fine. Its not a long tank, its tall, if that makes a difference.

Yup you could get some fish that stay more at the top for the pair of rams
that you pick,

 

[Bretzz]

Ok I'm thinking 1-2 Rams for the 10 gallon, and 2 Convicts for the 20? And some sort of cory for the bottom of the 20, and some other random fish like different tetras, maybe platies (nice colours), I'm not sure what fish stay around the top, suggestions?

 

[Balloons&killies]

Ok I'm thinking 1-2 Rams for the 10 gallon, and 2 Convicts for the 20? And some sort of cory for the bottom of the 20, and some other random fish like different tetras, maybe platies (nice colours), I'm not sure what fish stay around the top, suggestions?

You'd need about a 30g for a pair of convicts because they can get fairly agressive, and they spawn like mad, maybe wanna try some smiling acaras? (laetacara curviceps) There very nice,

 

[Bretzz]

Thanks, ill look into them

 

[Wills]

I wouldnt put rams in a 10g they get too aggressive with territory and you could end up with one ram at the end of it - cons in a 20g is okay ish but when they start to breed again you will end up with just 2 cons and no other fish.

With cichlids its sometimes best to hunt around and see what you can find lots of small species of cichlids that work really well in these size tanks but not always easy to find, the only reason rams and cons are readily available are because someone decided they would be not because they are the best fish for aquaria. Well the cons are a bit more different, they breed so rapidly and produce so many off spring its just silly which is an other issue with keeping cons in a small tank as they will often kill off young from the last batch.

But yeah I think there are better options for your tanks if you go for a 10g and a 20g. For the 10g see my post above for suggestions but for the 20g you could have any of the apistograma species, nannacara tenatia, nannacara anomala, laetacara curviceps, laetacara dorsiger, bolivian rams, gold or blue rams if you dedecated a fair bit of consideration to them like the temperature etc. But yeah most of the south american dwarfs would work or if you wanted a pair of small growing central americans some Cryptoheros Nanoletus could work aka yellow convict grow a bit smaller than most convicts and their relatives are bright yellow with black stripes a bit more peaceful and you would at least be able to consider tank mates and moving the inevitable fry would be easier than with common convicts as well.

Wills

 

[Bretzz]

Ok thanks, thinking of 3 Bolivians Rams for the 20 gallon... Although I'm not sure if I want breeding..

 

[ChilliPepper]

In the 20g I'd try a trio of 2f, 1m Apistogramma species. They don't get as deep bodied as the Rams, so you could also put a school of some small tetras or something with them.

You can get a lot of different Apistos if you look online. Your LFS may be able to order them in. I've only ever seen Agassizi and Cockatoo Apistos in LFS's I've been too, I live in a hard water though and they prefer soft.

I think Rams should be in a minimum of a 100L tank (26g+), but maybe that's just personal preference.