# Kribs or Rams or Apistos or Keyholes?



## reignofcheese (Dec 6, 2007)

I'll soon be setting up a 3 foot 33 gallon aquarium in which I would like a pair of small cichlids. It will be moderate-dense planting and I'm hoping I can keep kuhli loaches already in a 10 gallon tank right now in it and add some more of them. The other tankmates would be 6 white clouds and cherry shrimp, trumpet snails and an assassin snail. I have experience mostly with african rift lake types, and also several years with a pair of nicaraguensis in a 75 gallon.

Questions: will the loaches be ok with any of those cichlids? I'm pretty sure if they can work, then since they are nocturnal they will likely eat any cichlid eggs, but that just means breeding aggression is curbed and I'm not a breeder anyway, so that's not an issue.

Which of them are most active and curious and suited to the setup?

Thanks!


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## Cvurb (Apr 12, 2010)

Well, I personally LOVE Bolivian Rams . But I'm pretty sure any of those will try to eat those tasty red shrimp... The loaches should be OK with any of them. Bolivians are probably the most intelligent, they learn who you are, and will come to the front of the tank whenever you are in the room, and will put some great displays on for you. I do not, and will never trust German Blue Rams because of overbreeding, and asian fish farming... They just die on you, Bolivians are somewhat of a aquired taste, and if you treat them well, they will make sure you know you made the right choise.
Keyholes get kinda big, and a pair of apistos would be great as well, but know about what they require, and what water you have.


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## MonteSS (Dec 8, 2008)

In a 3ft tank you could go with two pars of Apistos.

...Bill


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## reignofcheese (Dec 6, 2007)

Ok, thanks for the help, it sounds like the loaches will be worth a try and if the shrimp get eaten, well, so be it. In this case I think I'll choose based on what is available more than anything.

Cheers


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## GopherWacker93 (Feb 8, 2010)

IMO i would say the kribenses. I have kept them for 3years now and the breeding pair gets very protecrive. The danios would most likely act as a dither fish keeping the pair bond strong and the loaches deffidently would not be able to get the eggs or fry even at night the mom stays with the eggs all the time while the dad keeps guard. The shrimp in worst case sceaniro will make a good meal :lol: Kribs reach 3inches and are extreamly pretty and easy to breed i would reccomend them to someone whos new to cichlid breeding.


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## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

I was also going to suggest considering a West African setup. My LFS has a few different Pelvicachromis species in stock at the moment, and they do look good. You might try seeing if your LFS has any Anomalochromis thomasi as well, and try a pair of each in your tank.

I don't recommend two pairs of apistos in a tank. I'd sooner look at a trio, or one pair and another species of dwarf cichlid.

Here's a link to a good dwarf cichlid site, Dwarfcichlid.com.


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## leopartner123 (Jun 29, 2009)

I keep bolivians with cherry/amano shrimp and Kuli loaches in a 29g planted tank


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## reignofcheese (Dec 6, 2007)

Don't worry, no matter what I get I'm going with one pair (perhaps a trio for a mild apisto) I'm a huge fan of giving my fish lots of space without having to fight over it.

Kribs are certainly easy to get here, my concern was that they would be more of a problem for my loaches, which I'd really rather keep. The shrimp, they'd be a pretty healthy treat, right?

Well it sounds like any would work out then and it's really personal preference, which eases my mind, which has not been made up quite yet. Cheers.


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## reignofcheese (Dec 6, 2007)

oh, and thanks for the link DFF, a dwarf site is a perfect idea for me!


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