Cichlids compatibility with polys
- Thread starter Polyaddict86
- Start date
Allot of cichlids will swim in all areas of the tank but mainly stay towards the bottom so keep that in mind. Pearsei and bocourti are great looking fish good suggestions
Vancouver_98683
Imo i wouldnt do it, i'd leave it a poly only tank or look for different fish. I love my pearsei but feedings are a nightmare unless im feeding cut up fish. Pearsei appetites are insane worse than oscars imo. Plus with cichlids you never know what your gonna get attitude wise. Mine is a nasty bastard doesnt mess with the polys but never got along with other cichlids
DMD123
has one that is on the milder side. I think it has to do with the sex too.
I think you have a nice chill poly comm going throwing a cichlid in the mix could be asking for an eventual headache.
Electric blue jack dempseys need pristine water from what ive read and are delicate when small.
Vancouver_98683
Imo i wouldnt do it, i'd leave it a poly only tank or look for different fish. I love my pearsei but feedings are a nightmare unless im feeding cut up fish. Pearsei appetites are insane worse than oscars imo. Plus with cichlids you never know what your gonna get attitude wise. Mine is a nasty bastard doesnt mess with the polys but never got along with other cichlids
DMD123
has one that is on the milder side. I think it has to do with the sex too.I think you have a nice chill poly comm going throwing a cichlid in the mix could be asking for an eventual headache.
Electric blue jack dempseys need pristine water from what ive read and are delicate when small.
Another thought i just had, if your set on getting a cichlid i would test my water before wc's and get a baseline of what my nitrates are. Some cichlids arent as forgiving as polys when it comes to water quality, some are susceptible to hith and just wont grow to their full potential
I love my pearsei. I dont talk about her much because Im in the poly section more. She is full grown at 14" and overall very easygoing. She is top cichlid in the tank but does not push the others around. Her tankmates are a red bay snook and MonteCristo cichlid. She can eat a lot but now as an adult her appetite is not insatiable. The snook on the otherhand is even more of a pig.
Here is Porkchop the pearsei
Here she is in size comparison to the red bay snook (Names Snooki, lol)
A little friendly bickering between Monty and Snooki. All flare and no bite so its fine.
Full tank shot for fun to see how big Porkchop is. My tank is 8' long, 30" tall and you can see she has a big presence in the tank at 14".
Here is Porkchop the pearsei
Here she is in size comparison to the red bay snook (Names Snooki, lol)
A little friendly bickering between Monty and Snooki. All flare and no bite so its fine.
Full tank shot for fun to see how big Porkchop is. My tank is 8' long, 30" tall and you can see she has a big presence in the tank at 14".
Look into vieja synspilum never kept one but heard they are on the milder side. Stay away from most other viejas except the heterospilus but hets grow way to slow imo to keep with some of your faster growing lower jaws.
Sevs are a good choice but i think even them are hit or miss. Im pretty sure the T Thekid had one kill his endli
Sevs are a good choice but i think even them are hit or miss. Im pretty sure the T Thekid had one kill his endli
As for true top swimmers. Where they will sleep at night at the water line. The options are limited. Pink tail chalceus, apollo sharks, and very few more on the medium size. Silver aro gets too big, and African butterfly and Hatchet characins too small.
For me. My middle swimmers is a distchidous sexfaciatus and silver datnoid. I too had a 14" pearsei cichlid just as jaws7777 and DMD123. But the desire to always want food was too much cichlid for me. For cichlid options. It'll be a fun 'in, out, or stay experiment' as you go along.
For me. My middle swimmers is a distchidous sexfaciatus and silver datnoid. I too had a 14" pearsei cichlid just as jaws7777 and DMD123. But the desire to always want food was too much cichlid for me. For cichlid options. It'll be a fun 'in, out, or stay experiment' as you go along.
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As much as I like my polys, I still want upper movement in the tank. A lot of cichlids out there completely ignore bichir but you never know, you may get that one odd ball the is super territorial and hurt a poly. Pretty safe bet with bocourti and pearsei, though I saw a pretty big jag and ornate sharing a tank before with no issues.
For me the issues revolve around feeding. Jag would be worse cuz i dont think they would ignore the chopped fish but who knows.
