Most colorful mid sized cichlids

[talal101]

Hi,
I'm looking for suggestions for some bright colorful mid sized (3-7 inch) cichlids.
I don't want anything too overly aggressive and I don't want anything too passive. Say something semi aggressive. It doesnt matter what part of the world it is. But keep in mind my showpiece fish or fish that I would like the other fish to be able to cohabit with is an electric yellow lab. ( speaking of which should I buy a group of young electric labs or should I have one alone?)
Thanks

 

[Petahhd]

Look up Malawi cichlids. Fairly common, but quite colorful. Would certain add sparks to your tank. I like to buy 2 or 4 of the same kind of fish, since I don't like having a loner in my tank lol.

 

[Ancient_Fish_Master]

salvini cichlids

 

[screaminleeman]

Hi,
I'm looking for suggestions for some bright colorful mid sized (3-7 inch) cichlids.
I don't want anything too overly aggressive and I don't want anything too passive. Say something semi aggressive. It doesnt matter what part of the world it is. But keep in mind my showpiece fish or fish that I would like the other fish to be able to cohabit with is an electric yellow lab. ( speaking of which should I buy a group of young electric labs or should I have one alone?)
Thanks

IMO you have potentially EXTREMELY limited yourself. I would scratch the idea, and go with a group of Electric yellow Labs. I think you possibly may even have a difficult time with "general" malawi cichlid tankmates.

I have had a rough time mixing Mbuna Malawi cichlids with Hap. Malawi cichlids or even Peacock Malawi cichlids.

I would say, if you really want to mix, look up "MBUNA Malawi Cichlids" These are your best shot at tankmates for your electric yellows. Keep in mind Mbuna are "rock" cichlids and like plenty of rockwork and caves in their aquascape.

 

[ecoli73]

some breeding group of peakcocks(or even all male) with yellow labs, rusty, and P. Acei should fit your needs.

 

[ejwp]

I would go with herems of mbuna cichlids. Yellow labs tend to be on the more passive side of the africans. But from everything I have read they do best in groups of one male to three or more females.
The acei do get larger the 7" I had one that was atleast 9". A lot of your options depends on tank size and what you like.
I personally think P. demasoni look great with yellow labs. The black and blue really stands out agaisnt the yellow, but they are a bit more agressive and need to be kept in large groups of one male to many females like 8 or more. On the plus size they are dwarfs so they get a bit bigger then 3"

 

[dempsey420]

rainbow= color/nice.... firemouth=color/ little more aggressive... if u go african i liked the peacocks the most wen i kept african

 

[talal101]

salvini cichlids

yeah they fit in the same ph range and water conditions so i will get a couple.

IMO you have potentially EXTREMELY limited yourself. I would scratch the idea, and go with a group of Electric yellow Labs. I think you possibly may even have a difficult time with "general" malawi cichlid tankmates.

I have had a rough time mixing Mbuna Malawi cichlids with Hap. Malawi cichlids or even Peacock Malawi cichlids.

I would say, if you really want to mix, look up "MBUNA Malawi Cichlids" These are your best shot at tankmates for your electric yellows. Keep in mind Mbuna are "rock" cichlids and like plenty of rockwork and caves in their aquascape.

why is that?. i had a cousin who kept a pair of yellow labs with peacocks and a few other varieties i cant remember and they cohabited peacefully and happily and had the most insane and amazing coloring for 4-5 years until he moved and something went terribly wrong and all his fish were whiped out. i think it was ph crash, or shock.

some breeding group of peakcocks(or even all male) with yellow labs, rusty, and P. Acei should fit your needs.

yeah i actually looked into all those fish and i will add a few

I would go with herems of mbuna cichlids. Yellow labs tend to be on the more passive side of the africans. But from everything I have read they do best in groups of one male to three or more females.
The acei do get larger the 7" I had one that was atleast 9". A lot of your options depends on tank size and what you like.
I personally think P. demasoni look great with yellow labs. The black and blue really stands out agaisnt the yellow, but they are a bit more agressive and need to be kept in large groups of one male to many females like 8 or more. On the plus size they are dwarfs so they get a bit bigger then 3"

i like the demasoni. they are very striking and look really neat and classy i wouldn't mind getting a group of say 1 male to 5 females. dont the males and females look the same?, how would i tell if i bought juveniles?

rainbow= color/nice.... firemouth=color/ little more aggressive... if u go african i liked the peacocks the most wen i kept african

i read that firemouths are really aggressive, is that true? and what is a rainbow? i searched it up and got nothing?

 

[ejwp]

The dems all look the same. I had them for a little while before I restocked.
I bought 25 of them from a private breeder. After one male becomes dominant he will chase all other males out of the group. I just waited and pulled out the rejected males that were hiding in the top corners or behind the filter intakes.

 

[talal101]

Lol sounds like you must have had a lot of fish to give away. I would rather stay away from demasoni because I don't want to have a lot of trouble to deal with and to have a lot of fish to get rid of. I'm the type who likes getting pets and keeping them. I don't like giving them away so I tend to stay away from potential trouble fish.