What are the most cichlids to go 4 foot tank

[i_am_511]

This is a 4 foot tank bigger then a 55 but smaller then a 75....its 4 foot by 16.5 inches.... So just around 2 inches difference of a 75 gallon tank.

What are cichlids are the ones you could put in here. Like a "community cichlid" tank with all/mostly cichlids and get a nice size number in there....

I know there are africans that go overstocked but im leaning away from africans

[Crispy]

Have you looked into geophagus?? the SA eartheaters?

[MCHRKiller]

There are alot of mild manored smaller CA and SA cichlids out there. I would personally look at Cryptoheros species, various Thorichthys, small Geos(6" or less), H. multies, Acaras, Salvini, Heros species. Then you also have the option of keep 1 large agressive fish as a show piece in the tank. If that were the case a true Trimac or Midas would be lovely :22:

[Zilla]

I have a Geo in with my Rainbows and such. While he is mild mannered compared to other cichlids, I wouldn't trust him with anything too small as he would eat them. He also has issues with having his own spot to retreat to either because he's annoyed which is often ( one of my female gourami's likes to "groom" him LMAO. She did the same thing to my arm this afternoon, so she's not picky) or it's time for bed. So, if you go with a Geo just remember that they do like some space to call their own.

I've read more horror stories of Geo's either being severely beaten up on or killed by cichlids that are more aggressive than they are, so I wouldn't put anything in with a Geo ( or any other type of earth eater) that was overly aggressive. I think it would be mean and unneccessary.

[phxl]

If you can get them, I personally would go with a group of smaller geos :)

[johnnab123]

thanks for sharing the info

[rich311k]

I am thinking plant it. Get two or three trios of apistos, an armada of rummy nose tetras and you have a great tank.

[Cliff]

I would go with a lot of plants. Look into plants that would de well with your lighting

For fish I would look at firemouths or acaras. I've had great luck with these guys.

[Lady Hobbs]

I like rich's suggestion. Firemouths are cave dwellers and diggers. If you get enough rock work in the tank for them there is no room for plants. Some of those cichlids have a huge spawn every couple of weeks, as well.

[domjd05]

For well-tempered SA cichlids.. keyholes, rams, are usually ok.. firemouths and acaras can be hit or miss... I bought some acaras once... they killd 15 cardinals in one night, the acaras were barely 2'' in length.

With SA's its a bit of hit and miss.

IMO keyholes are by far the best tempered, a bit skiddish, but they have great personality.

[i_am_511]

Yea i went ahead and got the cichlids in my 55 gallon...3 Rainbows,2 Buffalo Heads,1 Firemouth and 1 Double Fin Orange Cockatoo..... they are all pretty small biggest fish is 1.5inches

[dane]

This is a 4 foot tank bigger then a 55 but smaller then a 75....its 4 foot by 16.5 inches.... So just around 2 inches difference of a 75 gallon tank.

What are cichlids are the ones you could put in here. Like a "community cichlid" tank with all/mostly cichlids and get a nice size number in there....

I know there are africans that go overstocked but im leaning away from africans


how tall is the tank ? because i had a 80 gallon before and its was 4 ft long X 16 inches wide X 24 inches tall

[thatcichlidguy]

these fish are incompatable. The cockatoo and buffalo heads have different water requirements than the Rainbows and Firemouth, not to mention way different temperments. While the water issue isn't that big of a hurdle, the temperments are. If you get a pair of either rainbows or a Firemouth rainbow pair that can and often does change the entire dynamic of the tank. Even very mellow species can be monsters when guarding fry. I expect in a few months the FM will dominate the tank, with the rainbows spawning and creating a lot of headaches within a year. The buffalo heads can fend for themselves but the cockatoo will get caught in the middle and get picked off in the crossfire. This might be a 4' tank but it isn't big enough to provide the floor space for all these fish to have sufficient territories when mature.

[i_am_511]

Dane the 65 gallon is a European brand "Jewel Aquarium" its the Rio 240. Not too many of those in the states i guess. Its not exactly those measurement since its in centimeters so the inches plus tenths of an inch. But its around 18 inches tall of all glass.

Now as far as the fish in here not going together. I get on this site alot and do my research and fishbase.org is what im gonna use for an example.

If tank is at around 76-80 degrees that covers every fish temperature

PH in the 7.0 -7.8 that would cover them.

Water Soft to Sightly Hard...... Our water here is 7.8 and kinda Hard out the tap. I have 3 pieces of wood in the tank but like you said water doesnt matter much.



As far as the temperments all these fish can have issues when breeding. From reading and being on here i know about spawning aggression thats the reason i plan to keep alot of the fish single. Cockatoo comes from a local breeder to the store and he only sells them the males so i couldnt try a pair of those. Firemouth i didnt even want to get more then one due to spawn aggression. So thats is why i have the rainbows and buffalo heads as more then a single one. And i have alot of hiding areas for them now. And the firemouth is the smallest fish in the tank right now but he will grow.


Are you saying the Firemouth and Rainbow can pair up and spawn?

