[Aluyasha]

Hello everyone. I am interested in learning about smaller Cichlids. I have only ever kept convicts before but none of the other kinds (though my mom has had dempseys and Oscars and my cousin has a red devil).
I was wondering if any could go in a 29g? It has a 75g filter as well. I have mollies and platies in it right now but have been wanting to try my hand at new fish. Though I would like to keep the Red Claw Crayfish I have living in there. Would any cichlids work with him?
I have been trying to research African cichlids online but there are many different types and unfortunately I cannot ID the ones at my lfs as they are just labeled "misc African cichlids".
I apologize for how vague my questions are, I honestly just want to know as much as I can before seriously trying to acquire these fish.

 

[Aluyasha]

I was also thinking of maybe one larger type of cichlid in the 29g. Is there any that fit the bill? I know Dempsey, Oscar, red devil, blood parrot, flowerhorn, and jaguar need much bigger tanks but are there any medium cichlids that can live alone in the 29g?

 

[TrevorGreenfield]

Hi,
You have lots of choice of cichlids for your 29g tank. You could keep a community of South American dwarf cichlids if you have soft slightly acid water. You could add to this setup some Corydoras catfish to provide activity at the bottom of the tank and they are always lively. Plant this tank up well with Echinodoras and Cryptocoryne species and you woud have a really nice display.

If soft water is a problem you could go for African dwarfs from the Congo or Cameroon which include the Pelvicachromis, nannochromis species. You could also include Corydoras cats with these.

You could go for rift lake dwarfs and have a tank with some shell dwellers at the bottom and daffodil species (neolamprologus brichardi) weaving in and out of the rocks.

Lots of choice.

Trevor

 

[Agent13]

What you are naming are South American Cichlids which are very different in many ways from African.
The Misc African tank usually are cross bred Africans and the more common ones. None of them will work in a 29 gallon. African Cichlids are wonderful fish but usually need a larger tank then 29g. However shell dwellers would be a good choice. You'll need to have hard water for Africans and if you can get a larger tank your options will open up greatly. (No, corydoras should not go in any African cichlid tank)
If you can narrow down the question I'd be glad to help you

 

[TrevorGreenfield]

What you are naming are South American Cichlids which are very different in many ways from African.
The Misc African tank usually are cross bred Africans and the more common ones. None of them will work in a 29 gallon. African Cichlids are wonderful fish but usually need a larger tank then 29g. However shell dwellers would be a good choice. You'll need to have hard water for Africans and if you can get a larger tank your options will open up greatly. (No, corydoras should not go in any African cichlid tank)
If you can narrow down the question I'd be glad to help you

I am well aware that South American Cichlids are very different to African. The questioner was looking for other ideas for his 29g tank as well as African. As a side note I've been keeping and breeding cichlids for over 40 years and founder member of the British Cichlid Association back in the late 60's.

There is no reason not to keep corydoras in a tank with Pelvicachromis species, I have been keeping cory's with pelvicachromis for years. I certanly don't suggest keeping cory's with rift lake cichlids but there are lots of African dwarfs from West Africa that could be kept in a 29g tank very successfully.

Neither was I suggesting that mbuna would be suitable for a 29g tank, a much larger tank would be required for these. Aquarists today only seem to think of lakes Malawi, Tanganyika and Victoria as African cichlids. There are a lot more cichlids in Africa than just in the lakes.

 

[Agent13]

Oh my goodness . You do realize I was posting in response to the OP.. Right? And no I don't feel corydoras should be kept with any African cichlids .. Why? Because the KH GH requirements. Sure.. Yes they *can* survive with certain African cichlids but this is not ideal water parameters for them. I didn't doubt your knowledge of cichlids .. Don't doubt mine. I know about the extremely large variety of different African cichlids. Anywho.. I still think shell dwellers would be a great choice for the OP. very interesting behaviors and would be a fun species to keep


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[1077]

Hi,
You have lots of choice of cichlids for your 29g tank. You could keep a community of South American dwarf cichlids if you have soft slightly acid water. You could add to this setup some Corydoras catfish to provide activity at the bottom of the tank and they are always lively. Plant this tank up well with Echinodoras and Cryptocoryne species and you woud have a really nice display.

If soft water is a problem you could go for African dwarfs from the Congo or Cameroon which include the Pelvicachromis, nannochromis species. You could also include Corydoras cats with these.

You could go for rift lake dwarfs and have a tank with some shell dwellers at the bottom and daffodil species (neolamprologus brichardi) weaving in and out of the rocks.

Lots of choice.

Trevor

Dynamic's at play with Brichardi that decide to spawn, would mean the end of the shell dweller's IME (cory's would take a beating also)
Planted tank with the crayfish mentioned would I fear be effort in futility as they would dig up most plant's and delight at removing the shell dweller's from their homes and then devouring them.(If breeding brichardi didn't kill em first)
Lose the crayfish/lobster,and then the OP could indeed keep some of the smaller dwarf cichlid's in 29 gal,along with a few cories.
Would help to know what the GH,KH of the water is before suggesting much in my view.

 

[Aluyasha]

Well I can narrow it down already. I have some decently hard water where I live. 8.0 I believe.

 

[TrevorGreenfield]

Well I can narrow it down already. I have some decently hard water where I live. 8.0 I believe.

Well in that case forget anything from South America. Shell dwellers would be happy in your water but most of the other species from the rift lakes would get too big for your 29g tank I think.

People talk about dwarf mbuna but I don't consider any of the mbuna as dwarf.

 

[Agent13]

Well that narrows it down to African cichlids..which there are thousands of species lol.
However I would say there are no cichlids I'm aware of that can live with your cray. I agree with Trevor..you would like the shell dwellers..well at least they are appropriate for your tank.
lol... and trevor true..kinda. There are dwarf Mbunas but they make up for the dwarf part with aggressive "large" personalities usually. Not anything suitable for a small tank. Curious though... are you looking to keep 1 fish in your 29 or a few?

 

[Aluyasha]

Well that narrows it down to African cichlids..which there are thousands of species lol.
However I would say there are no cichlids I'm aware of that can live with your cray. I agree with Trevor..you would like the shell dwellers..well at least they are appropriate for your tank.
lol... and trevor true..kinda. There are dwarf Mbunas but they make up for the dwarf part with aggressive "large" personalities usually. Not anything suitable for a small tank. Curious though... are you looking to keep 1 fish in your 29 or a few?

I actually like the idea of one or two large-ish fish compared to a ton of small ones.