# Best Dwarf Cichlids?



## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

My 55 gal. has just finished cycling! I am now ready to choose the occupants. I am looking for dwarf cichlids that will live together peacefully, maybe even breed in the tank. I am especially leaning towards rams, so if anyone knows of other cichlids that are small, brightly colored & fairly peaceful please inform me!  If I can only have a small amount of them, (like I know a pair of rams takes 1 foot of territory) I would be interested in knowing good companion fish for them.

So.. to recap: I am looking for a good small, colorful cichlid set up for a 55 gal. 

Thanks!


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## Fabian (Dec 16, 2011)

Rams are actually aggressive but if you put lots of caves or hiding spots,it might reduce the aggressiveness.I've only kept German Blue Rams.They are beautiful as long as you add some lighting,rocks,pebbles and some live plants.


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## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

I didn't realize they were that aggressive... I used to keep a pair of rams in with my guppies. They had some squabbles occasionally, but I never found a dead guppy, or even torn fins. I guess maybe they were just peaceful individuals.


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

Maybe look to see what type of water you have (hard/soft).
German blue Ram's often do poorly in anything but soft acidic water and temp around 80 to 86 degrees F.pH below seven.
Bolivian ram is more forgiving with respect to water parameter's and temp.
German blue ram's are fairly sensitive, and many are dissapointed by these fishes Dying when kept outside favored water condtion's.
I have also found that both species do bettter in tank's that are aged a bit rather than newly established aquarium's. Just my two cent's.


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## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

Thanks for the information.  My water is fairly soft, and I do have a heater. I believe I had German Blue Rams before, but that was in a previously established tank. So maybe I should look at Bolivian Rams for this tank instead?


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## 1077 (Apr 16, 2008)

BettaBaited said:


> Thanks for the information.  My water is fairly soft, and I do have a heater. I believe I had German Blue Rams before, but that was in a previously established tank. So maybe I should look at Bolivian Rams for this tank instead?


Bolivaian Ram is much hardier fish.


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## Curlyfatbottom (Sep 29, 2011)

Bolivaian are dull in color
Compare to the other rams
Don't expect peacefull fish when dealing with cichlid
Only Other dwarf I can think of is the cockatoo


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## Philnominal (Dec 22, 2011)

There are lots of dwarf cichlids that tend to do well in "community" tanks. Unless you get multiple females of the bolivians and let the male choose which one he wants I'd stick to one. I had my male almost kill my female before i downgraded her from my 75 to a 15. 

Apistogramma (most like to be in harems) 
Rams (already mentioned)
Kribs

Personally after having Bolivians I would go with apistos of some type (haven't had any yet though).


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## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

Ok, so maybe a couple of females in a 30 gal? Breeding them isn't my total goal right now.


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

I'm working on a 55 gallon tank for cichlids at the moment. I found a cichlid forum that is pretty helpful. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php this is just the link for 55 gallon set ups but there is a discussion board just like this site. I'm looking into labs, electras and estheras (red) myself.


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## BettaBaited (May 22, 2012)

Oooh. Thanks so much for the link! So many combinations to choose from... I am very excited!


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## lvandert (Feb 23, 2012)

just be careful you don't overlap girls. Salousi and labs share yellow females and cross breeding is a no-no. Same with mixing labs species. its a tricky puzzle to piece together but once done their beautiful! Do you have a picture of your setup?


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## fishybert (Apr 2, 2012)

i've been reading a lot of stuff about GBRs being sensitive and stuff...in my personal experience they're not. 

i've done the ff while the GBR was in my tank:
- aquascaping
- replaced the white sand with river sand(turning my tank into the Mississippi)
- often forgetting to do water changes
(yeah, not exactly proud of it)

...yet my pair is still happily ticking along. Dunno if they're wild-caught or anything, but they're certainly not "sensitive".


My "dream fish" now is a pair of apistogramma agasizii's. i hesitate because i don't have any room anymore.

You can also look into African dwarfs. Interesting shell-dwellers too.


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