cichla (pbass) in groups..

[steenmillinder]

Hi

Are some of the smaller cichla species better suited for living in groups than others? (assuming tank size and filtration is taken care of)

I have an eye out for Kelberi or Orinocensis, but the only footage I could find of cichla living togeather in the wild was a group of mono's, and they hunted in a pack of 10-12 fish. I don't have experience with any cichla myself so I'm still lacking evidence that cichla do in fact live in groups for life and don't become solitary with age, I've read most of the internet on the subject but still feel dumb AF, hope some of you have a wise word or two.

I'm really looking for a fish that can thrive in a group for the whole of its life, I would buy them small in the 2-4'' range and let them grow up togeather but I'm looking for a "group" not 2 males and 3 females if you know what I mean by that, so I was thinking about 8.


Have a nice day! cheers

 

[steenmillinder]

anybody?

 

[kno4te]

bOOsteN aUdI

 

[steenmillinder]

yeah, but they get rather big though...

 

[bOOsteN aUdI]

Hi

Are some of the smaller cichla species better suited for living in groups than others? (assuming tank size and filtration is taken care of)

I have an eye out for Kelberi or Orinocensis, but the only footage I could find of cichla living togeather in the wild was a group of mono's, and they hunted in a pack of 10-12 fish. I don't have experience with any cichla myself so I'm still lacking evidence that cichla do in fact live in groups for life and don't become solitary with age, I've read most of the internet on the subject but still feel dumb AF, hope some of you have a wise word or two.

I'm really looking for a fish that can thrive in a group for the whole of its life, I would buy them small in the 2-4'' range and let them grow up togeather but I'm looking for a "group" not 2 males and 3 females if you know what I mean by that, so I was thinking about 8.


Have a nice day! cheers

From my experience through the years, I only keep cichla in groups. Let's be honest, cichla are straight up aggressive fish and they are most aggressive towards one another opposed to other species of fish.

When you keep bass alone they tend to become lethargic and will lack personally. You'll find them hanging out in a corner of the tank in one spot all day, they won't feed aggressively, and they tend to develop slower and lack coloration.

In the wild, cichla school together in large groups. They hunt in packs competing for food and flex at each other all day. Well they'll also do the same in tanks. Keeping cichla together only has benefits imo but note that you will have aggression and this is normal. They tend to cruise all day and become more active, they'll have a lot more personality, their colors will be more vibrant with clean water quality and feeding them quality foods, and the best part about cichla, they will feed extremely aggressive and will compete for food with one another. They are going to establish a hierarchy and one will get beat on by ever bass in the tank. This fish will be what we call the runt and usually develops the most amazing colors.

Keeping only two bass together usually ends in a casualty. I personally like to keep 4 or 5 bass or more together. Good choice with choosing which bass you'll like to keep two of my favorites but kels, as some of you guys know will always have a special place in my heart. Just a heads up, orinos tend to be one of the most aggressive cichla. This is just my 2 cents but what do I know

 

[bOOsteN aUdI]

bOOsteN aUdI

I'm always happy to answer any questions. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[kno4te]

I'm always happy to answer any questions. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks for being available!

 

[steenmillinder]

Thanks for answering!


I really like the interaction in a group, I have a devil, jag, trimac, oscars, pleuro's (some cats and stuff), and I really miss the group interactions.

This has some kelberi's squabbling

Same tank orinos turn squabbling

Will the orino's end up beating the kelberi's up? or too occupied beating each other up?(assuming not less than 5-6 of each)



The maximum I can upgrade to is 500gal so I'm thinking about 8-10 kelberi's, think orino's are gonna get a bit large(want to keep them for their entire life).


Didn't expect the runt to be the most colorful...

I must admit I have been considering mixing a group of C. pleuro with a group of kelberi's, same number of each species(and some of the smaller stingrays), but I'm not sure about the long term stability. I have also seen kelberi mixed with discus, looked really nice! dont know about the stability...


Again thanks for your input!

 

[Troy1015]

I have one tank 4 kels 3 orinos in one tank and a different tank of 3 kels. And if I do find any kels worth buying depending on size they will go into one of the 2 tanks. I would say 1 or at least 3 or more from my experience. As mentioned 2 will usually fight to the death. My large group schools together us they have some king Kong parrots as dither fish. In my smaller tank the 3 kels just hang out together.

 

[Troy1015]

My small kels of 3 are housed with about 20 discus no issues.