Can I keep different species of dwarf cichlids together?

[gdachev]

I am planning a future tank of mine that I would like to establish in the near future. My thought is to do a community planted aquarium with different types of fish. It would be a 45-50 gallon and I would like to have one pair of each: Apistos, Rams and Kribensis, as well as a school of something timid like Rummynose tetras and some bottom dwellers. Could this setup work? 

[Fish Folk]

Most dwarf cichlids — both New World and African riverine — are benthic. Expect squabbles in the lower third.

But it’s possible. Buy young Kribs.

[Lennie]

My pair of GBR even killed 2nd female in a 100x40x40cm tank and they shooed angels away whenever they swim close to their territory. However they were letting gouramis and bettas swim in their territory. I removed the pair to their own tank later on.

I wouldn't try if you ask me

[gdachev]

Well I am planning on keeping a pair of each of the the cichlids I mentioned alone in a 10 gallon to let them breed. However I was thinking of the possibility to add them to the community tank and not keep them permanently in the 10 gallons. How would I go about keeping them if not in the community tank - let them live in pairs in something like a 20 gallon per pair?

[Lennie]

Btw, you can also check this topic Ive created before.

and this

 

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by Lennie

[anewbie]

Depends - are you going to keep pairs or just females or just males or males of one species and females of another. Not enough details. Also are they bolivian rams or gbr. Also which species of apistogramma; are they d50 or d124 or a5 or cockatoo or nijjensi or abaxis or ..... 90 species later or ..... 

A few comments from first hand experience:

africans don't speak sa so don't put the kribs with sa dwarves esp if we are talking about pairs. 

If GBR there are only a few sa apistogramma species that are temp. compatible. If bolivian rams well no comment.

If just males things are likely to go better but kribs aren't really that pretty unless you are breeding them and then they aren't really that pretty but they are interesting.

Some species of apistogramma are less aggressive than others  - go for the least aggressive species.

Btw my D50 male and my female nijjensi faught like cat and dogs until i removed one in a 40B; that should give you a hint.

 

Gallons for an aquarium size is not very useful some aquariums are tall but small floor and some have huge floors but not very tall. Dwarf cicihld only care about the floor size and not the height as long as they are more than 6 inches high.

 

Edited September 11, 2023 by anewbie

[gdachev]

On 9/12/2023 at 12:23 AM, anewbie said:

Depends - are you going to keep pairs or just females or just males or males of one species and females of another. Not enough details. Also are they bolivian rams or gbr. Also which species of apistogramma; are they d50 or d124 or a5 or cockatoo or nijjensi or abaxis or ..... 90 species later or ..... 

A few comments from first hand experience:

africans don't speak sa so don't put the kribs with sa dwarves esp if we are talking about pairs. 

If GBR there are only a few sa apistogramma species that are temp. compatible. If bolivian rams well no comment.

If just males things are likely to go better but kribs aren't really that pretty unless you are breeding them and then they aren't really that pretty but they are interesting.

Some species of apistogramma are less aggressive than others  - go for the least aggressive species.

Btw my D50 male and my female nijjensi faught like cat and dogs until i removed one in a 40B; that should give you a hint.

 

Thank you so much for the answer. I guess I was a bit more optimistic about the whole thing than I should have. I am gonna rethink my plan and research a little more for each species. 

[Lennie]

On 9/12/2023 at 12:23 AM, anewbie said:

africans don't speak sa so don't put the kribs with sa dwarves esp if we are talking about pairs. 

I have a question

 

If a fish is not wildcaught, how is it supposed to know what fish they would know or react with in their natural environment? They basically grow up seeing only their own species, with different plants, rocks, water parameters, substrates, etc compared to what they have in their nature. 

In our tanks we keep different fish, plants, shrimp, even rocks, substrate and woods from all around the world and in water parameters nothing like their natural environment. A lot of fish dont even look like what they would in nature nowadays. I bet even their colors play a huge role in their nature and in their behavior. Like most rams, apistos, discus, angels look nothing like their wild colors

 

[anewbie]

On 9/11/2023 at 4:40 PM, Lennie said:

I have a question

 

If a fish is not wildcaught, how is it supposed to know what fish they would know or react with in their natural environment? They basically grow up seeing only their own species, with different plants, rocks, water parameters, substrates, etc compared to what they have in their nature. 

In our tanks we keep different fish, plants, shrimp, even rocks, substrate and woods from all around the world and in water parameters nothing like their natural environment. A lot of fish dont even look like what they would in nature nowadays. I bet even their colors play a huge role in their nature and in their behavior. Like most rams, apistos, discus, angels look nothing like their wild colors

 

It isn't a question of knowing the fish it is a question of understanding the signals; most fishes will signal aggression before physical contact. Having said that just because it signals doesn't mean the other fish will react in a positive way but sometime they will - I kept krib pair with a male nanncara amolae in a 40B (only cichilds) and they faught daily like cat and mouse until the kribs double team the nannacara and he backdown and avoided them - but he would still attack them if he got one of them isolated. He was a smart puppy - my favorite fish other (not the fighting but other little tricks he did). Anyway there are supposedly signals dwarfs use to sort of indicate when another fish should just go elsewhere. Of course we run into the same problems with mixing cory and other fishes. Even if they are both from sa cory dont' really understand not being allowed somewhere so there will be frequently attacks. 

 

Unfortunately kribs are far more robust than most species of apistogramma so we know how things will end up with you mix a species of apistogramma with a pair of kribs. I suppose nijjensi complex and D50 might be an exception as both of those are pretty robust - anyway i don't really want to know how it ends up and while a 40B is not super large it isn't tiny.

[Guppysnail]

On 9/11/2023 at 5:40 PM, Lennie said:

If a fish is not wildcaught, how is it supposed to know what fish they would know or react with in their natural environment

It’s instinct and mostly as @anewbiesaid.  

example 

One shows stripes for stress and submission while the other shows stripes for aggression and dominance. So both showing stripes the aggressor thinks it’s a challenge. Etc.