[Parmcat]

Hello everyone,

I have not had an aquarium for over 20 years. Now that my kids are teens and my wife gave me permission to start up a smaller tank, I jumped at it, and bought a very nice used 30 gallon tank. I have been reading for a few days, and the hobby seems to have changed since I left it. I guess I would consider myself a partly educated newbie. I used to have Green Terrors, Red Devils, and my fav Jack Dempseys…..but

I now have the 30 gallon, and will be filling it and cycling it for the next 3 or 4 weeks. In looking what my options are, I have been grabbed my the dwarfs, as they seem to be a bit easier to care for, aren't very aggressive, so I may be able to have a decent number in the tank.

The one fish I would really love to build around is the Blue Acara. I love the look of these fish. Now here is where I need the help. If I got a pair of them, what other combinations, numbers of fish could I add/would you add?

The other that has caught my eye is the Dragon Blood. I know these grow a bit larger. Before I get to excited, is the DB too big/not a mix with the BA?

Some info, I have no idea yet of the PH here yet...I will test before any fish are added. I understand the water to have a hardness of around 101-110

Any help will be greatly appriciated

Parm

 

[slava2929]

30 gallons is okay for two blue acaras but I wouldn't add any other cichlids beyond that and definitely not dragon bloods. Blue acaras are south american and require soft water with a low Ph (7 or less), while dragon Bloods are African lake cichlids which have the exact opposite water needs (7.5 Ph or higher and hard water). Even if they had compatible water needs two blue acaras are pretty much all the cichlids you can fit into a 30 gallon.