[thatcichlidguy]

Yup, almost every CA cichlid is geneticly compatable with almost every other CA cichlid. Whether it will happen depends on the sex of the fish in question. The mating instinct is strong enough that if a mate is available they will take it even if it's a different species. I had a male GT spawn with a female Salvini. FMs can also be pretty nasty whether spawning or not. The buffalo heads are generally shy, the apistogramma/cockatoo Not so much but is gonna be the little man. The rainbows are generally mellow but that will change when and if they spawn. The FM is the most aggressive in general terms. It has the potential to really bully the others. I kept and bred these guys for years and so I can say that with a little authority. They are awsome cichlids just not one that mixes well with more mellow species. In recent years I kept them as dithers for larger more aggressive cichlids because they are tough enough and have enough attitude to handle them.

[i_am_511]

Yea i done alot of research tho..Funny how after i got them ive found someone to say nawl that wont work lol....And thats not a knock on you "thatcichlidguy". I checked fishbase.org which is like the bible when it comes to checkin the info on fish around here. And asked alot of question on here..This is goin back to dec or before...Ive been planning this cichlid tank for a while now.Now my numbers are different then what i had asked i do admit that tho...

Advisor or Dave66 had said Rainbows need 6 in a group that they are social cichlids.

But my plan was out of the to get a pair or a trio of 1 kind of fish and then singles of the others. That was the way my answers here pointed to....But when i went to the LFS they had 3 Rainbows in the tank and i couldnt leave them there for $3.99 plus 20% off......And Buffalo Heads was what i had planned to get more then one of the whole time since the most mellow fish was the cockatoo but this local guy only sells my store the males. So i couldnt try a pair of those.The Firemouth ive seen from everyone they are Hit or Miss so i knew not to get a pair of those...These fish probably arent gonna live there whole life in this tank anyways ive been thru 6 tanks since august...And i plan to buy nothing less then 125 for my BGK.

I hope it works out one way or another tho....

[thatcichlidguy]

Yea i done alot of research tho..Funny how after i got them ive found someone to say nawl that wont work lol....And thats not a knock on you "thatcichlidguy". I checked fishbase.org which is like the bible when it comes to checkin the info on fish around here. And asked alot of question on here..This is goin back to dec or before...Ive been planning this cichlid tank for a while now.Now my numbers are different then what i had asked i do admit that tho...

Advisor or Dave66 had said Rainbows need 6 in a group that they are social cichlids.

But my plan was out of the to get a pair or a trio of 1 kind of fish and then singles of the others. That was the way my answers here pointed to....But when i went to the LFS they had 3 Rainbows in the tank and i couldnt leave them there for $3.99 plus 20% off......And Buffalo Heads was what i had planned to get more then one of the whole time since the most mellow fish was the cockatoo but this local guy only sells my store the males. So i couldnt try a pair of those.The Firemouth ive seen from everyone they are Hit or Miss so i knew not to get a pair of those...These fish probably arent gonna live there whole life in this tank anyways ive been thru 6 tanks since august...And i plan to buy nothing less then 125 for my BGK.

I hope it works out one way or another tho....FB is a great reference, but it's just that . Where it counts is in your tank. That may work , may not. Long term it's iffy. Knowing these species pretty well, I'm leaning toward problems sooner rather than later. How bad is up to your fish.

Also if you had been interpreting the info in FB correctly and listened to a little advice here,you wouldn't have chosen those species for the same tank. Not saying you did anything wrong but they aren't the best choices together for a cichlid community. Cichlids are a fascinating family but a very tricky one . There is so much more to cichlid stocking than FB or other references alone can guide. 75% is trial and error. Mostly error. As a blooming cichlidophile, you'll figure that out.

[i_am_511]

Well if my tank was empty and i wanted to do a community of cichlids in a 55 gallon what would u suggest on what could go in there?


I see basicly my main issue is the Firemouth being in there..But i knew that to begin with that the firemouth was the risky fish i put in there. Everyone else can be mostly laid back fish unless having to guard babies and not feeling like they have enough space.....

[thatcichlidguy]

If it was my tank, well that's a good question. Realy depends on what my interests were at the moment , what's available locally, and just what aggression level I'm willing to put up with. Also just what the requirements are for a given species. Sounds like our looking for a relatively peaceful tank so I'd do this, but this is just my taste in things.

Working with what you've already got I'd go species tank with the Bufalo heads with plenty of dithers. They are pretty shy for the most part so anything boisterous is out of the picture.

Maybe do a couple of species of apistgramma, Plant the tank. Contact the local breeder for females and a line on other species .

Rainbow species tank and a couple of more fish to the group. Live bearers for dithers.

SA sub-tropical with a trio of Gymnogeophagus of your choice and cool water dithers. You'd be surprised what tetras you can keep in an unheated tank. Cory's too for that matter.

Same but Australoheros .

Dwarf acara tank. A group of keyholes is always interesting. Plant it and make it a Laetacara colony . Curviceps are neat little fish.

Go African

A species tank of Neolamprologus pulcher or N. brichardi. Once they start breeding and you get a good shoal going they get very interesting to watch.

Colony of dwarf Mbuna

go brackish and do a group of chromides

There are endless posibilities, but the biggest thing to keep in mind is this " don't over do it." In a tank that size your very limited on the number of cichlid species you'll be able to realisticly keep. One or two max. Which ones are up to you and what you like.