several dwarf's in same tank

[joaoalvaro]

hello you all, this is my firs time to this site and i must start by congratulate you
i've recently set up what i plan to be a planted aquarium whith dwarf's and i was thinking of what kind of species coul i place together.
Ram's are the specie that i MUST heve since i love them, and i was thinking of agassizi, cacatuoides and d. filamentosas. My tank has 120 liters and 6.5 pH. I also want to know if i can have kribensis with this species, since i also like them.
Thank's!

 

[mk_ultra]

I've had D.Filamentosus, both types of Rams, and Apistos in a 55. They all got along Fine.

 

[Z Man]

A 120 liter tank is only about 30 gallons so be careful. Rams & D. filamentosa's both need that lower ph and about the same soft water. Maybe, I say MAYBE a pair of Apisto's but NO Kribensis. I would start out with just the Rams & Checkerboards and see how that works out and what spaces they decide to occupy. That may be your limit with the cichlids.

 

[Zapisto]

Like Z-Man Says,

Forget the kribs.
a family of kribs (3) will require the whole tanks, because when they start breed , they will become a pain , and you will not have enough space soon.

personnally i will start by trying Dicrosus and rams as again Z-man says,
depend on the indivual fish , this will work or not and you will see if you can add anything after , what i really doubt.

Zap

 

[Neil]

joaoalvaro,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Checkerboards and rams both are open brooders. Cacatuoides and agassizii both are concelled cave brooders. I have had a fair amount of success combining the 2. But it is helpful to have a fairly large aquarium with alot of cover.
Anytime that you put more than one type of Cichlid in a tank, there is potential for problems though. That said, cacatuoides and kribs are the most likely to breed for you and give you that experience. If you are set on keeping more than one species, be prepared for the possibility of removing one, if things become too hot.
I will give you an example. If I wanted to keep dicrossus with kribs (both the most docile and aggressive or weakest and strongest), I would chose a mature pair of dicrossus. I would get the water to virtually no hardness and a low pH (4.5) and get them to breed. Then, I would put a pair of immature kribs in there once the dicrossus were ready to breed again. In this senerio, it is possible that the D. filamentosa would hold their own for quite some time(maybe even for good). But that is not a sure bet because the kribs are tougher and will grow and probably spawn. They have more size, if not more aggressive motivation, to secure their territory.
Evenly matched species are the better bet (cacatuoides vs. agassizii or dicrossus vs. microgeophagus). One species that is most likely to breed and give you all that entertainment and fry (kribs or cacatuoides), without some of the problems associated with keeping 2 species in a "less-than-large" tank, is the BEST bet.
Neil