Which cichlid for community tank

[BlueAura]

Hi all!

I'm almost done stocking my 29 gallon, and I have my eyes on maybe 2 cichlids. In particular, angelfish and golden rams. Both can be jerks, I know. The question is, which is the least jerky? I'm not going to own both species, it will be one or the other.

Tank stock:. 6 glass cats, 4 platies, 4 silver hatchets, 1 cory, 8 ghost shrimp.

Any help from the experts would be very welcomed.

 

[Autumnsky]

Allow me to discourage you form the Angelfish. My last few Angelfish have been the size of my hand adult woman size, imho way too large for that.

Have you looked at any of the Apistogramma varieties. Areally pretty kind is Apistogramma borellii, try and find captive bred rather than wild caught fish. They will be a better match for a community tank. There are many fish bred for special coloring (more color than native ones) and are very beautiful.

 

[Toad]

I have a keyhole, and while he isn't the most gorgeous fish in the typical sense, he's nice looking and nice to my other fish.

Sent from my SM-G930T using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[coralbandit]

Rams should be 80+.
Why golds?
I really think the regular are best looking but some EBR are fantastic also.
I breed both GBR and EBR.I have looked into golds but over all they are in about as much demand as the EBR but for less money.
That and many stories of golds just being weak? Maybe they say the same of EBR ?
No rams seem to last much over 2 years anymore?
IMO angels need the whole tank to themselves.
I breed them also and keep the pair in a 20tall.It is as tight as it should be for two fish, bare bottom with 2 filters and lots of water changes. They eat and thus poop a lot.
Your stocking says you should add more to your cories.Same type +5 IMO...

 

[abw0004]

Rams should be 80+.
Why golds?
I really think the regular are best looking but some EBR are fantastic also.
I breed both GBR and EBR.I have looked into golds but over all they are in about as much demand as the EBR but for less money.
That and many stories of golds just being weak? Maybe they say the same of EBR ?
No rams seem to last much over 2 years anymore?
IMO angels need the whole tank to themselves.
I breed them also and keep the pair in a 20tall.It is as tight as it should be for two fish, bare bottom with 2 filters and lots of water changes. They eat and thus poop a lot.
Your stocking says you should add more to your cories.Same type +5 IMO...

+1. When I first started in aquariums, my Gold Rams never last very long. I think it is because they have been so modified from German Blue Rams, they may have some deficiencies.

I will also recommend German Blue Rams. I have have a few pairs in my community tank. The only time I have ever had an issue was when they laid eggs and had fry. They were very protective of their babies (as they should be) and would fight even my hand trying to feed them. Very fun fish to watch as well.

 

[BlueAura]

Thank you everyone for the replies. After my last experience with angelfish, I was very wary of adding them again, and I'm glad I asked! Yesterday we went to one of the three decent fish places around here. They had GBRs, gold and electric blue. The GBRs and blues were all either adult size or close, so we went with the golds. I did ask about the apistogrammas, and they said the ones they had would not work in a community tank. So we have two small, new golds. I think we have a male/female pair but it's hard to tell because they are under an inch and still pale. No aggressive behavior so far!

Also we got another cory of the same species. It was so cute when the two found each other. They huddled up in one of the tank ornaments and just rested there together for awhile. ?