What cichlid in a 40 Breeder

[AdamCichlid]

Just bought a 40 Gallon breeder tank and would like to know what cichlid I can try and breed in it??? It will be a barebottom with real plants that have anchors attached to them...Its going to be awhile before i add any fish, just to make sure it is fully cycled. So I have plenty of time to choose what fish to put in it...

[Hurriken]

Adam, the sky is (almost) the limit here. Why don't you tell us which fish or fish types your interested in and we will make suggestions. Just so you know many Cichlids will trash plants and some plants will not thrive without substrate.

[AdamCichlid]

How about Cichlasoma festae's if it was just a pair, no plants, black gravel and a few rocks?

[AdamCichlid]

I just have to have real plants tho...maybe possibly Anubias??

[Hurriken]

Anubias and Java Fern could work.

[AdamCichlid]

Cool, Thanks alot Hurriken...This will be my first time buying fish online, no one in my area has small festaes...

[Hurriken]

There is a Cichlid club near Sacramento.

[AdamCichlid]

I may have found a place in San Francisco that has them, they said call today to see if they came in but I'm definetly not getting my hopes up since I've heard this 1 too many times...

[Lisachromis]

The festae's would only work while the fish itself was small. A 40 is asking for trouble with these guys in the long run. It's not called the Red Terror for nothing. They also get rather large as well as aggressive (20" or so for male and at least 12" for females).

[AdamCichlid]

Thanks LisaChromis,
How long you think i could keep them in there? I mean at what szie do you think they should be moved to something bigger?

[Crazygar]

What about Cryptoheros nanoluteus? The Yellow Convict Cichlid, they only get to 4" and are a stunning Yellow Color. Something different as well.

Gary

[Hurriken]

The festae's would only work while the fish itself was small. A 40 is asking for trouble with these guys in the long run. It's not called the Red Terror for nothing. They also get rather large as well as aggressive (20" or so for male and at least 12" for females).

Great to see you again Lisa!

[AdamCichlid]

I'm not too fond of Convicts but a yellow one would be cool to have, the only thing is I've been to every fish store in the bay area and have never seen a yellow one...Since Festaes get to big for my 40 Breeder, I'm not going to get Festaes. Now I'm back to square one on trying to pick a fish *sad face*

[Crazygar]

Why a sad face, that's the fun part. What I like to do, is something different. Go off the beaten path. Get the one fish you've been wanting that will do well in the space available. Or do up a biotope correct tank... with a 40 Breeder (I have on here) you have some choices..

Gary

[AdamCichlid]

Sad face because I really would like to have Festae's, I've done alot of reseach on the web about all kinds of different fish and the Festae's just look the coolest to me...Every site that had info on Festae's said the samething Lisa said, 1 Festae for a 75 and 125 for a pair...So now its back to the drawing board starting with your breeder biotype. Where can I find that?