I've been doing fish for almost 20 years now, I have had mainly africans, community and predators but i have dabbled in some south americans mainly the peacefull smaller ones. I have reached a stalemate with fish lately and don't want to get out of the hobbie but what to try something new and exciting again. So my question is do you have any recomendations for some kind of south/central american chiclids i can do that would be exciting but the catch is i have a bunch of rare plecos and i don't want to get rid of them. Thanks for any help.
needing something new
- Thread starter sledgehammer
- Start date
What type of plecos and what size is your tank? That may help narrow it down.
Parrot cichlids (the real ones, Hoplarchus psittacus, not the silly hybrid blood parrots) are big, personable, colorful, and active. To me they are like the anti-oscar. Nothing against oscars, but sometimes you want a big SA cichlid that's not an oscar. However, mine chases small plecos, so it's probably not the best choice. It also needs a large tank.
There are the old favorites: angelfish, severums, and festivums. None will mess with your plecos, all are relatively peaceful, and their availability is pretty wide-spread. These may be boring to some folks, but if you've never kept them before they could be a change.
A lot of the acaras are great -- some are colorful, some not so much, but usually make great parents and could be interesting to spawn. I love the port cichlids/black acaras because they're bulky, chunky, and puppy-like when they get to know you. Then you have blue acaras which are another old favorite, but for good reason... nice colors, decent size, and are fairly docile compared to other cichlids.
If you want to stick with the smaller stuff, there are always Apistos and rams. There are also Laetacara, keyhole cichlids, dwarf pike cichlids (Crenicichla), Nannacara, and Dicrossus. They are colorful (with the exception of keyholes) and interesting but do well in small tanks and most likely will get along great with smaller plecos.
Parrot cichlids (the real ones, Hoplarchus psittacus, not the silly hybrid blood parrots) are big, personable, colorful, and active. To me they are like the anti-oscar. Nothing against oscars, but sometimes you want a big SA cichlid that's not an oscar. However, mine chases small plecos, so it's probably not the best choice. It also needs a large tank.
There are the old favorites: angelfish, severums, and festivums. None will mess with your plecos, all are relatively peaceful, and their availability is pretty wide-spread. These may be boring to some folks, but if you've never kept them before they could be a change.
A lot of the acaras are great -- some are colorful, some not so much, but usually make great parents and could be interesting to spawn. I love the port cichlids/black acaras because they're bulky, chunky, and puppy-like when they get to know you. Then you have blue acaras which are another old favorite, but for good reason... nice colors, decent size, and are fairly docile compared to other cichlids.
If you want to stick with the smaller stuff, there are always Apistos and rams. There are also Laetacara, keyhole cichlids, dwarf pike cichlids (Crenicichla), Nannacara, and Dicrossus. They are colorful (with the exception of keyholes) and interesting but do well in small tanks and most likely will get along great with smaller plecos.
Well I found myself in a similar position last year and if I were you I would start looking for some wild caught Angelfish. Snookin (spelling) is selling some and I could be wrong Peru Altums which aren't your standard Altum and easier to acclaimate into your tank on Aquabid. These Angels will get bigger than your standard Domestic Angel and are very nice. Just an idea. There are several types of wild caught Angels that you can easily find that would make great tank mates for your Pleco.
i have a 75 gal tank and i have, a L-114, L-91, a goldy pleco. and ive done most of those fish which is why im stumpe don what i want to do the local fish stores help a little bit but haven't really gave me an idea that made me go ahh which is why i thought id make a post
