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Can tetras and cichlids be together in a tank? I was wondering because I'm looking at getting a tank between 55 and 75 gallons. I want to know if this would be alright to put these types of fish together in the tank.

10 serpe tetras
15 glolite tetras
20 neon tetras
not sure about cichlids yet

thanks

http://www.thousandfootkrutch.com
http://www.hawknelson.com

Yep. Some of the most popular cichlids for tetra/cichlid tanks are rams, Apistogrammas, curviceps, festivums, angelfish, discus, and other peaceful, usually small South American cichlids. I'm not very familiar with most of the African species, but African tetras and cichlids which are found in similar water types are most likely compatible as well.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

For your tank, i would get Rams or Angels.

African Cichlids are a bit more nasty......


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Ok, I don't really know much about rams or angels but I'll look into it.

http://www.thousandfootkrutch.com
http://www.hawknelson.com

Neons would be likely eaten by most averaged sized africans, expect a few species more suited for community tanks. Depending on size of the different species it may work for short time, then one day you will come home and noticed a few neons have dissappeared.

cardinals and discus look fantastic togther!

could keep 8 or so in a 75 gal!

i wouldnt get neons, suseptible to NTD

Would it be better off if i went with just african cichlids, or do u think that it would be nice to mix it up with a few different types of fish?

http://www.thousandfootkrutch.com
http://www.hawknelson.com

I would recommend getting the 75 gal. You will have to decide for your self if you want a community tank of schooling fish or if you want to try a "community"/species of more aggressive, colorful cichlids. Most of the time these groups don't work together.

I would choose doing just the "community" tank tank of africans. A lot more tricky to get successful than a standard non aggressive community tank but well worth it.

Some other species will work well with most cichlids. Depending on the cichlid species you choose really be the deciding factor.

Personaly i'd go with the African tank (Suprise Suprise!)their more colourful/interesting fish with real personalities! please remember africans tend to eat tetras so probably forget about thse if your keen on aFRICANS. other wise whilst they may get on while they are young you may one day come home to a blood bath!

If you research which fish you want and stock carfully then you will have no problem with agression. IMO the african cichlid agression thing is usualy limited to certain species. Mbuna are very calm and you will rearly get a hyper agressive mbuna.

i even keep Haplochromis/zebras/peacocks and mbuna togther with only one death due to agression in over 2 years. which is somthing most people will tell you not to do.

i know this comment will insight violence amongst fellow fish profilers but i think a 75 gal is wasted on tetras, there kind of skitish, boring fish. again only my opinion so nobody hurt me

few tips

dont overstock! many LFS will tell you you can keep heaps more fish than you can. (i.e. the LFS said i could keep 30 africans in a 65gal) you realy need to concider their final size. 12 month after i bought 28 africans they were 3/4 of the way to full size and looked like they were literaly tinned sardines! 75 gal could probably hold 20 africans (the smaller 10-15cm varietys, not nibochromis and other larger africans) a 55 gal 12-15 would be good.

take time to choose your dacor, if your LFS dont have make em order it in dont settle for somthing they claim is just as good/better.

stock gradualy and slowly. cycling has killed more fish than i'd care to remember (being a noob sucked)

africans and south americans generaly dont mix, even some african fish from different lakes dont mix well (i.e. some malawi/victoria/tanganika africans dont mix)

very carefully plan which species you would like to keep, with a bit of help from the profiles on this site, and with some help from the members here. i am but no means an expert on this just learnt from some unfortunate and costly/deadly mistakes!

best of luck what ever you choose, dont hesitate to ask too many question!

Actually i came up with something like a plan. How would some rams, maybe angels, and a decent amount of tetras and of course some type of bottom feeder work? I think i would save the africans for something else. But how do african and american cichlids differ?

http://www.thousandfootkrutch.com
http://www.hawknelson.com

That may well work however i've heard that angels will eat tetras, i've never kept them so dont quote me, also concider cardinals rather than neons as neons are suseptible to Neon Tetra disease, which is incurable and allways fatal. be carefull what type of bottom feeder as come grow extreemly large.

Ya, i am going to drop the angels too. What would you recommend for the number of rams and tetras. Any favorite species recommendations that you have would be appreciated! Thanks!

http://www.thousandfootkrutch.com
http://www.hawknelson.com