20 gallon long dwarf suggestions

[Jayhawk]

I have a 20 long that is currently housing a fueding pair of convicts. I really liked their personalities until about 2 days ago when WWIII broke out, so I'm thinking of trading them at the LFS and trying more of a dwarf cichlid.

Tank params - pH 7.6, KH 4, GH 6-8. I can lower the pH with driftwood to about 7-7.2 if necessary, but I don't like to mess with water any more than regular water changes.

Our LFSs have a limited selection of dwarfs - rams (rarely bolivians, too), kribs (and their related pelvichromis brethern), keyholes, curviceps, the rare apisto (cockatoo or borelli) and N. anomala are the usual suspects.

Do any of the above have personalities similar to convicts with perhaps just a tad less aggression? I like the curiosity and lack of shyness in convicts.

I had N. anomalas in a 10 gallon in the past, but I hated having to remove the male due to female aggression after spawning. With the 20 long would the male be allowed to stay in the tank?

Are all apisto's harem breeders?

Thanks,

Eric

 

[tjudy]

I will always support the kribs as a good choice. You mention that the LFS has other Pelvicachromis than the regular ol' Pel. pulcher krib. Take advantage of that! Most LFS do not carry other Pel. species.

 

[Woodsy]

You could maybe try some Julidichromis if you can find them. They aren't usually too hard to get- ask your LFS, I'm sure they won't mind getting some in.

 

[aspen]

rams were my first dwarf and they are still my favourite. some are reputed to be weak though. they will hand feed and are very bold. they should be bought in pairs, not in a trio. with some tetras etc, you will have a nice display.

as for removing the male or other at spawning time, almost any dwarf species can fight at this time, except ime, borelli's.

rick

 

[Jayhawk]

It's funny, but I'm going to be taking back the convicts tonight and the only 2 small cichlids they have right now are allegedly albino kribs (although they don't look like albinos to me...so I'm guessing they're a close relative of the normal krib) and German rams.

Woodsy - I've had J. transcriptus in the past, but I'm in a non-Tang phase right now.

Aspen - If I can't sex a pair of Rams, should I just get 4 and see who pairs up? Could the tank hold 2 pairs if I can sex them easily? How would 4-6 otos do as dithers? I had a similar set-up in the past with a pair of L. curciceps and 6 otos which was fun and the otos were active enough to act as dithers for the curviceps.

Tjudy - I can sex the kribs, and last time I was at the LFS there were several males and females. Do they pair up fairly easily or should I get a male with 2 females so he can choose (and I can take the spare female back)? Would the kribs wipe out a pack of otos? For algae control, would I be better off with a bushynose or rubber lip pleco?

Thanks!

 

[aspen]

eric, i would not put 2 pairs of rams in a small tank like that. agression will likely be a problem. that will also be true for a second female. i have seen a pair kill a third fish. ime, a small tank like that is good for only 1 pair. the sure fire way to sex rams is by the third spike on the dorsal fin. the male's will be extended. this will grow quite large as they mature. the other ways, ime, are less sure, ie pink belly on the female may not be showing at a young age, or when you happen to be looking at the tank and other colour markings are also less sure because of the differences in fish from different breeders and countries.

spend some time looking at them, and see if there are 2 which are showing interest in each other and seem to be the dominant male and female in the tank. you may be lucky with a nice pair this way.

imo, the best way to get a pair, is to buy 6. in time the alpha male and female will show themselves and return the rest or split them out to find the next pair. but, this may not be the way you would like to do it. i believe this makes the alpha's more dominant than they would otherwise be. these would be good breeders, imo. but just buying any 2 might be fine too and if you can spot these 2 fish in the tank, then you may already have the alpha male and female.

for breeding and care info, do a search here. there is quite a bit of it. you would do well to reasearch before you get them home.

rick

 

[Jayhawk]

Aspen,

I went and spent quality time looking at the rams at the LFS. First off, they looked quite healthy and have been there about 3 weeks now which seems like a pretty good sign. I saw several with pink bellies and blue spangles in the black spot on their side - I'm pretty definite those are females.

However, I had a really hard time trying to find what I thought were males. What are the odds of a tank entirely of females? The pink bellied females seemed to have territories they were defending, but I didn't see anything looking male (long 3rd dorsal spine or black spot with no blue dots on the black spot).

No matter what, they were flat out beautiful little fish with lots of personality, and they're going to be my next cichlid purchase.

However, right now the convicts seem to have calmed down significantly. The male still chases the female a bit, but her fins are now healed and tonight I watched her dig into him a bit and he's now giving her space. I wonder if they could have been testing each other after the loss of their first spawn (fry one day, less the next, then just a few, then all gone) which I'm thinking they ate?

Regardless, unless they fall apart again, I'm going to hang onto the cons...not quite dwarfs, but I like them nonetheless (at least right now).

Thanks for all the advice!

 

[Jayhawk]

Nevermind about those convicts getting along.

So, I went back to the LFS, all of the rams last seen a week ago were gone (I'm guessing they didn't sell all of those, either), but the kribs looked good.

So, I got kribs (although it sounds like some disease). They're cute. The female is really colorful, and I hope the male colors up with time. He looks fairly washed out. Despite his being twice her size, she is so much more outgoing. He didn't even venture out of hiding at all for the first 5 hours, but he is quickly popping out now and then.

I went ahead and put in a trio of cherry barbs and a bristlenose pleco. I seriously thought about a butterfly fish instead of the barbs, but I felt a little nervous that the kribs might nip at those long fins. We'll see if the barbs do OK, but I'm pretty sure the bristlenose will take care of himself. If the barbs don't work, I still may try that butterfly fish (even though the 20 long is only 12 inches deep)...I'm not sure why I like those elegant/ugly fish.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[Neil]

Jayhawk,
IMO it is an advantage that your female is more active and outgoing than your male to begin with. When I work with Pelv. species, I many times try and let the female get a foothold in the tank before adding the male. It kind of evens the playing field. Males can be tough on females until the bond is established and the female is ready to spawn. Once that happens, things are usually OK as far as aggression.
Neil

 

[Jayhawk]

Neil,

it's good to hear past experiences with a species that is brand new to me. It's funny, but the aggression between these two is on such a different stratosphere from the convicts. I can see why you don't classify cons as dwarfs whereas Kribs make the cut - they remind me right now of my L. curviceps when they were getting to know each other.

I've seen the female do a curing display thing once or twice, but he ignored her. Actually, I'm starting to see them near each other without any chasing as often as I see the male chase the female which looks like a step in the right direction.

BTW - I went ahead and added the African Butterfly fish. These are fascinating little fellows - kind of like having a dwarf arrowana. He sticks to the top 1" of water, so the kribs leave him alone. I am surprised at how nippy he is whenever other fish come up to feed - I think he'll do OK unless when spawning the kribs start attacking his fins from below. For such a fragile looking fish, he certainly has a big attitude.