Which Cichlids Should I Get?

[Jessman]

Im getting a 200l tank and i want to keep cichlids
I was thinking alongnthe lines of bolivian and german rams, kribensis, and other colourful cichlids, the more colourful the better
But i also want one big cichlid in the tank as well, can anyone give me any suggestions?

 

[Jessman]

I was also thinking of firemouth cichlid and convicts

 

[Wills]

I always like to group cichlids by region when keeping them - I have always had more success in this way
 
From the fish you listed, I would skip the Convicts as they will really dominate the tank, Firemouths could be an option but grouping the tank as a Central American tank will limit what other fish you have there - I would go for 3 single male fish (or maybe a group of Firemouths or one of their relatives) depending on what you like.
 
Given the size of the tank I would go for a South American group so you can mix in the dwarfs quite easily, which will maximise your numbers. So like 2 types of dwarf on the bottom (or one large group depending on what you like) with maybe some kind of Acara?
 
Wills

 

[Jessman]

What about a pair of parrots and a pair of blue rams? Would they work?

 

[guppielover99]

Parrots are great fish, I absolutely loved mine however he quickly outgrew the tank and had to be sold to a lady with a 55 gallon, he got much larger and more colourful. Anyways, excellent fish and as far as i know not extremely agressive. When mine was a small baby i actually kept him with tetras, (surprisingly he didnt care) .

 

[Jessman]

Yes i love them, im always mesmerised by them when i see them at the lfs! After some thinking im debating whether to keep them with a pair of blue rams or a school of medium fish with maybe a rainbow shark, hmm desicions.
Which tetras did you keep yours with?

 

[Wills]

By Parrots I assume you mean the Blood Parrots? They are a personal choice, I hate them if I am honest.... but they can do ok in the right tank. As for behaviour I class them as unpredictable the breeding of them is quite secretive but I think it is fairly well considered that at least one of the species in the mix is a Midas cichlid which are about as big and as nasty as they come... so they always have a bit of this in them.
 
As for Blue Rams, Blue Rams are hard to keep, the reason for this is you do not know what kind of ram you are getting or the parentage of the ram. The problem with this is that the ones closer to wild or indeed wild caught need high temperatures and low ph where as the mass farm bred ones need neutral ph and mid range temperatures. The risk is you dont know which kind you have - even the ones unlabeled as wild in the shop might only be one or two generations from wilds. Even the colour morphs of Golds, Electric Blues etc can be crossed with a wild to get some good genes into them after intensive breeding right before the batch for sale is produced.
 
If you go for the Parrots I would go for your second plan of the school and the Rainbow Shark - maybe a school of some kind of Rainbow Fish like Dwarf Neon Blues? Maybe a couple of colourful plecs like the Blue Fin Panaques?
 
Wills

 

[Jessman]

Yes i understand why many people dont like Blood Parrots because theyre hybrids, but its still a fish i guess! ha. and i love the cartoony look they have.
 
I like the second plan too to be honest, more colourful! 
can different types of rainbow fish school together?
i like plecs, but not the dark/browny coloured ones, they look like they live in swamps! the colourful ones are really nice though so i might consider that

 

[wrightt3]

Yes i understand why many people dont like Blood Parrots because theyre hybrids, but its still a fish i guess! ha. and i love the cartoony look they have.

It's not the fact that they are hybrids, it's the fact that they are deformed that puts a lot of people off. That "cartoony look" that they have is a mixture of deformities.
I can never understand the attraction to parrots and flowerhorns when there are so many other NATURAL cichlids.

 

[Wills]

Yeah I think it could be a really nice tank You need to keep Rainbows in single species schools they dont mix into one school - with it being a 200 litre tank and having to mix with the Parrots I think the Dwarf Neons are the perfect group as the large ones like Reds, Turqs and Bosmani need a bigger foot print due to their huge adult size.
 
Wrightt3 - its a case of each to their own I think, hybrids are coming thick and fast and wont disappear so its important to educate the origins of them - ie midas and trimacs and support the keepers through the forum best we can , and at the end of the day, some people cant stand cichlids full stop
 
Wills