Cichlids and Brackish water

[madhippoz]

I have 3 Colombian shark cats that I will soon be moving into my new 77gal tank. I'm looking at many possible tank mates for them in the 77, but not too many, don't want to overstock. Are there any Cichlids that take well to Brackish water as my Colombians prefer? I've heard Krib's do well in Brackish, and don't get overly big. Any suggestions would be great. Also the tap water here is hard, so I don't have to fuss around with it much to suit Cichlids.

 

[SoulFish]

orange chromides are brackish, kribs are ok in light brackish, id get mono sebae or argentus, get a school, they are great fish

 

[madhippoz]

Do they have information on these types on your Cichlid forum or website? I couldn't find any of those Cichlids in the profiles on here. Do they have common names? Its sometimes frustrating around here because the LFS's aren't always so up to speed on labelling their tanks properly with both scientific and common names.

 

[SoulFish]

monos are nto cichlids, but they are great brtackish water fish, orange chromides and kribs are hte only cichlids i said

 

[madhippoz]

Ahhh that would explain it . So how many would I need to keep for a small school for them to shoal with? 5-6? And in that case, do you think, at least for a while, would 3 Colombians fit in a 77gal tank ok with a small school of either Mono's you mentioned? Colombians can get upwards to 18" can't they? I'm planning like a 150+gal tank, but maybe not for another year or two.

 

[SoulFish]

mono sebae get 8" and argentus get 10", they need alot of swimming space so if you bought some small ones now and they grew, when you got the 150 it should be great, not sure how fast they grow though

 

[madhippoz]

Well I'm getting more tips from Adamj how to properly get my Brackish tank going in the 77gal. He suggested Knight Goby's as well. But their hard to find. Yah I'd prefer to get the Mono's small so they have time to grow into my eventual 150gal tank. Thanks for the help, its hard to get advice on Brackish tanks, you and Adamj have helped out lots.