What cichlids are great to begin with?

[yvez9]

gold rams are south american which would work in your setup

however, golden rams get sick easily, as german blue rams (they're both a variation of the much hardier bolivian ram). if you get bolivian rams, you are less likely to run into problems. They're not as colorful, but just as active and beautiful in their own rights!

as for glass catfish, i believe they get a little big for a 20 gallon.

i would stick to rams, tetras and a bristlenose or rubbernose pleco to keep it clean, or even 4 or 5 otos would do (but i prefer plecos)

btw, african cichlids would tear up your plants in no time! so make sure you get dwarf sa or ca cichlids

 

[BLASK]

ok so today I got two rams, i dunno if they are both blue or gold or one of each. I think I got a male and female. However I might have gotten two females or two males. Both have short spikes on the head and the first one is shorter than the rest. I cannot see pink bellies though. In the container at the lfs they were not fighting, nor in their tank. They are swimming happly in my tank and eating the vegetation and picking at the gravel - even chasing some water bug! One chased my ghost shrimp a bit. Ok- now for them both - How do I know if they are fighitng? They seem good next to each other, they will rub bodies against each other and then one will sorta kiss the other on the body - it doesnt look like biting. There is no chasing- they just do their own thing. Can females fight? They are exploring the tank as I write this. I took some pics but I cannot get them to be clear so its a bit blurry.