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I have an empty 30g and im thinking of making it into a community tank. I was thining of maybe a few rams or 2 angels or so then some tetras and corys. What would you recommend and how many? I definatley want a school of fish like tetras that will stay in the middle of the tank and a school like corys that will stay on the bottom then a few show fish.

thanks,
steve

how about a ram and an angel? 2 angels is a little heavy on the bioload, and having 1 of each balances you with a show fish top and bottom. 2 rams may bicker a good bit if they're male, paired i'm not too sure on how they'll act... likely fairly teritorial.

Community with a Cichlid?

You have some interesting choices.

[1] My favourite small Cichlid - Anomalochromis thomasi from West Africa. Beautiful in breeing colours, hardy, stays a modest size (3 inches or so fully grown), and will coexist with a wide variety of other fishes because, as Cichlids go, it's the enarest you'll find to a truly 'pacifist' Cichlid. The IDEAL Cichlid for the newcomer to the Family. Oh, when it breeds, it's a dependable parent, and also won't destroy the other occupants when in spawning mode if it has decent space 9and a 30 should be good enough).

[2] Flag Cichlid, Laetacara curviceps. In effect, this is the South American version of the Thomasi above. A beautiful, compact, hardy and peaceful Cichlid that is also an excellent breeder and a superb parent.

[3] Various Apistos. Care needs to be taken here because some Apistos grow to be a fair size (Apistogramma agassizi is one of the biggest of the so-called 'dwarfs' and also has a fairly bad temper if it breeds), and among the smaller ones, some have stringent water chemistry requirements. However, if you can lay your hands on some tank bred Panduros, or something else that's small and not overly demanding maintenance wise, then this could be a route to take.

[4] Rams. In a 30 gallon setup, Rams could work nicely. Only warning I have to issue here is this: if you try for a pair, make sure you obtain a PROPER male/female pair, because if you have two males, they could start beating each other up ... as mine did in 1995 when I thought I had a pair but ended up with two males. Not a mistake you want to make ... but, if you get a true pair, Rams (and I'd avoid the highly strung cultivated strains of ramirezi - if you pick this species, go for a fish that's as near to the wild type as possible) could work well.

[5] Another oddity - the Genus Nannacara. You have two species to choose from here, nannacara anomala, the Golden-Eye Dwarf Cichlid, and Nannacara taenia, the Lattice Dwarf Cichlid. Both are reasonably peaceful in a community setup. Your problem with these fishes is that they're hard to find. However, if you get a pair of these, watch them like a hawk if they spawn, because during spawning, the female becomes violent toward the male, and will kill him if he isn't kept well away from Momma and the kids. This is especially the case with Nannacara anomala - females of this species are notorious 'husband beaters'. Funnily enough, the female won't launch all-out attacks on other fish species while guarding eggs unless they show signs of chancing their arm at stealing a caviar snack, but the male should be removed for his own safety after spawning.

[6] A somewhat off the wall choice, and one that needs some care (it's not the easiest Cichlid to keep by any stretch of the imagination), but if you have some experience with fishes that are something of a challenge, then you could go with Checkerboard Cichlids - Dicrossus filamentosus. A community with these could work, but you would have to set this one up with a good deal more care than the others. In this case, not because the Cichlids will beat up the other fishes, but because this is actually quite a shy Cichlid, and does best either in a species aquarium or with gentle companions. Don't put it in with Serpaes or the Serpaes will tear it to shreds!

Some ideas for you to work with ...


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Lake Tanganyika shellies!!! They stay small and are a lot of fun.

Calilasseia,

How many rams could I get? Could I get some tetras and corys too?

In a 30 ... hmm. Here's how I'd approach it.

Get 6 Bolivian Rams (they're less troublesome than the Venezuelan/Gold/Blue/German/Whatever Rams), and let them pair off. Keep the best pair and find homes for the other 4 when they mature. Put them in with, say, 10 Lemon Tetras and 8 individuals of one of the smaller Cory species such as Corydoras habrosus or Corydoras panda. Furnish the aquarium with intricate bogwood bits, plant it with something like an Amazon Sword as the centrepiece plant with Ludwigia as a stem plant (it's one of the easier stem plants in my experience) or Hygrophyla if you have plenty of light, and pop in some caves for the Rams and the Corys. Once the aquarium has matured, the plants have bedded in, and the fish are growing and colouring up, the result will be pretty spectacular. You could, if you wanted a colour contrast, run with Rosy Tetras instead of Lemons if you can find them, or go with Black Phantoms.

If you go with Pandas as your Corys, don't keep them too warm. This is one reason why I advise against getting ramirezi as your Cichlid - it's a sauna lover that likes temperatures above 80 degrees F, and Pandas don't like it too hot. Habrosus Corys probably wouldn't like it too steamy either, though they are capable of standing somewhat higher temps than Pandas.

I'd still look around if I were you for some of the other Cichlids on the list I gave above - because after all, if you obtain one of those, your tank will be different and individual! Let's face it, everyone buys Rams at some point in their career, whereas far fewer people buy Flag Cichlids or thomasi. Stand out from the crowd a little!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Could I get maybe 6 tetras of one type and 6 of another type?

You could, but a bigger shoal of one species would make a better visual impression, as well as making the Tetras happy.

Take a look at any photo showing a large number of Tetras of one species together. Cardinals are the obvious choice, because a lot of them together make a big impact anyway, but try it with Lemons or Rosies as well.

Best of all, get Little_Fish to show you his photo of his huge Trigonostigma espei shoal. There's over 50 fish in that shoal, and the impact is stunning!

Plus, if you have a larger number of one species, you stand a better chance of persuading them to spawn sometime.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

thanks for the help, I was wondering if it would be better to get 1 angel and 1 ram so I wouldn't risk getting two male angels or rams and having them fight?

That was why I suggested getting 6 juvenile Cichlids, then finding a home for the 'surplus' specimens once your first true pair appeared. That way, you would be able to avoid the problems inherent in getting two males, and if you were really lucky and ended up with 3 males/3 females, you could sell the remaining fishes as pairs - as such they'd command a higher price paired off in advance. They would certainly command a higher price as guaranteed pairs here in the UK, my LFS would pay a premium for guaranteed pairs (and charge a premium in return to whoever bought them).

Basically, with Cichlids, you think ahead like this. That way, you get your true pair (and possibly make some money selling the babies!), and if you're lucky, you get to sell off at least one other guaranteed pair at a premium, because most Cichid keepers I know are always on the lookout for fishes that are already paired. With, say, 6 fishes as your starting point, your chances of getting one guaranteed pair are excellent, two pairs pretty good, and if you're lucky, you could end up with 3 pairs, 2 of which you sell on as paired fishes and make a profit because of this.

Plus, if you know other people who are Cichlid fans, they might be interested in your unpaired fishes because they might have fishes of the opposite gender looking for mates.




Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002