I think I want cichilids

[ARon9501]

Hello,

I recently bought a 60 gallon tank and I would like to know from all you experts out there, how many cichlids can generally I put in it. I thinking of making a cichlid tank but I'm still thinking because I see that they grow very big and I don't just want to have like 6 cichlids in there. Also another reason why I'm not sure is because most cichlids have the same basic body structure, in my opinion I think that is boring, almost the same thing but in different colors. I like how tropical fish look differently. One other thing I would like to know is if I can put like 2 cichlids and some tropical fish.

 

[T-man02]

if you do dwarf or ram you can, but not any other kind if you gonna do tropicals you could also do angels.

 

[ARon9501]

The only problem with dwarfs and rams is that I can't find them in my local fish stores, and I'm not really convinced on buying fish online.

 

[T-man02]

Ive heard severum mama or hn1 is very good with online i dont have any experience with them but heard nothing but good about them though.

 

[ocean]

Ask your LFS if they order them for you. My LFS does it for me.

 

[T-man02]

you could do that too lol.

 

[ARon9501]

Ok thanks I will try that. Sorry for the nooby questions. I just started this hobby 6 months ago.

 

[5x5]

It depends on the full grown size and aggression of the cichlids you want to keep. The more aggressive cichlids are going to really limit the number you can keep in a tank that size, as you'll likely get a lot of nasty behavior if you overstock. I had two very small, but very aggressive cichlids in a tank that size and it was clear from day 1 that it wasn't going to work.

Also, if you could specify if you are looking at African cichlids or South American cichlids.

 

[HUKIT]

With 2500+ species of cichlids and they all have different body structures, your just not looking hard enough.

 

[Patterson333]

Just my two cents, go with Africans, namely, an all male Malawi tank would be gorgeous, you would just have to be ready to really commit some time to getting the right balance set up in a tank like that. As far as variation in body type, there are some other types of tough fish that you can put in there with them, though the only ones that really come to mind for me are different kinds of catfish (just make sure you don't get one that will outgrow your tank). Hopefully someone else more knowledgeable could help you with that.

This article explains a good deal about all male Malawi Tanks: All-Male Malawi Tank

Just as a little aside, go through some of the articles in the library of that website, I got into Cichlids about three months ago, and I've found that website to be a fantastic resource.