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I am in the process of putting together a 220 gal community tank. I am wondering about Pearl Cichlids. Are they truly a schooling fish or am I sadly mistaken. The profile states that they are. Would they be a good addition to a community set up. I am looking for any and all input. I have 8 Clown Loaches and a Common Pleco. All these fish are young and under 4".

Another question is if I do get some pearls or less, what are some peaceful cichlids that they would mix well with?
Thanks for any input!!

If were talking about Herichthys cyanoguttatus, also known as the texas or pearl cichlid, they are pair bonding and are known for being pretty aggressive. For aggression put them in oscar leagues, and being that they get to about a foot long, much the same on tankspace too. With a 220 gallon you could have a pair, but that means likely breeding behaviour and they will kill smaller fish and attack larger ones. Not a community fiosh in the classic sense , although potentially you could get away with an unpaired specimen amongst other big fish in a tank as big as a 220. More than one pair and fighting would be positively vicious. In nature they are quite populous in the areas they do occur, and some really severe fighting has been observed when things get overcrowded, even in nature. In a 200 two pairs would probably go straight to war. Mostly a bottom feeding cichlid though, so perhaps slightly less predatory towards cagemates than an oscar. Might find theyre not the best choice with clown loaches , who would get battered for invading their territory, and be to too stupid and fast to stay away.

Rather than choose peaceful species to go with them , many people prefer to go the other way, with GT's and midas. Though obviously a tank seperator might be a necessity if you do that.

Methinks you might have been given the wrong impression about these fish. A few are variable and laid back but the vast majority could be considered highly territorial, or plain vicious.


If were talking about Geophagus brasiliensis, pearl eartheaters, then the ballgame is slightly different, territorial but not overtly so, although males have been known to victimise females,and obviously they may fight with other males, and pairs wont want others around in close proximity. Aggression will be limited to their own species for the most part, and other reasonable sized fish will be safe unless they persistantly invade the eartheaters territory, in a 220 you could have a couple of pairs. I wouldnt go so far as to say they shoal, but you could probably squeeze two pairs in. Known to be a species especially susceptible to both hexamita and saprolegnia so you may wish to purge them on aquisition with metronidazole, and have some malachite green handy for fungal outbreaks. Again a fish that gets to nearly a foot long, so dont overcrowd them, and use decor as visual barriers.If you can buy specimens that are already showing signs of pairing up, do so, as their acceptance of females can be problematic. A lot of eartheaters you will see will be calm because of both being young, and because the heavy parasite loads many suffer from make them too weak to care about fighting. A foot long,paired-up and healthy adult is a different matter. Choose specimens carefully, because of their bottom feeding activities, many will pick up infections that other cichlids are spared from in shops with UV systems.

THANK YOU very much for the input! I realize now that my choice would have been a mistake. I actually got the info from the fish profiles on this site. It is the pearl earth eater I was inquiring about. I am looking for cichlids on the peaceful end of the spectrum. Thank you again!!

Hey no probs. Geophagus often hang around together when young, and they do hang out in nature, but thats a different league of space. In aquaria , some adult specimens can be surprisingly brusque about unsuited potential mates and tetchy if they are in a breeding mood, and while not in the viciousness league of some cichlids, a 1 foot fish with a big mouth can do some damage. I might edit the profile to reflect that. Had a large specimen that bit through a net once, literally a neat half inch hole, and Im not really sure I want to imagine what that can do to another fish. A lot of people dont manage to get geo's to full size because of the parasite issues, so info about adults isnt common.

Lots of people are going from experiences with young fish, or having seen them in crowded pet shops, overcrowd them in their home aquaria, and then they have fish that arent responding normally, and a few wane, etc etc. Its classic cichlid overcrowding to try and reduce aggression, but eventually it goes horribly wrong because of the stress they live under and you get health problems. Give em a nice big tank like yours and youd be witnessing the real deal, adult cichlids with defined territories and typically defensive attitudes. A nice way to have them, but it does mean you have to be careful about stocking.