Stocking cichlids help

[Madison25]

Hi, starting up a 250L tank. Looking at going for cichlids in this one.
Ones we like the look of are:

Chequerboard cichlids
T Bar
Kribs
Cockatoo
 Electric Blue
Ramirezi

We would also like to put in a cat fish (possibly a Featherfin), torpedo barb/tiger barbs.
Which of these would be a good combination?
Will obviously be going and talking to the local fish store but just getting an idea of what we want to go for, what to start with.
Thanks all!

 

[Essjay]

Rams are not temperature compatible with torpedo barbs - rams like it warm, the barbs like it cool.
Tiger barbs are a tricky one - they are very nippy fish and the usual recommendation is to keep them as the only fish in the tank.

Will obviously be going and talking to the local fish store

The first lesson in fish keeping is don't believe anything a store worker tells you. Yes, there are good ones but they are few and far between. The vast majority don't know or don't care and will say anything to make a sale. Always do your own research and never ask advice from the store.

 

[Wills]

When you say a Cichlid tank what do you want to achieve from it? The only reason I say it is that a lot of people that want Cichlid tanks really want African Cichlid tanks - Africans work with just cichlids in the tank as thats how they live in the wild but New World Cichlids (like the ones you listed above) are best kept 1 or 2 maybe 3 species per tank with a community of fish around them.

From what I know Cornwall has quite soft water right? So the fish on your list would probably be ok from that perspective, apart from the T Bar which is a central american cichlid so comes from harder water habitats.

The safest combination would be the Chequerboards and the Cockatoos, both dwarf South American Cichlids so similar requirements - similar kind of aggression levels and being small a 250 litre will provide both species with ample territory.

I'd recommend staying with South American fish to go with these as its just a more harmonious tank - the Tiger Barbs and Torpedo Barbs get much bigger so would throw the tank off balance visually for me. I'd go for a couple of mid water Tetra species like Lemons, Flames, Embers, Green Neons. Some larger Characins like Hemiodus or Spotted Headstanders would be a nice addition and something like Red Lizard Whiptails.

I'm a big fan of Featherfin Catfish, a 250 litre is a bit on the small side for them but the main issue I'd have here would be they could eat the smaller fish I've suggested and the cichlids you mentioned as they get quite big and have big mouths.

An other alternative worth mentioning would be Electric Blue Acaras you could have one pair in this tank and the Featherfin Catfish and Tiger Barbs could be a good combination as a three species tank - you want lots and lots of the Tiger Barbs to stop them nipping the other fish and at quite a big adult size it takes up a chunk of stocking but would look stunning - I'd go for at least 20 of them but you could mix the colours, regular, green, albino and I've seen some recently called platinum which are really stunning. The Featherfin would fit in here as a single specimen but you could look at some other Synodontis catfish like the common upside down catfish which stays about half the size of the feather fin and you could have a small group.

Wills

 

[Madison25]

Thanks so much the replies and help.
Yes Cornwall Water soft.
Interesting about keeping tiger barbs alone, have had many before and have always been fine in our community tanks. I know they can be aggressive depending what they are in with though.
As to what we want to achieve... we've just had multiple tanks before and wanted something a little different this time round.
What cat fish would go well with chequerboards and cockatoos, if any?
Will have a look into the others you suggested too. Happy to stay away from barbs, we want to focus on which cichlids to get and then work round them with what else to put in. Thank you both!

 

[Colin_T]

What are the tank dimensions (length x width x height)?

What is the GH (general hardness), KH (carbonate hardness) and pH of your water supply?
This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website (Water Analysis Report) or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

As a general rule, only 1 pair of cichlids (or group of the same species) per tank because they are all territorial. If the tank is big and has lots of hiding places, you might be able to have several species. But normally the cichlids have decent sized territories and will fight with other species.

 

[Madison25]

Had water checked and all ok. So we are aware of what needs doing depending on fish we decide to put in.
Just looking for advice on which species would go well together. Thanks

 

[Madison25]

This is our tank set up

 

[GaryE]

Chequerboard cichlids: Dicrossus are the standard checkerboards in the hobbuy. They are stunning, and IMHO the most overlooked Cichlid in the hobby. They need warm soft water, planting, and calm tankmates. I would not keep them with other Cichlids.
T Bar: Sajicas (what they are called where I am) are lovely, rough and rowdy. They dig enormous pits, fight like drunks at closing time and need hard water. I really like them, but they re only to be kept in central American fish set ups.
Kribs: fantastic West African river Cichlids, actually Pelvicachromis pulcher. P kribensis is a different fish from the one in the hobby. They would slaughter checkers or rams, but out of kindness. They breed easily, and nothing is allowed to endanger their beloved fry.
Cockatoo: South American, softer water fish that grow larger than people expect. You have good taste, or we both have bad taste - hard to say. In general, we like the same fish.... cacatuoides will own the bottom of the tank, like kribs. You can have one cave spawning species per tank.
 Electric Blue: here, we disagree. It's a designer fish and the basic platform is an aggressive species. Something in the process of manufacturing this fish caused it to be less boisterous or murderous than the original fish, but it is not a good idea to put this fish with any of the others you like. They can roll along just fine and then turn.
Ramirezi: a warm water, short lived fish that has usually been highly modified by breeders. They are open spawners, and could live with checkerboards. Everything else you like would push them around.

