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Looking to add cichlids to 112g SA

336 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  djr955, 
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Plant Pet supply Water Organism Terrestrial plant

Hi everyone,

my aquarium contains 450 liter/ 118 gallon and is 1.5m/4.9 ft long, 50cm/1.64 ft deep and 60cm/ 1.96 ff high.
Current inhabitants are 11 rummynose, 6 sterbai and 1 bristlenose.
I am looking to add some cichlids as the main attraction, and my current idea is to either have a crew of 6 keyholes in there, OR a couple of Krobia Xinguensis, OR a couple of Krobia with a couple of Electric Blue Acara. The main idea is to have a relatively peaceful community tank…
I wonder If the bottom area of the aquarium would be overcrowded? I believe these cichlids all live near the bottom, don’t they?
Would these cichlids actually work well together?
Thanks!
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Vroeser said:
View attachment 147673
Hi everyone,

my aquarium contains 450 liter/ 118 gallon and is 1.5m/4.9 ft long, 50cm/1.64 ft deep and 60cm/ 1.96 ff high.
Current inhabitants are 11 rummynose, 6 sterbai and 1 bristlenose.
I am looking to add some cichlids as the main attraction, and my current idea is to either have a crew of 6 keyholes in there, OR a couple of Krobia Xinguensis, OR a couple of Krobia with a couple of Electric Blue Acara. The main idea is to have a relatively peaceful community tank…
I wonder If the bottom area of the aquarium would be overcrowded? I believe these cichlids all live near the bottom, don’t they?
Would these cichlids actually work well together?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
I have never kept Krobia or Keyhole cichlids. A friend of mine has kept keyholes before and they did great in his community tank.
I currently have electric blue acaras in a semi-aggressive community and they are great for that…but I would not trust them with a smaller tetra like rummynose. My daughter also has an electric blue acara with various blackskirt tetra types (whiteskirt, black, and glofish color ones) and it does great there too. We both have Bristlenose plecos and the acaras are fine with them too.
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F
Bolivian rams or H multispinosa rainbow cichlids would work.
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sir_keith
Vroeser said:
...The main idea is to have a relatively peaceful community tank…
Click to expand...
If that's the goal, I really can't think of a better choice than the Keyholes, and with a little rearranging, you should be able to keep two pairs in this tank. Really lovely fishes...
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V
Thanks to all for the replies.
Maybe the electric blue acara is a bit of a liability with regards to diet and peace… can cross that off the list.
Will definitely research h multispinosa rainbow! Might be a nice option too.

Thanks for the advice everyone.
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The cichlids would depend on you Rummy Noses. IMO, the Blue Acara would eventually eat them. The Krobia Xinguensis and Keyhole would probably be more safe. Maybe even add some Festivums, safe and very peaceful.
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Auballagh
Those are very good SA community recommendations from @tanker3 above.
And, though indeed pretty peaceful as far as New World Cichlid species go.... I would not stock with the Herotilapia multispinosa, Rainbow Cichlids for a couple of reasons,
  • These Central American originating Cichlids will do best in water that is kept a bit harder and more alkaline than the other SA's in the aquarium could tolerate.
  • Rainbow Cichlids are QUITE herbivorous in nature. That beautifully planted tank I see in the pic you posted up, could be seen by those Rainbows as an all-you-can-eat salad buffet or something! :oops:
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sir_keith
Auballagh said:
Those are very good SA community recommendations from @tanker3 above.
And, though indeed pretty peaceful as far as New World Cichlid species go.... I would not stock with the Herotilapia multispinosa, Rainbow Cichlids for a couple of reasons,
  • These Central American originating Cichlids will do best in water that is kept a bit harder and more alkaline than the other SA's in the aquarium could tolerate.
  • Rainbow Cichlids are QUITE herbivorous in nature. That beautifully planted tank I see in the pic you posted up, could be seen by those Rainbows as an all-you-can-eat salad buffet or something! :oops:
Click to expand...
I agree, and there 's another reason I'd choose Keyholes over H. multispinosa: the Rainbow Cichlids breed too easily, so you're constantly dealing with their pre-spawning- and spawning-associated aggression. Keyholes form much stronger pair bonds, so pre-spawning histrionics are largely eliminated, and they don't breed nearly as often, both of which make for a more peaceful tank.
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Nice! Thanks!

Would there be any argument against a couple/ group of keyholes with forementioned festivums? Or: a couple of Krobia Xinguensis with festivums?

From what I can find: all three are (relatively) peaceful, with the keyholes/ Krobia's are more mid and bottom of the aquarium and the Festivums more mid/ top.
Seems that with all three cichlids the rummy's are safe. They all don't eat plants.
The only thing that would be a problem with option 1 is the amount of fish I'll have to add... the Festivum and Keyholes would need at least 6, right?
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Auballagh
The Cleithracara maronii, Keyhole Cichlids should stock out just fine with two pairs - four Cichlids of that species. And, I've seen tanks with perfectly happy Mesonauta festivus, Flag or Festivum Cichlid groups kept as a trio. But yes, that is a pretty social species of Cichlid. So stocking with more numbers of Festivum in the aquarium to interact and pal around with each other, will tend to make them happier.
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V
After your input I'm basically left with two options now: either 4 keyholes with 6 Festivum, or 2 Krobia's with 6 Festivum. I'm taking this weekend to make a decision. Thank you so much!
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sir_keith
I have kept both Festivums and Keyholes, but never together. Festivums are considerably less shy than Keyholes, and I wouldn't be surprised if they made them nervous, especially when they grow to their full size. But that takes a while...
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V
Went to the LFS this morning, looked at the keyholes but some really nice Krobia Xinguensis caught my eye.
A couple is now still hiding in my tank ;)

That’s the start. I’m going to let them adapt for a week, and next week I’ll add the Festivum.
Thanks all for the advice!
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Just got my six Festivum in there. Only 1.5 inches long but straight away very active and they bring out the Kobria’s as well. Loving it.
Thanks for the input, people.
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djr955
Some pics when they come out of hiding would be good!
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