# Friendly Dwarf Cichlids



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

I am looking for some friendly dwarf cichlids breeds. Me and my husband are upgrading our 29 gallon to a 90 gallon. We wanted to get some cichlids for this tank once its up and running. We have community fish in our 29 gallon right now and need the cichlids to get along with them. were currently have:

- 1 ablino red tipped shark
- 6 Neon tetras
- 3 Angel fish
- 3 pineapple swordtails
- 1 Common pleco
- 1 Bristle Nose Pleco
- 1 Ballon kissing fish

So knowing this which breeds of dwarf cichlids would work the best for us? There will be plenty of plants and hiding spots in the tank. I dont trust the pet stores opinion. Thanks everyone


----------



## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

I could be wrong, but except for maybe the plecos....eventually the rest will be cichlid chow. ...if you mix.


----------



## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

You could try some small Geophagus sp they would work well in a 90gal sort of community set up.


----------



## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

German blue rams is a good choice.
I currently have 2 (male and female) in a planted 25 gal and they dont bother all my other fish (CPD, Cardinal Tetras, Rasboras, Amano shrimps, cherry shrimps (surprising they dont eat them, lol)


----------



## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Jaysan said:


> German blue rams is a good choice.
> I currently have 2 (male and female) in a planted 25 gal and they dont bother all my other fish (CPD, Cardinal Tetras, Rasboras, Amano shrimps, cherry shrimps (surprising they dont eat them, lol)


I agree with Jaysan but don't forget to check out the Apistogramma and Pelvicachromis species too.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=30
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1350
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1352

If you live in Toronto you should check out The Menagerie Pet Shop. They usually have some nice dwarf cichlids available.

http://www.menageriepetshop.com/

--
Paul


----------



## Jaysan (Dec 19, 2011)

Y2KGT said:


> I agree with Jaysan but don't forget to check out the Apistogramma and Pelvicachromis species too.
> 
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=30
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1350
> ...


Ahh, forgot about the appisto's and Pelvic's
Those are good choices aswell


----------



## MDR (Feb 20, 2012)

Apistogramma (Cacatuoides being my favourite). You can keep them as well as German rams. I enjoyed mine, the females are feisty when protecting her fry, regularly attacking a scrub brush and my hand when removing algae.


----------



## robert77k (May 27, 2012)

I have a trio of Apistogramma Baenschi in a tank and they won't harm a thing. 

In another tank I have a breeding pair of Kribs, and they are ok with just about anything. When they are breeding however, they do get a little bit aggressive, and I had to pull the neons out of the tank as I started to notice that their tails were becoming damaged. It also it depends on how big and how much cover you have in your tank. My Kribs are in a 37 gallon tank and it''s ok. 90 gallon should not be a problem.


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

Wow thanks everyone!! Was exactly what i was looking for. Yeah i live in gilford ontario but i do go to toronto to visit friends often and its definatly worth the drive to get some nice fish. We are going to have a great time picking our new fishy buddies. Were going to take our time and get the perfect ones for us and you all helped us to know what ones will live peacefully with our fishies we have had so long


----------



## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

You already have 3 cichlids, in the angels. Another choice would be Bolivean rams which tend to be hardier than the blue rams. eventually the common pleco will have to go, as it will outgrow the tank.


----------



## Windowlicka (Mar 5, 2008)

It's been a long time since I kept them, but I recall Kribs being highly personable & peaceful fish for a 'mixed-community' setup?

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/africansgeneral/p/kribensis.htm


----------



## nightowl1350 (Mar 19, 2006)

You could add a kribensis pair if you want something a bit more hardy than the blue rams, but the apistos have amazing colour, do a bit of research on the different types of apistos.
Sounds like an awesome tank in the making. With plecos in the tank you may not have fry, but if they have a nice little cave they may do okay.


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

Yeah usually any fry get eaten up by my other fishies.. which is fine, i dont care, i dont have room to house lots of fry. Yeah kribensis sounds good. We got a german ram on the weekend and he died yesterday.. like you said, not very hardy and very sensitive to change. he was the only one in the whole tank at big al's so i think thats why he died. Also cause he was the only german ram in there. So were going to wait until the 80 gallon is up and running before getting any more cichlids so we can get like 5 at a time. We got a pseudotropheus demasoni at pet smart cause it was just so beautiful we couldnt help ourselves. He is doing great, small little guy. 
One question... we plan to get a tea cup sting ray for the tank.. well were thinking about it. How would this be with the dwarf cichlids? I would say fine cause dwarf cichlids get a decent size and the ray is friendly. Although the neons may get eaten.
Yes we have made the choice to stick with mostly apisto's with some cockatoo cichlids and the pseudotropheus demasoni cichlids... sound good? I think so


----------



## Bantario (Apr 10, 2011)

MDR said:


> Apistogramma (Cacatuoides being my favourite). You can keep them as well as German rams. I enjoyed mine, the females are feisty when protecting her fry, regularly attacking a scrub brush and my hand when removing algae.


Be wary of the Apistogrammas Cactuoides, I had a male that that ate/killed 11 Neon Tetras overnight, sad day that was


----------



## Windowlicka (Mar 5, 2008)

kaitlyn19 said:


> We got a pseudotropheus demasoni at pet smart cause it was just so beautiful we couldnt help ourselves. He is doing great, small little guy.
> One question... we plan to get a tea cup sting ray for the tank.. well were thinking about it. How would this be with the dwarf cichlids? I would say fine cause dwarf cichlids get a decent size and the ray is friendly. Although the neons may get eaten.
> Yes we have made the choice to stick with mostly apisto's with some cockatoo cichlids and the pseudotropheus demasoni cichlids... sound good? I think so


I think you're headed for all-out war with that Demasoni in there... they're an extremely aggressive African Cichlid (relative to the rest of your livestock), and should really be kept in groups of 12-13 to limit & dilute their aggression between their own kind - and with only other African Mbuna as tankmates.

