# peaceful community tank cichlids?



## FishFanatic245

hello everyone,
i have been leaning toward keyholes or festivums for a community tank cichlid as a centre piece fish, but, i have been thinking about asking about others,
i am looking for south am. but I am also wondering about central am. cichlids, but, not really africans as i have read they tend to be more aggresive and i did not want to make 2 threads so i am posting it here. i love the way that the keyhole body looks, but, love the pattern on the festivum. i like dwarf cichlids but am not really interested in the blues and reds they have. is there any common dwarf cichlid that is a green in colour (not including rams)?
tank specs-
52 gallon
trying to get it live planted but it looks like that won't happen as they are all dieing
glowlight tetras, lemon tetras, serpea tetras, silver-tip tetras, tiger barbs, zebra danio, swordtails, yoy-yo loachs, ****** loachs, bronze vory cat, red tailed shark, and a dragon goby (i think that is it, lol)
48''longx12''widex21''tall
tank has been running since January of this year so 10 months and i have been in the hobby since September 2011
gravel subsrate
that should wrap it up,

thank for looking,


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## mxg5299

There are no dwarf cichlids that are a bright green. I'd say your best options are a pair of one of the following:
Ram (keyhole, german, or bolivian)
Kribensis
Angelfish (actually in cichlid family! Probably most peaceful cichlid, but may get long fins nipped by all your tetras and barbs) 
A pair of one of these 3 will probably work the best


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## metricliman

Kribensis are african, actually. Angels are actually somewhat aggressive, had a buddy whose angels killed and maimed several cardinals and penguin tetras.
You could try severums. Somewhat peaseful and very pretty.
PS I would get rid of the dragon goby. It is VERY capable of eating your tetras.


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## FishFanatic245

did a quick search on the severum and found that they get from 10-12 inches, far to large for the number of fish i have already, although they are very cool looking. i like kribs but also read that when they are breeding the can wreak havoc on a tank, is this completely true? 
you sure we are talking about the same goby, they sift through substrate and actually have a really tiny throat, they won't even eat fry, though they do have the looks for it. i amagine if he found eggs in the substrate he would eat them but not 1 inch tetras, he would choke before he even got a quarter of the body down his throat. 
i had 4 angels at one time, but, 2 died from unknown causes and i moved the other 2 as they were breeding, i like them but would like something with a more "cichlid" look to it if you know what i mean


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## metricliman

Not sure about the kribs. However I have heard that severums only get 6-8".

Here's a dragon goby:









Same one?


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## FishFanatic245

yep, same one


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## BelieveInBlue

You'd be surprised at what some fish can eat... Keep in mind that, like us, fish can expand their mouths to accomodate larger food items. I'm not certain, but I think some of the Apistogramma species contain green, though probably not the kind of green you're looking for; certain strains of A. agassizii contain blue/green on their sides and fins. Angels are ok in most set ups, but they are predatory in nature, and will actively hunt and eat anything small enough to be bite sized, which includes neons, and sometimes cardinals. I wouldn't recommend angels, or anything with long fins for that matter, given that there are tiger barbs in the tank.


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## somefish

FishFanatic245 said:


> hello everyone,
> is there any common dwarf cichlid that is a green in colour (not including rams)?


There IS a green SA dwarf :

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n ... nomala.php

I used to breed these , and the males I had would turn the most beautiful iridescent green color when they were all fired up :~)
Really nice little fish , if you can find them - The above photos do NOT do them justice .


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## somefish

Since I couldn't edit my previous post , here an old photo of one of my little male N.anomalas .
Even THIS photo doesn't really show the lovely green color properly :


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## rmcder

I'm surprised no one has mentioned rainbows as potential additions. While not green, they can be bright yellow or even orange. Very peaceful, quite small, very active and personable.


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## Catfish Dan

We're housing a keyhole in a community tank until we get him other accomodations, he is a total gentleman even with the rasboras. And very beautiful as well.


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