Best C/A community cichlids

[clayton1985]

As the title says im just looking for your opinions on what the best central american cichlids are for a community. We have loads of threads about which ones are most aggro but pretty much very little info on which ones tend to thrive in a community enviroment.
I know all fish are different but just as some species lean towards being more aggresive there are surely some of the large centrals that are slightly more tolerant, i know the folks on here have a great wealth of knowledge so i look forward to hearing your input.
Thanks in advance.

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

Good Central American Cichlids for Communities:

-Firemouths (Except during breeding)
-Rainbow Cichlids
-Blue Acaras
-Thorichthys Elliotis
-Angels
-Jewels
-Kribs
-Dwarf Cichlids


Good South American Cichlids for Communities:

-Severums
-Geos
-Festivums
-Keyholes
-Apistos
-Rams
-Discus

 

[fishfreak2009]

Good Central American Cichlids for Communities:

-Firemouths (Except during breeding)
-Rainbow Cichlids
-Blue Acaras
-Thorichthys Elliotis
-Angels - SA
-Jewels - Africa
-Kribs - Africa
-Dwarf Cichlids - SA


Good South American Cichlids for Communities:

-Severums
-Geos
-Festivums
-Keyholes
-Apistos
-Rams
-Discus

Fixed your errors on where they come from...

 

[rich_one]

More info about the tank size and such is needed to get more specific fish. I mean, I think pearsi and bocourti cichlids make great community CA cichlids. But the do get HUGE. I'd also say carpintis vontehillos do well in CA communities. For me, Lyonsi have worked great... no problems. Mine just don't seem to start any trouble with anyone.

Those are just a few that have worked for me, but again, the tank size impacts the options for this, in the case of CAs, because of how huge some of them get... even the gentle giants!

-Rich

 

[bbortko]

More info about the tank size and such is needed to get more specific fish. I mean, I think pearsi and bocourti cichlids make great community CA cichlids. But the do get HUGE. I'd also say carpintis vontehillos do well in CA communities. For me, Lyonsi have worked great... no problems. Mine just don't seem to start any trouble with anyone.

Those are just a few that have worked for me, but again, the tank size impacts the options for this, in the case of CAs, because of how huge some of them get... even the gentle giants!

-Rich

Bocourti and Pearsie are always referred to as a gentle giants and that lyonsi are non-aggressive especially for amps., but are usually kept with larger more aggressive fish. If these three were to be the most aggressive and largest fish in the tank how far down the aggression and size scale would you'd be comfortable with trying.

 

[rich_one]

Well, I have successfully kept angels in a tank with bocourti and pearsi, believe it or not. They also didn't bother my rainbows. That was before I had the lyonsi, so I cannot speak on them to quite that extent. They also never bothered a very tiny female green terror I used to have in with them. IMO, they seemed to not bother any other fish, so long as the fish didn't bother them. Not sure if I'm exactly answering your question, so I will just say, I've kept angels with them no problem. So I guess I'd say I feel comfortable going that far down the aggression scale? Again... I do use the caveat that the size of the tank is important. I did it in a 125 gallon, 6 ft. tank.

-Rich

 

[Dan F]

Amphilophus robertsoni might work well as a single specimen in a CA community.

I have four A. robertsoni that were in a community tank with SA eartheaters. I moved them into a tank of their own and the dominant male proceeded to try to kill the subordinate male and the larger of the two females. I put the male back in my SA community and he is actually pushed around by a steindachneri that is about 2/3 his size. I tried to put the female back into the tank after she healed (she got really badly beaten up in one night) but the male went after her immediately. Basically, unless you get a compatible pair or have a lot of room and other fish, these guys will kill each other. Towards other species they super mellow.

 

[aclockworkorange]

Amphilophus robertsoni might work well as a single specimen in a CA community.

I have four A. robertsoni that were in a community tank with SA eartheaters. I moved them into a tank of their own and the dominant male proceeded to try to kill the subordinate male and the larger of the two females. I put the male back in my SA community and he is actually pushed around by a steindachneri that is about 2/3 his size. I tried to put the female back into the tank after she healed (she got really badly beaten up in one night) but the male went after her immediately. Basically, unless you get a compatible pair or have a lot of room and other fish, these guys will kill each other. Towards other species they super mellow.

Good to know. Was strongly considering a group in my 225 gallon. You're not the first person I've heard with that experience with the species too, seems a little too common. I might still try it, I'm going for a specific biotope and those are really the only smaller fish that fit the bill for a smaller species in the tank.

 

[bbortko]

Well, I have successfully kept angels in a tank with bocourti and pearsi, believe it or not. They also didn't bother my rainbows. That was before I had the lyonsi, so I cannot speak on them to quite that extent. They also never bothered a very tiny female green terror I used to have in with them. IMO, they seemed to not bother any other fish, so long as the fish didn't bother them. Not sure if I'm exactly answering your question, so I will just say, I've kept angels with them no problem. So I guess I'd say I feel comfortable going that far down the aggression scale? Again... I do use the caveat that the size of the tank is important. I did it in a 125 gallon, 6 ft. tank.

-Rich

This helped a great deal, thanks.

Great info on the Robertsoni.

 

[Lab_Rat]

I've currently got H. nicaraguense, P. melanurus (juvie still at about 5"), R. octofasciatum (very mellow female and an EB male), C. cutteri, C. nanoluteus, and H. multispinosa in my 180g mixed CA/SA cichlid community. The SA in that tank are H. psittacus, H. temporalis, P. scalare, H. efasciatus, and H. sp. rotkeil. The nics (breeding pair), sevs (breeding pair plus 2 others), JD, cutteri (breeding pair), rainbow, and angel are all adult specimens and I've only had one aggression incident (I'm pretty sure my old chocolate harassed the JD until she snapped and literally bit his face off but I didn't witness it). I'm hopeful the mela and psittacus will stay fairly peaceful as they mature, if not I'll have to make other arrangements. The biggest jerk in the tank is the male nic.