Smallish Cichlid Questions

[IDunnoWhy]

Hi all, I've been pulling my hair out trying to find/think of a couple cool fish to put in my cycling 29g (After it's cycled of course) I planned on having a small shoal of something like neons or rasboras. I was also thinking of clean up crew of 3-4 corys and 3-4 otos. I've been drawn to some of the smaller cichlids lately, specifally Rams. I do like the blue rams in particular, are these fish suitable for this tank setup? Assuming I have very good to perfect water conditions (I read in profiles that rams are very particular about water conditions) Anyway if rams won't work, does anyone have suggestions on smallish cichlids that would work?

Thanks in advance for the always usefull info

 

[Pure]

Rams will be fine in your set up. Some other cool SA cichlids to look into are apistos, and one of my favorite but harder to find would be the checkerboard cichlid.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Thanks Pure , I will take a peak at all those during my next visit to the LFS....Question, do I need a breeding pair? I don't intend on breeding, so would 2 females be ok? I'm going on the assumtion that 2 males will fight?

 

[Pure]

In your tank you can keep 2 pairs. More than 2 males will result in fighting over territory. You can keep more by keeping 1 male with several females.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Ahh...Thanks again.

Now to find some quality fish to look at. One of my LFS has many of the larger cichlids, but not to many of the small ones. I will get some pics up when I bring them home. (Probably won't be good pics though...I suck with a camera )

 

[Big Vine]

Ever consider getting a pair of kribensis cichlids?
These are each about a hair over 2 inches, but will grow to about 4 inches, if I'm not mistaken.

Male (female in background):

Female:

Big Vine

 

[Mahamotorworks]

I almost bought 3 Krib tonight. I need to get the BGA gone first. I guess re arranging my room should be on the list before buying more fish.

MAHA

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Those kribs look pretty cool....4" adult fish too large for 29g? Are they aggressive or semi-aggressive?

 

[Big Vine]

I originally was told that a pair was doable (although far from ideal) in a 10 gallon tank (before I got the 38 gallon tank that I have them in now). You can see the tankmates I have them with right now in my sig.

They have not caused any problems whatsoever as far as compatibility with the other fish goes. However, things may get problematic when they and/or the angelfish are breeding in there...which I intend to have happen in the future (the breeding, not the problems ).

I'd definitely give em' a shot!

Big Vine

 

[IDunnoWhy]

Thanks Big Vine!! I'll add them to my very short list of fish that I'm looking at.

 

[Big Vine]

You're welcome!
And just so you know, kribs are generally considered fairly hardy. They are cave spawners, and the parents will guard whatever cave they lay eggs in. They then take care of their young for a period of time.

I've never personally had this happen, so I can't give a whole lot more details at the moment. Keep in mind too that they almost exclusively occupy the lower half of the tank.

What else is on your 'short list'?
Big Vine

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Well i was re-reading this thread and missed it the first time:

Rams will be fine in your set up. Some other cool SA cichlids to look into are apistos, and one of my favorite but harder to find would be the checkerboard cichlid.

Firsty i agree, Checkerboards would be cool. Secondly, call up Ken Pure, heh. He's had them in quite a few times in the past few months...at least when i've seen his stocklist. I'd love to get some, its my first choice of dwarf cichlids.

 

[IDunnoWhy]

What else is on your 'short list'?
Big Vine

Well I've been looking for a "Center Peice" fish/fishes for my 29g, I had been considering Gouramis or Paradise Fish, But after surfing the forums, and checking profiles etc. I found myself drawn to some of the "smaller" cichlid species, like the Blue Rams (I really like those) and Pure suggested looking at Apistos or Checkerboard cichlids (If I can find them) So I posted this thread in hopes some of our Cichlids "Pros" would chime in on my search. And so far I've gotten some good suggestions

Thank You