Aggression factors aside, your fish require very different water chemistry - the Central American Apisto's will benefit from softer water, with plants and driftwood to hide amongst... your African Ps.Demasoni requires hard water, rocks to hide amongst, and will devour any plants in a heartbeat!

I have no experience with rays, but based on my admittedly extremely limited knowledge, I'd be very surprised if anyone tells you they're a good idea with your current tank/livestock...


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

Windowlicka said:


> I think you're headed for all-out war with that Demasoni in there... they're an extremely aggressive African Cichlid (relative to the rest of your livestock), and should really be kept in groups of 12-13 to limit & dilute their aggression between their own kind - and with only other African Mbuna as tankmates.
> 
> Aggression factors aside, your fish require very different water chemistry - the Central American Apisto's will benefit from softer water, with plants and driftwood to hide amongst... your African Ps.Demasoni requires hard water, rocks to hide amongst, and will devour any plants in a heartbeat!
> 
> I have no experience with rays, but based on my admittedly extremely limited knowledge, I'd be very surprised if anyone tells you they're a good idea with your current tank/livestock...


Yeah everyone says that about rays cause there trolls that dont want anyone to be happy. Rays are kept with everyone of the fish i have, except like i said the neons. But its just a thought right now.. the cichlids are number 1 so they are more important to me. This guy is really shy, hasnt been aggressive to anyone yet. We wont probably get anymore because of the chemistry like you said. Our tank has strickly fake plants so thats not a problem. So i think we will just stick with the apisto's. Thanks


----------



## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

Your tank is way too small to house any ray long term.


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

Jackson said:


> Your tank is way too small to house any ray long term.


Didnt ask for your opinion, troll


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

kaitlyn19 said:


> Didnt ask for your opinion, troll


You asked for everyone's opinion. And Jackson has more experience than most ever will when it comes to housing some monster fish.

Show some respect.

Edit: also, given your stocking list, I'd guess you're not the most experienced fish keeper, or you're just a troll yourself. Making decisions about who's trolling who is quite premature in your case I'd guess.


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

ameekplec. said:


> You asked for everyone's opinion. And Jackson has more experience than most ever will when it comes to housing some monster fish.
> 
> Show some respect.


Yeah about cichlids not rays, i didnt ask anything about rays. And this is not a monster fish so maybe he should show some respect


----------



## Jackson (Jan 30, 2009)

kaitlyn19 said:


> Didnt ask for your opinion, troll


LMFAO

You're posting on a public forum. 
You are asking every member who looks for their opinion.

I was not rude in any way. 
I'm not going to kiss your ... and tell you what you want to hear.

YOUR TANK IS TOO SMALL TO HOUSE ANY RAY LONG TERM!!!!!!!

You obviously have no idea what you're doing. 
It shows by how ignorant you're being.

FYI your reply is the best example of trolling.


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

Jackson said:


> LMFAO
> 
> You're posting on a public forum.
> You are asking every member who looks for their opinion.
> ...


Clearly you dont know what trolling is.. You came on the thread I created just to disrespect me.. Thats trolling. I dont care what u say about my tank cause you dont know about the other tanks i have. You dont know that my parents have a freshwater 600g indoor pond. Your the ignorant one jumping to conclusions about people, you dont know anything about my situation


----------



## RR37 (Nov 6, 2012)

I've kept Reticulata (tea cups) in smaller tanks with success. Although the were juvenile at 4" across. Once they hit 10" they were happy in a 220g and that was considered the minimum community requirement. I imagine species only could be smaller if just a sand bottom. The have species specific requirements that water chemistry, diet and feeding habits, etc. I wouldn't dream of attempting to keep one in a small/medium community tank housing anything aggressive, rays make easy targets. They shouldn't be kept with plecos as they often in my experience enjoy removing the coatings on the back of rays which isn't a good thing. 

These Rays will appreciate brackish conditions and I attribute most of my success to with them to giving them that requirement. I'm sure that you've heard they can be kept in freshwater community tanks but i'll argue that with my experiences, which aren't all extensive but were successful over 5 years.

Please keep in mind that many rays are sold as "teacups" and end up outgrowing owners expectations very quickly. I ended up with many "tea cups" that clearly were more like punch bowls.

Ultimately every tank will have an element of experimentation to it. I'd say an hour in reading about Reticulata will give you all you'll need to know about setting up a habitat to house them in. 3-4 more and you'll find out about their eating habits and which animals make good tank mates and which don't. 

HTH.


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

Thanks all but i have the info i need so please no more comments. Thank you


----------



## RR37 (Nov 6, 2012)

kaitlyn19 said:


> Thanks all but i have the info i need so please no more comments. Thank you


You can't really ask for opinions and then stop them when you don't like what you hear.


----------



## kaitlyn19 (Nov 5, 2012)

RR37 said:


> You can't really ask for opinions and then stop them when you don't like what you hear.


I started this to find friendly spieces of dwarf cichlids and i found some. Thats all i needed. I loved the answers i got, they were wonderful and i know exactly what to put in my 80 gallon now. Who said i didnt like what i heard? Yes about the ray cause i really dont care cause this tread wasnt about rays it was about cichlids and i got what i needed and thanked tho's who helped me


----------

