Stocking for cichlids

[mikeISright]

Just wondering what kind of cichlids i could do in a 55 gallon black sand, black gravel, fake driftwood x2, tons of fake plants, some rocks. Ill take a picture tommorow but the lights are off. Thanks in andvance. (by the way i am open to all suggestions even dwarfs)

 

[mikeISright]

Just wondering what kind of cichlids i could do in a 55 gallon black sand, black gravel, fake driftwood x2, tons of fake plants, some rocks. Ill take a picture tommorow but the lights are off. Thanks in andvance. (by the way i am open to all suggestions even dwarfs)

Haha sorry meant black background, black gravel.

 

[CraigMac]

With a 55, I'm assuming its the standard 4' tank, you have some options. You can do some dwarfs, but the 4' footprint allows you to do some other fish such as yellow labs, red zebra, etc. That is African Cichlids, if you are looking for new world cichlids wait for some others to reply as I am not familiar with them or the requirements.

If you do move forward with the African Cichlids, you'll want to add more rocks as they need caves / hiding places or else you will have aggression issues.

 

[mikeISright]

Yeah i know about africans and other fish i was trying to get some exact stocking options. And i shouldve put i will not be using africans. So any new world ideas would be appreciatted.

 

[mikeISright]

Heres a pic of the tank if that helps. Also thinking of maybe changing to a natural leafy background of some sort.

 

[cbourg746]

Heres a pic of the tank if that helps. Also thinking of maybe changing to a natural leafy background of some sort.

I say keep the black background. Looks very good bro. Were you leaning toward a community tank or a spices only? I know you already love green terrors!!!!!

 

[Jacobsal91]

Personally i would get some mbuna. Which are
Zebras and labs, aratus and other beautiful african cichlids!

 

[cbourg746]

Personally i would get some mbuna. Which are
Zebras and labs, aratus and other beautiful african cichlids!

He said he didn't want Africans.

 

[mikeISright]

I say keep the black background. Looks **** good bro. We're you leaning tow are a community tank or a spices only? I know you already love green terrors!!!!!

Im leaning towards a semi-aggressive just because of the lack of cichlids i have access two. Like angels and rams and such. Heres the CA/SA cichlids that i are available to me:
Convicts
JDs
Oscars (tiger,albino, latino)
Blood parrots
Red devils
GTs rarely
Severum rarely

 

[Jacobsal91]

Oh oops sorry! This might be a stretch but have you considered discus with some small blue rams or something?

 

[Freakgecko91]

Im leaning towards a semi-aggressive just because of the lack of cichlids i have access two. Like angels and rams and such. Heres the CA/SA cichlids that i are available to me:
Convicts
JDs
Oscars (tiger,albino, latino)
Blood parrots
Red devils
GTs rarely
Severum rarely

Just a quick correction, but rams are quite peaceful, not semi aggressive

As for your list, based solely on size and tank requirements, I'd have to say:
Yes
Maybe (if single specimen only)
No
Maybe (but I absolutely despise these, as they are not a real cichlid in my eyes)
No
Maybe (once again, single specimen)
No (Severums are larger bodied cichlids and I think a 75 would be better)

What about rainbow cichlids, keyholes, Cupids, checkerboards, rams, Apistos, Honduran red points, cryptoheroes sajica (T bar cichlid), etc. in a community setting? You could do a couple of schools of tetras, like rummy nose, bleeding heart, Serpae, phantom, black skirt, etc.

 

[bettaowner]

Fire mouth cichlids are cool fish. Maybe just a chromide or two.

 

[Borderlesscott]

I would agree with Firemouths, you could also look at Sajica's, Keyhole's, with a few Dwarf Cichlids.

Sajicas are stunning once they settle in.

 

[mikeISright]

Well i love all of these but i just dont have any around. My lfs is horrible and petsmart doesnt carry anything and if it does its dead. Ill call later tonight and ask them if they order in and go from there. What would be the best one of all the ones you named to go in a more community type setting.

 

[Borderlesscott]

Both the Sajica, Firemouth, can get a bit aggressive when breeding for smaller fish but if the tank has plenty of bogwood, plants etc you should be okay but I would stick to the bigger dwarfs with them like Rams. Keyhole's are very peaceful and can go with almost anything. If you are putting dither fish in - recommended you do, use a wider body Tetra, like Lemon, Black Skirt etc as smaller Neon's might become food. If you look online I would be surprised if there wasn't somewhere selling the fish mail order, postage is expensive but worth it to get the right fish.

 

[mikeISright]

Ok thank you very much! Ill look into it. The problem is i cant keep spending tons of money on fish. Ill try to see if my lfs will order for me.

 

[Aski247]

I noticed your in Maryland, if you can make it to glen burnie, you could actually go to the lfs I use. (house of tropicals.)

Since your into NW cichlids they pretty much have the best selection around. And can order the not so common species. Not to mention the huge selection in other FW fish as well as oddball's.

 

[mikeISright]

I noticed your in Maryland, if you can make it to glen burnie, you could actually go to the lfs I use. (house of tropicals.)

Since your into NW cichlids they pretty much have the best selection around. And can order the not so common species. Not to mention the huge selection in other FW fish as well as oddball's.

Oh wow! Thanks again. I will definitly look into how far it is. I live in bel air MD so its probably about 30-40 mins. Thanks!

 

[Aski247]

Oh wow! Thanks again. I will definitly look into how far it is. I live in bel air MD so its probably about 30-40 mins. Thanks!

From bel air, yes roughly 30 mins or so. Right down 695 towards glen burnie. It's about a 30 min drive for me as well. Not to bad and always worth it.

 

[mikeISright]

From bel air, yes roughly 30 mins or so. Right down 695 towards glen burnie. It's about a 30 min drive for me as well. Not to bad and always worth it.

Ok cool. What part are you from if you dont mind me asking? And yeah ide say 695 is the fastest. 30 mins is fine for me. Do the have any other aggressive cichlids SA/CA?