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I have a brand spanking new 240L tank on account of my 2 footer springing a leak on the weekend. Cant say I'm at all upset having to get a new bigger one. I have in this tank the following fish: 2 small angels, 4 cory's, 4 scissortails, 2 rummy noses, one bloodfin, one yoyo loach, one khuli loach, 10 neons, 2 bristlenose catfish, one guppy, and two newly added bolivian rams.

First question: Will the angels or rams eventually eat the neons? If so I'll stop buying neons.
Second Question: having seen how nice the tank is with the two rams in it I have decided that I would like some cichlid tankmates that will get on with the community and hopefully one day spawn so a pair would be nice. Can anyone suggest a cichlid? Maybe a krib pair?

Thanks

hey,first off i rekon your tank is already full or very close to it,what sort of filtration do you have?yes the angels will eat the neons,they are a naturell predator of neons,now the rams,it depends on the ram pair you get,ive have plasid gentle ramsthat never bothered ony tankmates,and ive had 1s that were fairly aggresive and ate there smaller tankmates,as for anymore cichlids,i really think your tank is full,you mentioed kribs,they would be ok with them fish,but these guys are africans(if i remember correctly,been years since i had em)so they require different water parameters...anyway hope this helps,and your new tanks sounds very nice indeed...
ps,make sure you keep your wcs up and your water nice and clean,and no major changes in parameters,rams are sensitive to this,and will not tollerate it....

Can't comment on the actual cichlids, but... Africa doesn't necessarily mean high pH and hard water. Kribs are from the rivers of Africa, not the rift lakes, and these waters are not that different from any tropical South American or Asian river.

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

Thanks for the replies. The filter is rated for a 500liter tank so it should cope with the current stock. I think I'll get a pair of kribs soon but first I must make myself a 3d rock background.

Thanks again

Hi there,
I disagree respectfully with Hokese,
I think there is substantially more room in this tank.
I would suggest upping the numbers of scissortails and rummynose to 6 each, and adding 5 more bloodfins.
These are schooling fish.
The corys would also appreciate having 6 of their kind.
Yoyos and kuhlis are also schooling fish, so adding 2 more of each would greatly enhance their happiness.
Yes, angels will eat neons when they grow to maturity.
I think Kribs would be much much too aggressive for this setup. I dont recommend keeping them in any peaceful community tanks.
How about a pair of Keyhole Cichlids, a pair or single Festivum, or something like that.


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thats cool,each to there own,i always uderstock as a rule.that sounds ok,what sort of filter is it.

I also understock as well.
That is quite a large tank, almost 65 gallons US.
Most of the fish are tiny, and produce low amounts of waste.

I would not recommend Kribs in this setup, and definitely
not a pair. Kribs are extremely aggressive when breeding, and your smaller bottom feeder fish would likely end up dead during the first spawn.
I usually recommend kribs for semi-aggressive communities,
and for their own tanks with a few robust hardy dither fish.

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I agree with SVS, I think that Kribs would be too aggressive for that tank. I've got a pair of Kribs and I had to move my Corys into another tank, they were taking too much of a beating. Your BN's would probably clash with the Kribs as well. I have a BN which, particularly at feeding times, has stand offs with the male Krib. At the moment, the two of them are a fairly even size and so usually it remains as a stand off until one backs down. However, if one of them was to end up bigger than the other (and I think they've both still got a bit of growing to go) there would be trouble. Finally, I don't know, but I suspect that the Kribs would fight with your Angels. I've never kept them together, but I wouldn't be surprised to find them fighting - maybe someone else knows better.

I'm currently trying to get my Kribs in a much more peaceful tank for them, where they can't cause trouble. I think I've got a relatively peaceful pair, compared to some of the stories I've read, but I would be very cautious about introducing them into a tank that you've got.

You could try apistogramas for this community tank.

Being such a large tank i dont se one pair being an issue. Each pair is different and there is a chance you might get a hyperagressive couple. odds are in favor of a semi agressive pair. will chase for a foot then break off to get back with the fry. Thats another thing this hightend agression is only when they have fry which is not constent. You could keep a single krib but this will cause lack in color.

Kribs are aggressive compared to neons and swordtails. They still arnt SO agro they will hunt and kill everythign in the tank for the heck of it. They will pick a spot in the tank and defend it. The other fish will swim to undefended territories and learn where NOT to be in no time. You can help matters by putting caves in a corner and haveing objects on the free side. Plants or drift wood work great. This will break the line of sight and make for a smaller territory. They will chase out of this territory but once they cant see their cave feel compelled to go back.

I dont see a large issue with kribs and angels. the angels will tend to stay higher up in the water. The angels do hunt neons in nature but its usually very small or weak neons. Dont expect a full size angel to inhale a school of full size neons.The cories will be escorted out when there are eggs but should be smart enough to learn territry lines.

The kribs are completly possable you just have to work with the tank layout with them in mind. I say try a pair and keep an eye on them. If they are insanely agro you can change the layout or return them. Research them and learn everythign you can about them. this will help on the layout an dknowing how to handle it.

(Disclaimer) I am not a professional Krib scientist these are only opinions. With that in mind i hope this information helps.

They still arnt SO agro they will hunt and kill everythign in the tank for the heck of it

This was not the case in my sisters tank where
her pair of kribs killed almost every single fish
that was in the tank with them. She managed to save a single cory cat who was injured by the kribs, and a weather loach.

I dont see a large issue with kribs and angels. the angels will tend to stay higher up in the water

My sister, as well as a couple other people I have known have had kribs kill angelfish, or harass them to the point of ill health.

Mind you, these are only 3 experiences of people I know with very aggressive kribs. I know another fellow who keeps his with smaller peaceful schoolers with no issues, but his kribs are also quite old, not sure if that makes a difference.

Dont expect a full size angel to inhale a school of full size neons

Haha! You should have seen my first large breeding pair of Angels pick off 4 different neons in about 30 mins, all grown healthy neons I got from a friend. I managed to rescue the rest but those 4 and a 5th one that got snapped off on the belly area by an angel all were eaten.

My next breeding pair I kept with small fish, and ended up later adding Neons, with no issues whatsoever with the neons in all the time they were together. I suspect some Angels have the taste for neons, some just dont.
Must be individual taste, or perhaps may depend on how many generations removed from wild the angels are.



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tank size and decor layout effect cichlids ALOT. not sure what went wrong with your sisters tank or what size it was. kribs are really low on the agro scale when i think of cichlids. i would put a breeding pair of kribs in the same ballpark as a breeding pair of angels. like anything else these fish vary in temperment. a 65g tank is a fair size tank for a rather small fish. i really think with the right decor it shouldnt be a problem. let them make a cave then switch the decor AROUND the cave to block line of sight. could use a ring of rocks to show territory lines to cories.

Bolivian Rams are fairly placid fish - but when spawning are likely to get a bit territorial. I have had Keyhole cichlids in the past and even when these spawned they were still quite timid to the other fish.

I would also choose more rams, blue or bolivian. Kribs will work in a community tank if the other members are top and midwater swimming fish, and it is a large tank. I do not recommend them if the tank has bottom dwellers other than a tough pleco, and I have never noticed them harassing ottos, either.

apisto's would be my personal top choice, but they are hard to find around here, and are pricey when they are around.