Very new to chiclids Please help

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bbenjamin21

Gambusia
MFK Member
May 10, 2010
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Hello, im pretty much brand new to chiclids besides owning a few juparis for a short period of time.

I'll first start with i want to add color to my tank, bright color. I dont want too big of fish and i like the look of a lot of smaller colorful fish flowing throughout the tank. BUT i have a 1' gar, 16" fire eel, and a 9" motoro ray so i dont want them to be food. So Im asking for your guys opinions for the best scenario for me. Im also asking for opinions because I know there is sooooo many chiclids, ive read through stickys and media sections but it seems like there is soo many of them that i cant get enough read up on a lot of specific ones. I need them to obviously not be aggressive to my existing fish. My LFS has had like 3-4" fish that were bright yellow and some were darker blue that i have seen in the media section of chiclids but the lfs has had them listed different all the time. I just dont want the normal silver freshwater fish color. In my area all the LFS's keep telling me go to salt water go to salt water but i really like the fresh water.

Thank you
Steve
 
Welcome to cichlids! First of all, with the fish you have now, you are going to have to get cichlids that are already grown if you don't want them to be food. If you want them to not get HUGE, you are best off going with African cichlids. To be honest, i'm not sure how the water requirements for your fish compare to that of the africans. They do well with hard water. Most of them are very hardy and can be acclimated to almost any water parameters.

For color, Kenyi cichlids get a very cool blue on them and have verticle black stripes. They grow to about 5 inches and are very hardy. They can be quite aggressive, but the fish you have can hold their own. The electric yellows get VERY bright and grow to about the same size as the kenyi. I have both in one of my tanks now and they go together quite well.

If you decide south american would be better, I would go with Jack Dempseys. Again, these are agressive, but your fish will be fine. The water parameters for your current fish and south american cichlids would be closer i think. But Jack Dempseys can get decent size, 8-9 inches or so. The regular ones are a dull gray with spots on them that can get all variety of colors! They are awesome! If you can get your hands on electric blue jack dempseys, that would be even better. A bit more of an investment, but well worth it because they are some of the best looking freshwater fish out there.

Good luck! Keep us posted!
 
"Small colorful fish flowing throughout the tank" is not something that will work well with a 1 foot gar, and large Cichlids that can't be eaten by the gar aren't recommended because they might be too aggressive. I've seen some large Umbee living with Gar but I think it was only a temporary setup. The Umbee was still a juvenile.

The blue/yellow cichlids you mention sound like it might be an African Mbuna species. Example: Melanochromis Johannii where females are yellow and males are blue.

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African Cichlids are generally smaller and much more colorful than CA/SA species.
 
Id say you may want some south american or central american cichlids. (Jack Dempseys are actually Central American).

Another key question is what size tank you currently have?

As far as colorful more peaceful cichlids that wont get eaten, Severums, chocolate cichlids, Angelfish, firemouths, rainbow cichlids. I am sure there are lots more too.
 
i think you should consider an oscar. A lot of people say they are common, which makes them kinda boring, but an oscar is probably one of your best options in terms of potential size. They are large fish, not extremely aggressive but able to hold their own, eat like pigs, grow like weeds and are beautiful in colour. they will be available in almost any pet store. They also make wonderful pets, and most people would agree that they are one of the most owner interactive cichlids available. an oscar would co-exist with the fish you already have, and grows too large to be a snack in any circumstance. an african cichlid is not a good idea because they will be an easy snack for your gar, all the while costing you more money in terms of the price of the fish, and the money it costs to provide the correct diet for an african cichlid, which mainly consists of vegetable based flake and pellet foods. An oscar would have no problem eating the foods you would provide for your other fish, with an exception of a high protein cichlid pellet for example 'hikari cichlid gold'. Overall i think your best option is an oscar
 
Wow thank you for all the replies. cachiclids- ur right small fish flowing throughout the tank doesnt go well with the gar. I totally overlooked the gar because ive never fed him live food, also never seen him be aggressive but i do know they have it in them. Those fish in the video, the yellow and blue stripped one are exactly what i was talking about that the LFS carry sometimes. How do u think they would do in my tank? I dont want an oscar. My friends have had them and they just are not what im looking for. Maybe cichlids are not what i should be looking into.

My tank is a custom 150g. 2' wide x 5' 2" long x 2' 2" tall
 
I think you could get some species of Vieja. They get big enough to not be eaten and aren't overly aggressive.
 
The video that cacichlids isn't working for me (on my work computer, who knows what's making it not work), but if the fish in said video are the ones he mentioned in the text, they are mbuna cichlids (mbuna just means "rock dwelling" and actually applies to a variety of cichlids), but the ones specifically mentioned are sold in your local stores as Kenyi. You normally have to buy small ones and your gar would love those for a midnight snack....it always happens when you're not watching. But if you could grow them out in another tank or find someone selling some larger ones, you'd be okay. At full size they are 5+ inches. Badassmc mentioned that it is expensive to feed african cichlids, not always the case. High protein flake food is relatively cheap, as are the pellets.

But i do agree with badassmc in teh fact that an oscar would be an awesome addition. I know you said they aren't what you're looking for, but if you do some research into the different types, you might find one you really like. If you are willing to drop a few dollars, look up a bumble bee oscar. They are more rare and harder to get but there are a few places online that regularly have them. Just keep in mind, no matter what fish you put in there, if it's not bigger than your gars mouth, it's going straight into it.
 
look at cacichlids image. if you want a splash of color my i consider salvini's?
 
Fish that are colorfull and wont get to big. Nicaraguensi, Salvini, Rainbow cichlid (herotilapia multipinosa) not sure on the spelling. Sajica, Firemouth, severum, robertsoni, other Throichy, and uaru. Some Geophagus... But you have a 1 foot gar, so i dont really know how that would play out.
 
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