Soon to be South American Chiclid tank

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Masoniac

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
606
I have a 29gal with a very small red devil and a small tiger Oscar I know when they get bigger they will have to be removed. Now my question is what would be happy in a 29 a pair of convicts is already in my mind would thank be about it for this sized tank.
 

Attachments

  • image-3730375098.jpg
    image-3730375098.jpg
    110.4 KB · Views: 114
  • image-3979872905.jpg
    image-3979872905.jpg
    136.7 KB · Views: 126
  • image-4169291691.jpg
    image-4169291691.jpg
    105.6 KB · Views: 122
Possibly a Red Blood Parrot and a Firemouth. Or a Firemouth and a Midas. South Americans usually get bigger. So I wouldn't do more than two. Maybe even just one Jack Dempsey.
 
Convicts would work. Be sure to get a male and a female if possible to reduce aggression in the tank.
 
Nathanpopp said:
Possibly a Red Blood Parrot and a Firemouth. Or a Firemouth and a Midas. South Americans usually get bigger. So I wouldn't do more than two. Maybe even just one Jack Dempsey.

Do you realize this is for a 29gal? None of these suggestions are reasonable for a tank that size.

To the op: A convict pair would be a fine. You could get a couple of keyhole cichlids or look into dwarfs, such as rams.
 
Thank you for all the suggestions. I was thinking of the pair of convicts and a blue acara.
 
Personally, I stay away from Central American cichlids in anything less than a 40 breeder, simply because of aggression issues. Even a pair of convicts can be a problem if the male is ready to spawn and the female isn't; he will hound the female constantly. A pair of cons is hit or miss, IME. A pair of convicts and a blue acara is askin' for trouble. The acara will never get any peace when the cons spawn and there is not enough room to run. It will likely end up dead. A 29 gallon just doesn't have enough of a footprint to allow for enough hiding places.

If yer willing to expand away from CA cichlids, a breeding pair of the majority of the 3"-4" Neolamprologus, Julidochromis or Telmatochromis species from Lake Tanganyika, a pair or trio of any of the South American dwarf cichlids (apistos, rams,Taeniacara, Nannacara, Dicrossus, etc.), a pair of any of the smaller West African cichlids, or two or three pairs of any of the shell dwellers fom Lake Tanganyika are all viable options if ya want cichlid behavior in a smaller tank. With this option, you'd also have some room for a school of 5 or 6 small schooling fish like danios as dithers.

WYite
 
Wyomingite said:
Personally, I stay away from Central American cichlids in anything less than a 40 breeder, simply because of aggression issues. Even a pair of convicts can be a problem if the male is ready to spawn and the female isn't; he will hound the female constantly. A pair of cons is hit or miss, IME. A pair of convicts and a blue acara is askin' for trouble. The acara will never get any peace when the cons spawn and there is not enough room to run. It will likely end up dead. A 29 gallon just doesn't have enough of a footprint to allow for enough hiding places.

If yer willing to expand away from CA cichlids, a breeding pair of the majority of the 3"-4" Neolamprologus, Julidochromis or Telmatochromis species from Lake Tanganyika, a pair or trio of any of the South American dwarf cichlids (apistos, rams,Taeniacara, Nannacara, Dicrossus, etc.), a pair of any of the smaller West African cichlids, or two or three pairs of any of the shell dwellers fom Lake Tanganyika are all viable options if ya want cichlid behavior in a smaller tank. With this option, you'd also have some room for a school of 5 or 6 small schooling fish like danios as dithers.

WYite

You bring up a good point with the convicts. A 29 is all I can fit in the space I have. The convicts could be okay if I keep just the red devil and Oscar convicts tend to stay close to where they call home.
 
Back
Top Bottom