Cameron S asked:
I have a 30 gallon tank and I want chiclids but I dont know what kind to put in where they wont fight please help thanks!
I have a 30 gallon tank and I want chiclids but I dont know what kind to put in where they wont fight please help thanks!
July 9th, 2009 at 3:31 pm
All cichlids are territorial, for the most part.
We successfully had two different ones- we could never id them for sure though.
I think it was a Bumblebee or convict & bluespotted Cichlids…
I just remembered, they may have been South American Cichlids… but temperments are very similar anyways.
They had enough room to call their own, but still got in each other’s way now & then.
The less dominant one knew when to move, so they worked out fine.
Just make sure you provide plenty of places for them to abide in…
log, rock shelters, coral, seashells propped up, etc.
They will both choose more than one to hang in, usually.
They will interact, sometimes agressively, but if they are in same size range, there should be no danger to each one from the other.
Oh, keep them well-fed, w/o over feeding them & that helps with temperment, also.
The link below gives some info on what you are looking for, I think…
July 9th, 2009 at 4:24 pm
Cameron,
Chichlids are going to have fights, even the peaceful ones. The cichilds that are called “peaceful” are peaceful when you compare to the levels of aggressiveness to like say a Green Terror, Red Devil or Tropheus cichilds is all. Now the level of aggressiveness may be less to the point where there won’t be deaths, but there are still going to be fights on your hands, probably a little sooner then you’d want in a 30 gallon set up.
I always liked the colors of the Africans vs South Americans. There are a few South Americans I find good, but overall I think the Africans have more color. I have a group of Tiawan Reef cichilds, about 18 of them overall, split between the regular ones and some with the albino gene in them, but I also have them in a 180 gallon set up with Arowana, some mbuna’s and yellow labs. Lots of space, and yet just last night, the four Yellow labs were having thier own little fight. Caught a couple of them doing a shimmy dance and circle and the loser got harassed by the winner for about 10 minutes. These fish are like only 2 inches long and four of them spread over 180 gallon tank. Just goes to my point above.
Taiwan Reefs are nice, and very active fish. I think the Hai Reefs, and Jalo Reefs are pretty much in the same catagories. You wont be able to fit as many as I have because of your spacial issues, but whatever species you do find that you like, I reccomend you keep them at ratios of 1 male for every 3-4 females at a minimum to displace agreession in males.
JV
July 12th, 2009 at 6:29 am
I would check with the place you buy them from. Just dont get too many, and they should be fine without fighting.
Good Luck
July 14th, 2009 at 9:56 am
if its a 30 long you are better off. i have a 29 gallon tall with 7 assorted africans. they fight every now and then but nothing major. put in lots of rock work to help ease the fighting,.
i started with 4 then added 3 more a week and a half later.
my tank is now cycled with low nitrate levels.
set your ph at about 8,0
temp at 78-80
hope this helps
i have 2 yellow labs, one electric blue, and 4 assorted ones. they are really colorful
July 16th, 2009 at 3:47 pm
Some smaller cichlids that are suitable for your size of tank would be apistos (dwarf cichlids) which are South American, or Tanginikan shell dwellers which are small Africans.
Cichlids are territorial by nature and will inevitably show signs of aggression at some point or another so you can’t expect to find any that will never fight. There are things you can do to cut down on the chances of this happening though, such as for Africans it is usually better to overstock them a little as they can never really claim a territory that way, however they still need plenty of swimming room and 30gal is a little small for most to feel comfortable. Also with more in your tank you will have to be able to compensate for the bioload with plenty of good filtration and regular sufficient water changes.
I reccomend that you visit this site to learn more about the shell dwellers and apistos. I will give you these links rather than write you a book.
This link is to several good articles about shell dwellers:
On this link just scroll down to where it says South American Dwarfs and you will find listed several good articals about these fish:
July 19th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Fire mouth , convict chiclids.