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hi all

just wonderin wats a good cichlid for a 10 gallon tank

thanx all

There are two great types of choices, Apistos (and other dwarf south americans) and shelldwellers. If you love color and grace, Apistos are probably for you - they're almost all quite colorful, love planted tanks, prefer acidic, soft water, and spawn in caves. A pair of Apistos (maybe A. cacatuoides or A. agassizi) and a small school of Neon Tetras is a popular setup.
If you like activity, minimal "wife-beating", patterns with subtle colors, and general fun, you'll want to look at shelldwellers of the lamprologus and neolamprologus genera. Given a tank with fine sand and a bunch of shells, they'll rearrange everything until it's to their liking. Some people have been known to keep 80 fish (adults and fry) in one 10 gallon, although presumably the water change schedule was really something! Multis are a popular choice for a small tank since they live largely in colonies, and brevis are also good because they hold very small territories. Or, if you lean more towards the colorful side, Ocellatus "gold" or Meleagris/Stappersi might be a better choice. They're a bit more on the aggressive side but not dangerously so, and make a good pair for a species tank. And they're gorgeous - I'm a particular meleagris fan myself. (Happy to show off pictures if you so wish I'm always tempted to carry them in my wallet like grandkid shots!)

-Molly
Visit shelldwellers.com!

Good cichlids for ten gallons include the dwarf cichlids from Africa (genus neolamprologus), and the small apistogramma cichlids from South America. You should look them up, and take your pick.

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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."

You can look here for some other ideas too.

Good luck

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

hi fish king, im glad you asked cause I was thinking of the same thing myself.

how aggressive are the apistos, though? and what if one does not wish to breed them? i assume if one has a pair they'll be inclined to breed eventually...

also, would there be room for a small school of neons or cardinals or black neons? i had only planned to put a pair of dwarf cichlids in my 10 gallon tank, but then i read that neons etc would make an ok dither fish even in a tank that size.

p.s. i in no way meant to hijack this thread, just adding some questions to the mix...

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Back in the saddle!

Some people may argue with me, but IME a male and female pair of kribensis do just fine in a 10g and they breed very easily. All they need is a cave of some kind (like a terra cotta pot layed on its side and buried slightly in the substrate), a few rocks to hide in, and some plants (real or fake). They're also very pretty fish

]<]Dani<]<

My personal suggestion for a 10 gallon is always the same, shellies. Great little buggers when they have the proper tank set up, usually breed too. There's a couple articles and threads in the cichlid section of Lake Tanganyikan about shelldwellers, and if you go with them make sure to read Mez's article. G/L!!

-Formerly known as the Ferretfish

I second the Kribs. They're cool, they're easy and when you get to looking at the babies momma comes over and threatens, "Don't make me come out there and whoop up on your ***."

Have fun, Mike