# What's Compatible with Keyholes?



## abovebeyond (Sep 27, 2016)

Hi, I have a 50g heavily planted tank with a pair of Keyhole cichlids along with some dither fishs (dwarf rainbows and tetras). I'm thinking of adding some more fish and I'm looking at the following below. Which would be compatible? I've been researching and encountering conflicting messages (some sites say they're peaceful and others say they're aggressive esp when spawning).

1. Laetacara dorsigera
2. Laetacara curviceps
3. Dicrossus filamentosus
4. Dicrossus maculatus

Thanks for any comments!


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## illy-d (Nov 6, 2005)

All of the fish on your list should be compatible, and you can keep keyholes with other fish such as Angels, Bolivian Rams, Festivums, Several Geophagus species, Guianaca... etc.

Just keep in mind that ALL of these fish are Cichlids - and aside from some of the Geophagus species I have kept, each and every one of them gets more aggressive when spawning - including Keyholes.

I'd think with a 50g planted tank you are more limited by your space than species. What I mean by that is you could probably keep a pair of keyholes and a pair of any of the fish you list, but not a pair of each type of fish listed.


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## Narwhal72 (Sep 26, 2006)

I would not recommend the Dicrossus. Their small size relative to the keyholes can cause them to be intimidated and bullied and not able to compete for food very well. The keyholes likely won't pick on them directly, but the indirect stress won't be good for them.

Laetacara should be fine as well as the larger Nannacara or smaller Aequidens cichlids.

Andy


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## abovebeyond (Sep 27, 2016)

Thanks for the feedback. I'm leaning towards the Dicrossus maculatus as they are larger than the filamentosus. Also, I think my tank parameter wouldn't be suitable for them to breed (they need very low pH and high temp) since my tank has standard parameters. This should prevent potential excessive aggression because they are much more peaceful when not breeding.


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## abovebeyond (Sep 27, 2016)

I got a pair of Dicrossus maculatus yesterday and they seem fully acclimated to the tank. However, I seeing very aggressive behavior from one. It's is attacking the Keyholes and the other maculatus. it's even "pushing" away some Oto cats along with the dither fishes (Threadfin and Praecox rainbowfish).

Any recommendations on what to do? Keep them for a few more days and see if the aggression tones down? Or return the maculatus now?


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## Riippasaarni1 (Jun 21, 2016)

Is it a male or a female of the pair?


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## Riippasaarni1 (Jun 21, 2016)

In general I would have recomended laetacara dorsigera if any. Mostly becouse it's more peaceful than others. I have kept in 250 l aquarim keyholes with agassizis, paradise fishes and even with betta. When there is enough room.. they usually do not pay attention to other fishes. (The betta I would not recommend..but after betta spawning I had too many young bettas..and putting two them in same tank is not a good idea). With agassiziis I realized soon that caves and rocks must be at corners of aquarium, so that they can make they own ''place''. Otherwise there will be serious fights. 
Keyholes are usually not aggressive by nature, but if a mature male is attacked many times it might at some point get enough and at that point..it's actually very big fish. That's one reason why I like them so much..they are powerful but usually tame. Tame enough to eat from fingers.


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## Ryan_R (Aug 20, 2014)

Pretty much everything goes with Keyholes.... except fish big enough to eat them. We've 5 keyholes in the 125 with a chocolate, a braziliensis, and 6 red head geo's.

-Ryan


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