New to cichlids

[Jolenebailey]

Hi all, at the moment I have a blue Acara in my 50g tank. And will be getting more next week.
Can anyone suggest how many of each species is good to keep?
I am also looking at getting convicts, fire mouths and red Forrest jewels
.. I am aware that they are aggressive fish , is there anything I can do to keep the peace? I don't really want them to have babies can I stop it?
Thanks

 

[toddnbecka]

Jewels are too aggressive to mix, particularly with relatively mellow fish like blue acara. Convicts and firemouths are also too aggresive, but not as outright homicidal as the jewels.
If you don't want them to spawn just keep a single male of each species, but choose more compatible fish to start with.

 

[Mrc8858]

Jewels are too aggressive to mix, particularly with relatively mellow fish like blue acara. Convicts and firemouths are also too aggresive, but not as outright homicidal as the jewels.
If you don't want them to spawn just keep a single male of each species, but choose more compatible fish to start with.

I would have to beg to differ... although you are correct on the other two, jewels can be successfully mixed if done right..given I couldn't recommend a "newbie" to try cause they are aggressive but I have successfully mixed them with johannis, scolofis, rusties, and auratus..(the auratus kept that bad boy in check lol)..pretty much as long as the jewel cant establish its dominance they'll co-exist just fine

 

[Jolenebailey]

Ok thanks for that, what other fish do u recommend I keep with my blue Acara? Maybe more blue Acaras? I'm not fussed too much about having diff species (only wanted diff for the variety off colors) I just want them to be happy and healthy

 

[Mrc8858]

If your looking for red in your tank check out red zebras or rusty cichlids

 

[garfy]

I wouldn't advise keeping blue acara with mbuna's.They are from different continents,Their water parameters are different and the mbuna's would be too aggressive for the blue acara imo.

 

[ronnieroach]

personally, i've kept africans w/ my oscar & parrots & never had an issue. my oscar was huge (10inches+) & maybe since he knew it was his tank he just didnt care about anyone else..

its a HUGE no-no on AA but me & my friends had alllll kinds of crazy combos when we first started, as far as mixing cichlids from diff continents..

a (DUMB) friend of mine currently has a pike, shovelnose cat, TROUT (that he caught in our resivoir), a venustus & 2 parrots .. possibly something else too but they all co-exsist, & have for a while now.

now that i consider myself to be a serious aquarist, i wouldnt do any crazy combos again BUT i also wouldnt tell anyone that they DEFINITELY couldnt pull it off, seeing as we have in the past

I NEVER HAD AN ACARA THOUGH & DONT KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THEM!! ( just sharing my experience )

just be careful w/ whatever you do & always monitor like CRAZY!!

good luck

 

[Mrc8858]

I agree Ronnie.. you may be told that 2 fish "can't" co-exist but it really comes down to the fish.. yes there are special needs for some that may make it a problem but if personality is the only real issue then if monitored and kept on top of you can mix species that otherwise couldn't be according to the books.. with that said I really wouldn't recommend it but with most people if they are set on something it doesn't matter how educated/experienced you could be, your advice will be overlooked.(dont believe me then stand by the tanks at a lfs and see how stubborn people are fist hand lol) So the way I see it instead of telling them no tell them why you wouldn't but if attempted the best way to do so..I know in probably gonna get some hate from this one but it is just my opinion and its only opinion,to each their own.

 

[Jmedic25]

Just because you can put them together dosent mean you should. You could put a cat in the tank but that dosnet mean it would be happy. LOL

 

[Mrc8858]

Just because you can put them together dosent mean you should. You could put a cat in the tank but that dosnet mean it would be happy. LOL

I'm not saying he should..actually the opposite. The point is a lot of times when people are told no then they'll just stop asking questions and go for it so as just an advice giver on AA the best you can do is to give them as much advice on that subject as possible

 

[ronnieroach]

just stating again --- "now that i consider myself to be a serious aquarist, i wouldnt do any crazy combos again"

i wasnt reccommending anything either, just sharing that i had some positive resuts going against the norms

 

[toddnbecka]

Keyholes, curviceps, or angels would mix well with blue acara's depending on the tank size. What are the dimensions of the 50?

 

[Jolenebailey]

It's a 4 foot tanks

 

[Jolenebailey]

Thanks all. I've gone with convicts and fire mouths and have moved my Acara into my other tank with my angels. Is there anyother cichlids that u can suggest for my four foot tank?? I would like to add some colour. (I've also got silver dollars)

 

[toddnbecka]

Firemouths will claim the whole tank as their territory if they pair up and spawn, thought eh convicts are probably tough enough to stand up to them. Some Colombian tetras would be good for color, but no more cichlids with those 2 species.

 

[Convict2161]

Just to add I had to re home my Firemouth's because they ran my convict tank and tossed them all around. I thought my convicts would stand there ground but the pair of FM ruled.

 

[Jolenebailey]

At this stage I'm only gonna keep one of each so they dont pair up but will check out the tetras thanks. Anyother suggestions that have worked for people?

 

[Convict2161]

I'll share my other experience when I added Columbian tetras. They lasted I'd say about an hour. My cons tore there eyes out and they were still alive swimming around hitting the decor and glass. My cons did not like the idea of other fish in there tank. The only ones they backed down from were the FM which o found strange. Anyway, just my experience with the convicts.

 

[Jolenebailey]

Oh charming thanks for that I'm only new to cichlids so need all the help I can get

 

[mfdrookie516]

I would have to beg to differ... although you are correct on the other two, jewels can be successfully mixed if done right..given I couldn't recommend a "newbie" to try cause they are aggressive but I have successfully mixed them with johannis, scolofis, rusties, and auratus..(the auratus kept that bad boy in check lol)..pretty much as long as the jewel cant establish its dominance they'll co-exist just fine

You're talking about mixing jewels (africans) with mbuna (africans). Acaras (South american) are nowhere near as aggressive as mbuna. There is a reason that cichlid experts have repeatedly said it's never a good idea to mix continents.