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I am currently doing a heck of a lot of research. I never thought about cilchids until I looked at pictures of them for sale on my local trading websire *curses the people for putting nice fish pictures up*

now so far in the cilchid families I like the look of

Angelfishes
Discus(that was short lived when reading on temperment)
Dolphin cilchid(loves the colour of this one)
Red jewel(same reason)
Bolvian rams
electric yellows and blues

tank sizing 6-9ftlong or 250ltrs-300ltrs or as big as the wallet allows it(is that a sizing)

been on other websites as well and I have been informed african cilchids are easier than the american cilchids to start off with and also what other spieces are recommended. thanks for any advice in advance

Hey Starfish Cichlids are not my strong point, but I can help you along a little

Discus are more of an entusiast fish, can be very picky about water conditions. Think big water changes often.

The electric yellows seem quite popular and easy going, so I'd keep those on the list.

Rams are cute and mix in with some other tropicals.

Cockatoo cichlids are also worth a look, another small variety like the rams.



For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

electric yellows and blues need to be in an african cichlid community, as do the dolphin cichlids.
The others can be in a community, but I would stay away from discus until you have an established tank. Discus and angels are not good tank mates.
Keep researching, and keep asking questions

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Before you criticize someone walk a mile in their shoes. That way you're a mile away and you have their shoes.

I have now decided i am going to do a south american community set up. I will be about to google bio/type tank for the ideas on how to set this up.

Hello Starfish,

Personally, I feel that for the best success, you should base your decision regarding what species of cichlids to keep on two main factors:

1. The quality of your local water: Is it hard? Is it soft? Is it acidic? Is it alkaline?

If it is hard and alkaline -- meaning it will have a high PH -- I would definitely go with African cichlids, such as Malawi cichlids, which is my current love.

On the other hand, if it is soft and acidic, then you should definitely go with Latin American cichlids, such as discus, angelfish, oscars and the like.

The key issue is this: If you design your new tank according to your local water conditions, and get fish which are naturally suitable for those water conditions, you will save yourself a lot of time, hassle and money, because you won't have to purchase special -- and expensive -- water conditions, or medication if and when your fish get sick.

I am not saying that your fish will never get sick, but if you mix the right kind of fish with the right water parameters, it is less likely. For example, my current mbunas have never been sick since I first purchased them in April of 2009. The water is naturally hard and alkaline here -- I live on a Pacific Island -- so Malawi cichlids are perfect for my tank, and they are breeding like rabbits!

2. The size of your tank: If you can afford to set up a six foot tank, and especially a nine-foot tank, more power to you! A nine-footer has been my dream for a long time. The largest I've ever set up -- at a local hotel -- was an eight foot 300-gallon marine tank. The larger your tank is, the more stable the environment will be, and, of course, the more fish you can put in it, or at least larger fish.

I personally recommend Keyhole cichlids

More peaceful and hardier than apistogramma sp. and rams.

Keyhole cichlids are an often overlooked south american dwarf which are super peaceful (can be kept with things like guppys) and are even fairly passive during spawning.

For first timers keyhole cichlids are great!

Hey Starfish.

Not a huge cichlid person, but I do have kribs <---click for their profile ! And I really like them. They're only slightly aggressive when they've got eggs and babies. Mine are breeding again for the third or fourth time (that I know of!) and it's kinda funny to see them keep everyone else to the far end of a 50 gallon tank. I wouldn't consider them really aggressive though, havent seen any damage to the other occupants in the tank, but they will charge at them if they get to close to the fry or eggs.

^_^

I am just amazed at the interest of the people on keeping an aquarium at their home. Mostly people go for fishes that look nice. There are millions of varieties of fishes. But there are several factors that need to be considered while you select a particular fish. The size of the tank and the quality of water are important criterion. The Cilchid family has a peculiar charm in their looks. But beware because you need to know about the fishes before you start with them.

I love SA and CA cichlids. Rams and smiling dwarf acaras are easy to care for and work well in community situations. In terms of beauty bolivian and blue rams are gorgeous. I wouldn't worry too too much about water parameters. If you buy the fish locally they should be able to take to your water easily.

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