Should i go for a community tank or cichlid tank?

[goldenballer]

what do you guys prefer? a tank with many colourful fish or a tank with 1-4 large sometimes colourful aggressive fish? im really stuck between the 2. if i chose to go for the community tank is this a good stocking list for a 100 gallon tank? • 4 Zebra Danios
• 1 Black Molly
• 3 Red Wag Platys
• 3 Lamp Eye Tetras (Red Eye)
• 3 Red Tail Black Variatus
• 3 Gold Twinbar Platys
> A male Betta
> 2 AngelFish
> BN pleco
> a few guppies

any suggestions on stocking ideas? can i have live plants in with the fish above? Thanks alot

 

[goldenballer]

anyone?

 

[rhstranger]

Doesn't matter which one you go with. In time, you will want the other as well. I started with a community, and now have a severe itch for a 75g with an oscar, or JD, or GT, or Severums or maybe Discus, or perhaps a FH....

 

[CLDarnell]

I have both and am enjoying the Cichlids much more than the Community tank. There is so much more in the Cichlid world it seems. I haven't really had any aggression in either tank either. The biggest bully I have is a Kissing Gourami in the Community tank lol.

If you do go Cichlid, you should read up on them and figure out what "group" gets your interest most...Africans? SAs? Then, more specific, what lake? Malawi? Victoria? Those are all just examples...but, maybe it gives you a taste on what's out there.

Either way, good luck!

 

[goldenballer]

Thanks guys, im currently stocked with a baby jag , midas and a few baby convicts so cichlids are nothing new with me i've had both tanks before i just can't decide which one to keep permanently . with cichlids you encounter alot of problems with aggressions , more food, larger water changes, less fish and some cichlids require perfect water perimeters lol its alot of work. while a community tank which only constists of small fish will require less food, few water changes etc you get the idea and community tanks looks really good because of live plants and the amount of colour the little fish give it ! i think i prefer the community

 

[aclockworkorange]

Comments in red

what do you guys prefer? a tank with many colourful fish or a tank with 1-4 large sometimes colourful aggressive fish? im really stuck between the 2. if i chose to go for the community tank is this a good stocking list for a 100 gallon tank?
• 4 Zebra Danios not enough, they need a bigger school
• 1 Black Molly brackish fish, will usually not thrive in a full FW tank
• 3 Red Wag Platys I hate platys, they are overbred and carry lots of diseases
• 3 Lamp Eye Tetras (Red Eye) cool fish
• 3 Red Tail Black Variatus ugh... platys.
• 3 Gold Twinbar Platys same thing about platys
> A male Betta zebra danios will probably nip his fins
> 2 AngelFish will probably eat danios and guppies, prefer soft acidic water, also they are a CICHLID, just because they look cute doesn't mean they aren't aggressive, unless they are a mated pair keep 3 or more or just one to minimize aggression
> BN pleco great pleco, if you get a male and female they will probably breed
> a few guppies also hate guppies, overbred and diseased more often than not, also will be eaten by angels

any suggestions on stocking ideas? can i have live plants in with the fish above? Thanks alot

MY suggestion to you is to focus on a few species in larger schools in a community tank... too many people buy a couple of this and a couple of that, and you're really missing out on some awesome schooling behaviors from this fish. Also, 100 GALLONS? You are way understocked, you could do so much more.
Here's what I would do, based on what you seem already interested in:
- 6+ angels, preferably of the same type, trying to get them to breed would be cool, these would be your centerpiece fish
-A male and female BN pleco
-A shoal of a couple dozen lampeye tetras, or a dozen lampeye and another larger tetra, many species come to mind... blackskirt tetra, bleeding hearts, columbian tetra, etc.
-Some cory catfish, at least 6, they are such cool little fish, and will likely breed for you too if you keep males and females

Another cool part about the above stock? They are all south american fish, so you could say it's kind of a biotope (without getting too picky about collection points and various rivers). Model your plants and aquascape after SA rivers--sword plants and stuff. Once your fish start breeding you can bring their offspring in to your LFS, and you basically will have enough store credit to buy any small supplies your tank will ever need, fish will pay for themselves eventually.

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

Comments in red



MY suggestion to you is to focus on a few species in larger schools in a community tank... too many people buy a couple of this and a couple of that, and you're really missing out on some awesome schooling behaviors from this fish. Also, 100 GALLONS? You are way understocked, you could do so much more.
Here's what I would do, based on what you seem already interested in:
- 6+ angels, preferably of the same type, trying to get them to breed would be cool, these would be your centerpiece fish
-A male and female BN pleco
-A shoal of a couple dozen lampeye tetras, or a dozen lampeye and another larger tetra, many species come to mind... blackskirt tetra, bleeding hearts, columbian tetra, etc.
-Some cory catfish, at least 6, they are such cool little fish, and will likely breed for you too if you keep males and females

Another cool part about the above stock? They are all south american fish, so you could say it's kind of a biotope (without getting too picky about collection points and various rivers). Model your plants and aquascape after SA rivers--sword plants and stuff. Once your fish start breeding you can bring their offspring in to your LFS, and you basically will have enough store credit to buy any small supplies your tank will ever need, fish will pay for themselves eventually.

I love this idea!

P.S. ACWO: Why'd you change your avatar I like the kitty,"I'm Link" Lol

 

[convictpleco]

I would go with cichlids IMO they are much more exciting to watch, more personality, bigger.

 

[aclockworkorange]

I love this idea!

P.S. ACWO: Why'd you change your avatar I like the kitty,"I'm Link" Lol

Thanks, ghost shrimp. Haha, I got tired of looking at it and wanted to try an animated gif avatar... now I'll probably make my own LOLcat animated gif avatar in the future. I'm already getting tired of looking at Bill Murray!

BTW is that a C. adolfi in your avatar or a C.121? Have you seen my C.121s?

I would go with cichlids IMO they are much more exciting to watch, more personality, bigger.

ANGELFISH ARE CICHLIDS.

 

[GhostShrimpMan]

Haha, that should be a good one.

And yes, Angelfish are indeed cichlids.