Cichlids for community tank (225 Gallons)

[Kyleallen22]

Hello everyone!

I’m looking to create a new 225 gallon community tank and I would like to incorporate cichlids as the centerpiece into it. Dimensions will be 72"Lx24"Wx30"H

I will do either a overflow+sump or an FX6 for filtration. I would like to do the sump but don’t have experience with them, previously I used an FX4 on my 75 gallon tank. And I have an HOB on my 20 gallon and 10 gallon.

I considered getting an Oscar but that almost immediately eliminates a lot of options for a community... talk me into or out of it please lol.

I plan on using a white sand substrate with a blue background, and possibly getting some plants depending on the types of cichlids I end up getting. Otherwise there will be plenty of driftwood and or rock work.

What would your ideal stick be for a tank this size!? Please let me know so I can finish planning and use your suggestions as inspiration!

Fish I am currently considering include

Bosemani Rainbow
Angelfish
EB Acara
Oscar
Jack Dempsey
Green Terror
Severum

[Brookster123]

Cant go wrong with eba, mine show no hostility to any other fish in the tank. They will eat anything that fits in their mouth. Angel's are usually fine in a community setting but as with any cichlid there is a chance for a wild one. The other fish listed will limit options for community fish and plants. With that sized tank you could throw in a nice wolf pack of eba and angel fish and some rainbows. It will be a fast paced feeding frenzy when food hits the water. A group of larger Cory's and a pleco on the bottom to round it out.

[charliebankston]

Eb acara, threadfin acara, geophagus, angels. Maybe severum. I'd def avoid the others unless you want to watch the others get bullied to death or flat out consumed. The oscar gets really big and has a huge mouth and insatiable appetite. He'll eventually eat ev1 on your list. If you wanted an Oscar, jd, etc, then you'd have to do a cichlid only tank. In a 220 you could put 8 or 10 in there, depending on which species and how big grown

[charliebankston]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

Cant go wrong with eba, mine show no hostility to any other fish in the tank. They will eat anything that fits in their mouth. Angel's are usually fine in a community setting but as with any cichlid there is a chance for a wild one. The other fish listed will limit options for community fish and plants. With that sized tank you could throw in a nice wolf pack of eba and angel fish and some rainbows. It will be a fast paced feeding frenzy when food hits the water. A group of larger Cory's and a pleco on the bottom to round it out.

I like this suggested set up. Fun to watch and be very pretty too

[Kyleallen22]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

Cant go wrong with eba, mine show no hostility to any other fish in the tank. They will eat anything that fits in their mouth. Angel's are usually fine in a community setting but as with any cichlid there is a chance for a wild one. The other fish listed will limit options for community fish and plants. With that sized tank you could throw in a nice wolf pack of eba and angel fish and some rainbows. It will be a fast paced feeding frenzy when food hits the water. A group of larger Cory's and a pleco on the bottom to round it out.

That sounds really nice too me, what specific number do you think would work?

I know angels have to be kept in pairs or singles usually, would this tank be big enough for 3-5? Or stick with a pair?

EBA are one of my favorite looking fish but I haven’t kept them before, are they more solitary fish? I’ve seen people say to only keep one and others say you can have multiple. Provided there are enough caves etc.

Rainbows I guess I could do 10-20?

For the cats and Pleco are there specific varieties you would suggest I look at? I know from personal experience some plecos get MASSIVE.

[Kyleallen22]

Originally Posted by charliebankston

Eb acara, threadfin acara, geophagus, angels. Maybe severum. I'd def avoid the others unless you want to watch the others get bullied to death or flat out consumed. The oscar gets really big and has a huge mouth and insatiable appetite. He'll eventually eat ev1 on your list. If you wanted an Oscar, jd, etc, then you'd have to do a cichlid only tank. In a 220 you could put 8 or 10 in there, depending on which species and how big grown

I’ve always liked the idea of a large cichlids tank but their aggression is a little intimidating to me, I would want to talk to my LFS and see if I had the option to gift them a fish if it was being bullied too hard.

Maybe focusing on the smaller cichlid is a better option for me as there is less of a chance they will end up killing tankmates.

[charliebankston]

Avoid the common pleco, they are poop machines, and do nothing to clean the tank. Just the opposite actually. My eba is very social and active. Just have 1. Corys and pictus are fun and active. Corys go pretty much non stop

[charliebankston]

Originally Posted by Kyleallen22

I’ve always liked the idea of a large cichlids tank but their aggression is a little intimidating to me, I would want to talk to my LFS and see if I had the option to gift them a fish if it was being bullied too hard.

Maybe focusing on the smaller cichlid is a better option for me as there is less of a chance they will end up killing tankmates.

Yeah, they can be rough on one another. But ALL cichlids are like that. It's hit and miss some times. My angel fish tank is one of the worst, although they don't really cause much damage. Just jerks

[Kyleallen22]

Originally Posted by charliebankston

Avoid the common pleco, they are poop machines, and do nothing to clean the tank. Just the opposite actually. My eba is very social and active. Just have 1. Corys and pictus are fun and active. Corys go pretty much non stop

My brother has 6 cories currently in a 29 gallon tank and they are a favorite of my wife. I know she would definitely like to have some.

Would an apisto work in this setup do y’all think?

[charliebankston]

Yeah, apistos are cool. Very pretty and easy. But hard to sex and if you get a m/f they will breed. And all bets are off. They pretty nasty about protecting the brood. An apisto with an eba would work tho

[Kyleallen22]

Originally Posted by charliebankston

Yeah, they can be rough on one another. But ALL cichlids are like that. It's hit and miss some times. My angel fish tank is one of the worst, although they don't really cause much damage. Just jerks

Angels are the only cichlid I have experience keeping. I had 3 of them in a 75 and they got along when the pair wasn’t spawning. I know others have had worse experiences.

Mostly I’ve kept swordtails, guppies, tetras and mollies so I would like to branch out to some larger or different fish. Angels are my favorite that I’ve kept which is why I definitely want some cichlids.

[charliebankston]

Of course, in a big tank, if they spawned, you could always close off that part of the tank

[Kyleallen22]

Originally Posted by charliebankston

Yeah, apistos are cool. Very pretty and easy. But hard to sex and if you get a m/f they will breed. And all bets are off. They pretty nasty about protecting the brood. An apisto with an eba would work tho

Got it I’ll probably do that then to not risk having a pair of either. With a couple angels and the school of rainbows that should cover the mid to upper section of the tank.

[charliebankston]

Get some angels if you like them. They bicker quite a bit for dominance, but usually nothing major. Little bit of lip locking at first. Then mostly charging and posturing. If they spawn you can remove the eggs and within a day or 2 the aggression settles back to normal. They won't take over the whole tank anyway. Prob just 1/2 to protect the brood. They'll shove ev1 to the other end, lol

[charliebankston]

Originally Posted by Kyleallen22

Got it I’ll probably do that then to not risk having a pair of either. With a couple angels and the school of rainbows that should cover the mid to upper section of the tank.

That would be a pretty tank

[Brookster123]

You could do 4-6 eba, 4 Angel's.

[charliebankston]

Originally Posted by Brookster123

You could do 4-6 eba, 4 Angel's.

That'd be really pretty

[charliebankston]

A big tank like that gives you a ton of options

[Kyleallen22]

Originally Posted by charliebankston

A big tank like that gives you a ton of options

I love options but I also tend to go into analysis paralysis lol.

[charliebankston]

Haha! Me too! Too many choices makes it hard, and I want them all!