Small chichilids? Do they exist or are they big fish

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mus

Aquarium Advice Regular
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Hi, i like chichlids but am concerned about their size. Are there and small types, my tank is a bit tight with space (54ltr) so i dont want a huge fish in a fsirly small tank.

Please help i need a list of some of the smallest types.
sorry about the spelling mistake! Im not sure if the title can be edited.
Thnx.
 
Yes, there are several small cichlids. There are a couple shell dwelling cichlids from lake tanganyika that would be very suitable for that size tank. Look up Lamprologus multifasciatus and Lamprologus ocellatus. Those are probably the two most common.
 
Yea there are dwarf cichlids usually don't get bigger than 4 or 5 inches. Like a convict or a kribensis
 
You could also do Rams, such as Bolivians or German blues, Even a Keyhole cichlid.
 
I went to a lfs yesterday an saw a pink cichlid, not aware of what type it was but i thought thats quite nice, but i assumed that they grow big. Thanks for the advice.

do i need to be aware of anything before/when buying these? I.e are they aggressive?
 
The shell dwellers are agressive defenders of their shells however they are 2 small to cause any damage

Rams are agressive when they have fry to defend

Another option are apisto (cockatoo) cichlids, they to are agressive when they have fry to defend
 
Almost all Cichlids will become aggressive when they have fry to defend. But my Rams just keep to themselves. Don't go after anyone, really.
 
I've had keyholes for 4 years now they are brill, they are in a 240l tank and they are about 3'' and they are fully grown. Firemouths are slow growers and great to own, they are the best starter cichlids in my opinion
 
I have a 55g all African cichlid tank. They refer to them as Mbuna Cichlids from Lake Malawi, and all of them are said to be aggressive. And one of them was aggressive. His name was Sonny, he was a Red Zebra and quite beautiful. He was among the first group I brought home. At first no problems with any of them. Every 4weeks I'd add 4 more cichlids to build up the female population. Since you must have at least 4 females for every male Cichlid.
Any way all was going well until I found a couple of my young females damaged. I could find any obvious damage but they were swimming funny. I put them into a hops. tank and they died 3 weeks later. Then I kept finding dead fish every few days. Sonny decided that half the 55g tank was all his and he'd kill any one that came near his half. He nearly decimated my entire tank.
I finally gave him back to the FS. Peace has reigned in my tank ever since.
I have 12 Cichlids of various sizes and ages and they all get along.
So you can't always go by the label of aggression. Some that say aggressive aren't and some that say aggressive are killers. There isn't anyway to know. With cichlids it's trial and error, you have to see which personalities match up.
But there are some beautiful Dwarf Cichlids that are about 3". So you could try getting 1 male Dwarf to 3 female dwarf Cichlids in your 14g tank. Try going to www.liveaquaria.com , click on freshwater then click on A. Cichlids , then you'll see a small search box on the left top side. Type in Dwarf cichlid and a list with pictures and statistics and water parameters and minimum tank size and who they get along with. Check it out it has great info. for what ever fish you decide you want.
 
Rams are the bomb! I have had them by themselves, in little ram packs, in a 110 planted with several species of fish and in my 20 gals. When together they just mess with each other mostly, and its pretty entertaining. You can almost hear the monotone of a national geographic narrator describing the behavior lol. Kribs are cool too, but I can't find those here, so I can't comment on those. But I have had shelldwellers and I would have to say that these are what I would go with if you can get your hands on them. I had the ocellatus, which are gold, and they are just too cool. Make sure you get about six or seven and a couple seashells. They like sand and they bury their shells. If you put some shiny objects in their tank the males will drag them to their shells. They will find females and keep em in their shell. They steal from other males back and forth, build up walls, and their fry usually end up being taken care of good if they are in a species only tank. If you have to reach in the tank they will probably nip your fingers. But seriously, you can't go wrong with either, all the small cichlids "are" small, but they pack all of the traits, behaviors, and attitudes of their bigger cousins.
 
Hi, i like chichlids but am concerned about their size. Are there and small types, my tank is a bit tight with space (54ltr) so i dont want a huge fish in a fsirly small tank.

Please help i need a list of some of the smallest types.
sorry about the spelling mistake! Im not sure if the title can be edited.
Thnx.
Well your not going to like my answer here but after my last post to you about where to find the info you need I went and looked myself. The Dwarf Cichlids need a minimum 30g tank.
But I found some beautiful Danios that will fit in your 54ltr tank. I'll post a few pics. for you. See if you like any of the them and go from there.
Left to right top to bottom
My favorite the Zebra Danio great colors 10g tank, pH 6.5-7.5
Next is a Long fin Leopard 10g tank, pH 6.5-7.0
My second favorite the Glofish in 3 colors Red, Green, Orange, 1g tank, pH6.5-7.5
then the Long fin Zebra Danio 10g tank, pH 6.5-7.5
All very compatible, there are more of the Danio but these are all the pics. I could fit. These were the 4 best of the Danio
They aren't Cichlids but cichlids won't work in a 54ltr-14g tank. These Danio will fit in your tank they are a hardy, easy to care for fish and they have the same water parameters.
Hope this helps you
 
In my research you could keep at least one breeding pair of brevis (neolamprologus brevis). They are small shell dwellers that only need about 10-12 square inches of territory. I wanted to get a pair but could not find anywhere remotely local to buy them and did not want to pay the shipping online.
 
<--- breeds firemouths

Let me tell you, they are great little-ish fish, but they can get very rowdy when they spawn. Almost as bad as a convict. Our's had 2 jack dempseys cowering in the corner of a 120g tank.
 
but cichlids won't work in a 54ltr-14g tank.
As I, and at least one other person have said, shell dwelling cichlids will work just fine. Sure, there aren't many, but saying cichlids won't work is incorrect. I kept two colonies of multis in my 10g for over a year before I sold them due to me taking down my small tanks. They max out at less than 2", making them ideal for smaller tanks.
 
I keep multis have small colony in my 64 litre they love it and are great to watch on third generation of fry and they dig lots just need lots of shells escargot are fine if you cannot locate neothauma shells from lake tanganyika
 

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