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Personable (possibly group/harem) centrepieces for 240l community?

mort said:
Cupids cichlids, Bitodoma cupido, are very nice peaceful cichlids as well.
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Very nice fish but I’d put them on the same shyness level as keyholes. I’d say both species prefer to be the largest in the tank. Full grown sae are quite a big fish and can be a bit boisterous.

Would you consider one of the medium sized loach species like histronica, kubotai etc? They can be pretty outgoing once settled in and kept in a decent sized group.

Krobia would fit the bill as a medium sized cichlid that could hold its own, however you’ll struggle to find them by the sounds of it.

Cheers
 
Conort2 said:
Very nice fish but I’d put them on the same shyness level as keyholes. I’d say both species prefer to be the largest in the tank. Full grown sae are quite a big fish and can be a bit boisterous.

Would you consider one of the medium sized loach species like histronica, kubotai etc? They can be pretty outgoing once settled in and kept in a decent sized group.

Krobia would fit the bill as a medium sized cichlid that could hold its own, however you’ll struggle to find them by the sounds of it.

Cheers
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Aren't loaches strict bottom dwellers? I think I might have enough of those already and I've heard loaches would outcompete corys.
Also a big fan of snails - that eliminates loaches (and keyholes iirc).
 
noobscaper said:
Aren't loaches strict bottom dwellers? I think I might have enough of those already and I've heard loaches would outcompete corys.
Also a big fan of snails - that eliminates loaches (and keyholes iirc).
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Forgot about the corydoras, scrap that idea!
 
Are there any not-too-small, plant-safe, not-shy but still peaceful cichlids apart from apistos and bolivians (and angels, which I don't want to have again)?

Would this be a nice balance, or overstocked for a 120x40x50 heavily-planted aquarium??
6x bolivian ram OR 4x Apistogramma macmasteri
1x SAE (might get rid of it down the line, but let's keep it in)
12x bronze cory
20x black neon OR silvertip OR penguin tetra
1x BN pleco
 
noobscaper said:
Are there any not-too-small, plant-safe, not-shy but still peaceful cichlids apart from apistos and bolivians (and angels, which I don't want to have again)?

Would this be a nice balance, or overstocked for a 120x40x50 heavily-planted aquarium??
6x bolivian ram OR 4x Apistogramma macmasteri
1x SAE (might get rid of it down the line, but let's keep it in)
12x bronze cory
20x black neon OR silvertip OR penguin tetra
1x BN pleco
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I would say if you plan to stock that many dwarf cichlids you need to put emphasis on creating territories. Even then, males can relentlessly chase each other and females can be equally territorial. It sounds like it wouldn't be 'enough' but I honestly wouldn't put more than 1 male for the apistos. 2 for the Bolivian rams.

I'm not saying you can't do it. I'm all about pushing boundaries and each fish is individual. I just have experience with both and this is what I observed.

The rest of your stocking sounds good.
 
noobscaper said:
Non-classic cichlids (not apistos, angels, discus, rams etc.) are completely unavailable here. Bummer : (
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Have you tried talking with your LFS about the fish they can actually get in? Their suppliers will normally have a brilliant selection, but most shops will only get in what they know they can sell. It may be different if you order something particular. Not sure if all shops are like this but the LFS close to me will let me see the lists they pick from. Maybe gather some names from this thread into your own list and take it to them to see what they can find for you!
 
OllieTY said:
Have you tried talking with your LFS about the fish they can actually get in? Their suppliers will normally have a brilliant selection, but most shops will only get in what they know they can sell. It may be different if you order something particular. Not sure if all shops are like this but the LFS close to me will let me see the lists they pick from. Maybe gather some names from this thread into your own list and take it to them to see what they can find for you!
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Good idea! I actually managed to find quite a large shop too (the largest in my country), and it's only 20km away. Unfortunately the more uncommon fish from this thread seem to be quite shy, so I'm not too sure about them. I'm still a kid, so prices would also be a bit of a problem : (
 
Then don’t take the really spendy or unusual stuff, it’s usually spendy or unusual for a reason. There are plenty of common fish with lower price tags that are going to be enjoyable to keep. Speak with your shop. They’ll help. If they don’t they lost the sale and you can go else where.
Take lemon tetras. Absolutely stunning fish when mature with character for days, usually around €2-4 euros…
 
Garuf said:
Then don’t take the really spendy or unusual stuff, it’s usually spendy or unusual for a reason. There are plenty of common fish with lower price tags that are going to be enjoyable to keep. Speak with your shop. They’ll help. If they don’t they lost the sale and you can go else where.
Take lemon tetras. Absolutely stunning fish when mature with character for days, usually around €2-4 euros…
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Not a fan of the lemons unfortunately. I like penguins more.
Also my budget isn't too restrictive - around €50, so I think I can fit comfortably as long as I don't get anything too rare (which I wasn't planning on anyway).

