Chichlids in my tank?

[Jizoel]

My tank as of now, has 5 tiger barbs, 1 red tailed shark, 3 ottos, and 2 dojo loachs. Would I be able to put in a little group of chichlids? They have some really nice looking ones at my fishstore.

Thanks

 

[Menagerie]

What kind of cichlids were they? Once you know that, google them and check out their temperament, max size, water conditions, etc. Then you will know if they are right for your tank.

 

[Jizoel]

I was looking on liveaquaria.com and just got the impression that it was best to just have Cichlid tanks. But thanks for clearing that up, now I know what kind of fish I am getting.

 

[Menagerie]

Well, before giving up on cichlids in a community setting...
I currently have two rams and 2 brichardi in my community tank. It really depends on the species. IMHO, cichlids do have a well-earned reputation for being bullies, but not all the species.
How large is the tank?

 

[ScottS]

Way too many Cichlids to make a generalized answer to your question. Do you have an idea of what you were looking for? As mentioned, certainly do a google search for temperments on a particular species.

 

[Jizoel]

They were a bright yellow, Maybe the Electric Yellow Cichlid.
My tank is a planted 30 gallon, 36 inch long.

 

[Enki]

'can I add cichlids?' is almost as general a question as 'can I add fish?' Luckily the answer is the same for both questions: YES! as long as you do your research and get the right one(s) for your situation.

There are hundreds of species available for aquaria from little pretty peaceful Neolamprologus brichardi to great big vicious killers like Dimidiochromis compressiceps.

South/Central American cichlids and some West Africans like softer water in general, while Rift Lake species like harder water.

good luck on your fish hunt!

 

[Jizoel]

Thanks a bunch for the reply.
I was just not sure if there was a rule about it or not as the descriptions I read just listed cichlids as tankmates.

 

[ferret]

'Cichlids' would refer to over 3500+ fish

 

[Jizoel]

What I meant by the question, was is there a ruel about it like goldfish and tropical fish.

 

[PK Tester]

Not everyone needs to bash himf or his question...Jeeze. Should be consider flamming...

 

[Jizoel]

Its ok Pk.
When you come to a play where there is a lot of knowledge and ask a stupid question, you can anticipate that you will get some unhelpful replys.

 

[TankGirl]

It is certainly not a stupid question! The replies simply indicated that more info is needed to properly answer it. We have all been there at one point where we did not know which fish were included when someone mentioned "cichlid" and some of the websites do not help to narrow it down.

It will depend upon what size tank you have, as I don't think that was mentioned. What you describe I would bet is what is commonly called a "Yellow Lab" and you will need to be somewhat careful. For a community tank I would stick with kribensis and rams, but I tend to stock on the cautious side. This is exactly the thing you need to do before buying new fish (and something a lot of people fail to do): See a fish you like, don't buy it, come home and do a little research first. It is the smart thing to do.

 

[Jizoel]

Thanks, I have a 30 gallon planted tank.

 

[TankGirl]

Sounds like kribs or rams would work, because they don't dig like many cichlids do, and they are smallish, suitable for a tank like you have.

 

[Enki]

Thanks, I have a 30 gallon planted tank.

I would suggest rams for your tank then, there are several recent threads about them here. Very pretty and fun fish.

Apologies to anyone who took my response as flaming I was trying to answer an almost unanswerable question as informatively and friendly-like as possible

 

[Menagerie]

Jizoel-
IMHO I would not put the Electric Yellow Cichlid in with community fish. I had an Electric Yellow, who was smaller than my other cichlids, so she was relatively docile, but I would never have placed her in with my community tank.
For a community tank I would recommend Neolamprologus brichardi, Kribesis (Pelvicachromus pulcher) or rams. I currently have brichardi and rams in with my community fish. I don't know how barbs would behave with brichardi (b's tails are longish and flowy). Rams are a ton of fun because they stay small (mine are under two inches) and they have tiny mouths and cannot do much damage to any other fish in the tank--I have NEVER seen the rams go after another fish.
One day, I may devote a whole tank to docile cichlids and I can explore the world of nippy fish in a different tank.
HTH

 

[Jizoel]

Thanks for all the replys.

And its ok Enki

I'll look into these rams.

 

[Menagerie]

You'll love them--and rams don't dig up plants!

 

[Jizoel]

The ones I have seen are not the most colourful fish ever.
N/m, the more I look at the little buggers the better they look.