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I have a 120gal. 5' tank with 2 pairs of large angles. Now they are pairing up and have to be seperated. Problem is my tank looks so empty with just one mated pair of angels and they are really mean now to the other fish. I'm tired of starting over with a bunch of small angels and when they are big and beautiful I am left with only a mated pair. I'm thinking of changing this tank to Cichlids. Do these guys also pair up and take over the tank when they mature? I would also like to keep my red tail shark could I get an assortment of these guys that are maybe not too aggressive? Any suggestions for this beginner??

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

Firstly, let me say, your tank is already a cichlid tank. lol. Angels are SA cichlids.

Now, as for a good beginner cichlid assortment, tell us what your water parameters are from your tap. As this will help to determine the best likely cichlid geographical range of cichlids to help you with. As SA are low ph and mostly soft, while CA are somewhat neutral, and rift lake cichlids are extremely hard water and high ph, while West Africans are neutral to soft hardness with neutral to low ph.

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There is always a bigger fish...

duhh me, so I do have SA cichlids but you know what I mean! I'm looking to get away from all angles this time and have a lively colourful tank. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention I have 2 German Rams as well...hey I do have a cichlid tank! My water is 8 ph from the tap by the way. A bit hard for angles but I've had them for years and they are doing great. A bit too good actually as they always get huge and then pair up and you know...there goes the neighbourhood!!

120 GAL. Community Freshwater (2 huge mated angles, 2 German rams, Red tail shark, 2 Pearl Grammies, 3 Bushynose Plecos, Swordtails

110 Gal. (3 Koi Angles, 3 black marble viel tail Angles) 20 Neon tetras, 1 red tail shark, 3 clown loaches, Platys

With a ph of about 8.0, I would suggest you go for the rift lake cichlids. Lake Malawi, Lake Tanganyika, and Lake Victoria. Though they can be housed together, many people have had bad experiences doing so. So I would suggest you pick just one lake, and start with some fish from just that lake. Lake Malawi cichlids are the more plentifully available in most everywhere. They are also very colorful and you can fit quite a few in that sized tank. Just be advised that those from the same genus can and will most likely cross breed, so use caution when placing them in the tank.

Some fish to choose from would be the Alonocara genus, or better known as the peacocks. The sunshine peacock is a really great looker and a good starter;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/366.htm
Some others might be the Dimidiochromis compressiceps;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/645.htm
Labeotropheous trewavesae;
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/457.htm
Otopharynx lithobates. BTW, the pic in this link is my trophy winning fish.
http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/236.htm
and more...
Metriaclima genus
Protomelas genus
Pseudotropheus genus
Sciaenochromis genus
As well as many more cichlid genus, and hundreds of species within the genus. So you have a ton to choose from. Keep us posted.

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There is always a bigger fish...

Keep the females out. Trouble always starts when you add women to the tank.

Thats not true. The trouble starts when you have females with multiple males of the same type. the males do the most of the fighting. with Mbuna there are 2 reasons they fight. females and food. they are like cows they graze allday so they require a good slab of algae to chew on all day to be happy. they will fight over it till...well the cows come home hehehe ahhh i kill me. sorry.

anyway 1 male to 4 females and agression isnt so bad. besides with a 6ft tank there is SO much room for rockwork for hide and seek nothing should be fatal.

Hi there

If you decide to get rid of your german blue rams pls lemme know. Are they male/female ? I'm very close to toronto. Did you get them at BA, Menagerie, or Wongs ?

Also what strain of angels do you have ?

Cheers

The Amazon Nut...