 

[Madison25]

That's really helpful, thank you.
So ideally we would like a few fish in there rather than keeping to a couple of big ones. From what I've mentioned, what would be the best combination for a fairly peaceful and 'fuller' looking tank?
Advixe I've had from most seems to be to only keep one cichlid species and then add in other species.
I think it seems iur best option is the Chequerboard or cockatoos, and then add in the tetras? How many would be best Can we add a Catfish with these?
Sorry, just want to make sure we get it absolutely right!

 

[GaryE]

I've kept all the Cichlids you like except electric blues. So here's what I'd do.

Both checkerboards and rams can get along in groups of six. The others are single pairs. So that's consideration number one.

Featherfins don't strike me as really compatible, as they get larger than you expect. I am a sucker for Corys, which generally like cooler water than rams of checkers. But Corydoras sterbai would work.

if you take the electric blue or sajica route, a big group of tiger barbs would work With the others, nope. Check full adult size of the barbs. The ones in stores are very young.

I've never kept torpedo barbs, so I can't comment.

 

[Madison25]

I've kept all the Cichlids you like except electric blues. So here's what I'd do.

Both checkerboards and rams can get along in groups of six. The others are single pairs. So that's consideration number one.

Featherfins don't strike me as really compatible, as they get larger than you expect. I am a sucker for Corys, which generally like cooler water than rams of checkers. But Corydoras sterbai would work.

if you take the electric blue or sajica route, a big group of tiger barbs would work With the others, nope. Check full adult size of the barbs. The ones in stores are very young.

I've never kept torpedo barbs, so I can't comment.

Thank you. So chequers and rams, are all rams OK? So 6 of each of those being 12 altogether, am I reading that right? What else could go in or would they be best on their own like that?

 

[GaryE]

Rams are open spawners on the bottom, and Dicrossus open spawn on leaves. So in a planted tank, there's very little conflict.

You could then have a look at slender bodies tetras and see what you like. From your other choices, I'd take a look at any of the 3 "rummy nose" species.

 

[anewbie]

As a general rule you should not mix east africans dwarf chilid (kribs) with sa dwarf cichild because they don't know how to talk with each other. You can usually mix sa dwarf cichild with a larger chilid such as angelfish because the dwarf will occupy the lower level and the larger upper region. Oddly i know some folks with success with dwarf cichild with geo in a sufficiently large aquarium (75+) but the species matter. Nearly all sa cicihld will want soft acidic water of some sort - some requiring blackwater other quite comfortable with clear or white water. wild cockatoo are nice but domestic ones are over bred excessively aggressive and have short life span. If you do go with cockatoo look for wild ones - some are extremely lovely far exceeding their over-bred domestic counterpart. lineta and borelli are also options depending on water conditions.

 

[GaryE]

As a general rule you should not mix east africans dwarf chilid (kribs) with sa dwarf cichild because they don't know how to talk with each other. You can usually mix sa dwarf cichild with a larger chilid such as angelfish because the dwarf will occupy the lower level and the larger upper region. Oddly i know some folks with success with dwarf cichild with geo in a sufficiently large aquarium (75+) but the species matter. Nearly all sa cicihld will want soft acidic water of some sort - some requiring blackwater other quite comfortable with clear or white water. wild cockatoo are nice but domestic ones are over bred excessively aggressive and have short life span. If you do go with cockatoo look for wild ones - some are extremely lovely far exceeding their over-bred domestic counterpart. lineta and borelli are also options depending on water conditions.

I'd agree with this, but a small point - kribs are west African Cichlids and are dwarf Cichlids. The usual east Africans are mbuna, peacocks and Tanganyikans.

 

[anewbie]

Thank you. So chequers and rams, are all rams OK? So 6 of each of those being 12 altogether, am I reading that right? What else could go in or would they be best on their own like that?

I'd be a bit concern - but a bit depends on the sex mixes - if you end up with 6 pairs (3 pairs of rams and 3 pairs of chequers) it might work if they can find the right territories. If you end up with 12 males or 12 females i'm not sure what will happen - the other combinations where you have extra sexes of each can be a mix bag. I had a pair of rams in a 120 with an extra female and the other female hounded her the entire tank until she eventually died. Of course it also depends on individual fishes as some are more aggressive than others.

Also while I really like gold rams myself - the truth is that domestic rams are heavily overbred and you are better off with wc ones if you can obtain them. chequers are not that bad as they are less common but i think there was a ban on their export for a year or so due to over farming. Still tank raised ones can be occasionally found from hobbists.