I'm setting up a 60g tank and wanted to go with a few dwarf cichlids and a school of 12 Serpae Tetras (I already have the Tetras). My LFS has a few cichlids in stock that should do ok in a 60g but wanted to get some compatability ideas/advice. They currently have T-bar, Curviceps, Electric blue Acara and Turkana Jewel cichlids in stock. I am trying to avoid breeding aggression so would like to go with just 1 of each type. I'm figuring a 60g is too small for 4 cichlids so would like the opinions of anyone that has experience with any of these and come up with which 3 would probably live together the most peacefully. And if you think 3 is too many, which 2 do you think would go best together.
60 Gallon stocking thoughts
- Thread starter Schniz
- Start date
Above is A sajica (Bar) a male about the size of a small dinner plate.
I consider a 60 gal big enough for a pair, no other cichlids, although females stay 1/3 smaller, they prefer hard mineral rich water.
The curviceps would be a great size cichlid for a 60 gal, are geographically correct with the Serpaes, and prefer the same softer to neutral pH water.
EBA would also work well.
To me the Turkana jewels are iffy, Lake Turkana is seasonally brackish, pH about 9, and mineral rich.
This doesn't;t mean they couldn't adapt though, although I wouldn't;t house them with soft water S Americans like curviceps.
If the aquarium has decent planting a school of keyholes would be an option.
Conversely you could do something with a group of apistogramma borelli. These are fairly small but with proper scapeing you could have 2 or 3 males and 4 to 6 females.
Conversely you could do something with a group of apistogramma borelli. These are fairly small but with proper scapeing you could have 2 or 3 males and 4 to 6 females.
reposting since time limit expired during edit:
If the aquarium has decent planting a school of keyholes would be an option.
Conversely you could do something with a group of apistogramma borelli. These are fairly small but with proper scapeing you could have 2 or 3 males and 4 to 6 females.
Of the specific fishes you mentioned being in stock locally the Curviceps are the best bet; they can be a bit unpredictable and depending on various factors can be interesting. You could probably safely do 2 pairs. Never been a fan of EBA. If you do go mail order or if your store can 'special order' there are a lot of options to consider.
If the aquarium has decent planting a school of keyholes would be an option.
Conversely you could do something with a group of apistogramma borelli. These are fairly small but with proper scapeing you could have 2 or 3 males and 4 to 6 females.
Of the specific fishes you mentioned being in stock locally the Curviceps are the best bet; they can be a bit unpredictable and depending on various factors can be interesting. You could probably safely do 2 pairs. Never been a fan of EBA. If you do go mail order or if your store can 'special order' there are a lot of options to consider.
I was thinking about ordering but when I saw the LFS had multiple fish I've never kept in the past figured I'd just go with what they have. I've had keyholes in the past and even though i've always liked them would like to try something different. I'm also wanting to avoid the aggression that comes with breeding, and then the rehoming of fry, so wasn't looking for pairs, was wanting more of a community tank with a few different cichlids. But after reading through some of these forums it looks like my best bet might be to get 1 pair of something and let them do their thing. If I went that route how good would the Serpae Tetras be at keeping the population down?
With the number of Serpae tetras already in the tank, I doubt you will have any excess fry, even if you'd get multiple cichlid spawnings.
I keep a male and 3 female Andinoacara coerleopunctatus (close cousins to blue Acara) in a 180 gal tank, the male spawns a number of times with each female, each breeding season, and with the tetras they share the tank with, no fry have ever survived very long.
I keep a male and 3 female Andinoacara coerleopunctatus (close cousins to blue Acara) in a 180 gal tank, the male spawns a number of times with each female, each breeding season, and with the tetras they share the tank with, no fry have ever survived very long.
I think a lot depends on how your tank is layed out and planting layer. In my 40B i ahve frequent spawns (including a pair of bn) and unfortunately i'm finding that more frys then I would desire are making it. My tank is heavily planted with numerous pieces of buried driftwood (not visible via pictures because of plant cover); if the aquairum is more open that might change the dynamics.
It may also have to do with species and their preferred placement in the water column, Pleco fry often resist predation by mid water swimmers like tetras, because of their preferred substrate level habitat, and cichlid fry being more midwater swimmers, same locations as the tetras .
My tanks are also somewhat heavily planted.