Any more cichlid ideas, anyone?
noobscaper said:
Are there any not-too-small, plant-safe, not-shy but still peaceful cichlids apart from apistos and bolivians (and angels, which I don't want to have again)?
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I was going to say nannacara anomala as well and I haven't seen kribs mentioned (but could of missed the suggestion). I'm not a fan so much of albino fish but having seen pairs of albino kribs, they often really stand out and others seem to love them.

One species I used to keep that was fun was Egyptian mouth brooders, P. multicolor, they arent as peaceful as the milder apistogramma but they weren't nasty either.

The problem is that keeping cichlids is more fun when you let them breed but this is when they show more aggression. I'm not a great fan of keeping them on their own to stop this as you miss the natural dynamic which makes them so fascinating. They have evolved to be aggressive because they are such great parents, it's also why they are more personable than other species, and if we can't allow this to happen in our tanks then perhaps they aren't the right choice for us. A midwater swimming tetra might not seem as appealing but they have less constraints on your other fish choice so are worth considering.
 
Big, big change of plan. It seems the shop I was talking about has a huge variety of rainbows in stock - does this stocking list look ok?

12x banded/turquoise rainbow (uggghhh I can't decide between them)
7x bronze cory (ideally would upgrade to 12, would that be fine too?)
1x BN pleco
1x SAE
 
noobscaper said:
12x banded/turquoise rainbow (uggghhh I can't decide between them)
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Ive kept the turquoise rainbows years ago, wonderful fish, they have great color and will flash their forehead bright yellow before your very eyes while trying to impress females. I have not read every post in this thread but this is for a 240 liter tank? 12 of these rainbows sound like a lot, they are big stocky fish when fully grown and good swimmers. I would aim for a smaller total number. You could go 1 male 2 females of both species, totaling 6 fish, or maybe an all male group of both species could also work. They are usually fine being in mixed species groups and from what I understand there isnt a big problem with the males fighting. Although I suspect having either a decent amount of females or no females at all is better than having, say, 5 males and 1 female.
 
Hufsa said:
Ive kept the turquoise rainbows years ago, wonderful fish, they have great color and will flash their forehead bright yellow before your very eyes while trying to impress females. I have not read every post in this thread but this is for a 240 liter tank? 12 of these rainbows sound like a lot, they are big stocky fish when fully grown and good swimmers. I would aim for a smaller total number. You could go 1 male 2 females of both species, totaling 6 fish, or maybe an all male group of both species could also work. They are usually fine being in mixed species groups and from what I understand there isnt a big problem with the males fighting. Although I suspect having either a decent amount of females or no females at all is better than having, say, 5 males and 1 female.
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Yes, it's for a 240l and I'd rather keep a single species since there won't be too many anyway. How many would you say would be the optimal number? 6? 8?
 
noobscaper said:
6? 8?
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I would go for 6, maybe 7.
If I had to pick one species I would definitely go with turquoise, but its a matter of personal taste so go with the one you like the most 🙂
If they are old enough at your LFS to tell the sexes you could do 3 males 3/4 female, I think this will work out fine. Granted its been "a few" years since I kept them so my memory might be a bit foggy.
If they are youngsters you can only buy the group and hope you get an alright ratio 🙂

Looking forward to seeing them in your tank, you will post pictures for us I hope?
 
Hufsa said:
If they are youngsters you can only buy the group and hope you get an alright ratio 🙂

Looking forward to seeing them in your tank, you will post pictures for us I hope?
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From what I've seen (video tour from 4 years ago, so here's to hoping they actually still have rainbows), they're all drab juvies - hopefully that'll make them a bit cheaper haha.
Of course I'll post the pictures! Been thinking about a larger school of penguin tetras instead of the rainbows though. So many choices!
 
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