Tank Mates

[frankie21]

I have a 60 gallon tank that's preciously cycled with community fish. I was planning on placing 2 Baby Parrot Fish in the tank and some Dwarf Cichlids in there. If I wanted to place Rams, and a few other types like Cockatoo, Viejita, MacMasteri, Borellii, Agassizi etc I have not yet made any decisions but I was thinking 6 dwarfs.

Questions
Should I place the dwarfs in mated pairs only?
Should I only get males if I plan on having a couple different types?
Do I need a 2 to 1 ratio of female to male with any of the dwarfs?
Does anyone have any specific Apistrogramma recommendations with a pair of Parrot fish?

Thank you for help.

 

[Mike Wise]

Before I want to answer this, I need to know which "Parrot Fish" you plan to keep. Do you mean Hoplarchus (formerly Cichlasoma) psitticum or the hybrid cross species commonly called "Blood Parrot Cichlid"? The former gets quite large, although fairly peaceful for such large fish (12"/30 cm). The hybrid fish doesn't get so large, maybe 8-10"/20-25cm max, but probably has some Red Devil in its blood line. Generally peaceful with other medium sized, non-agressive fish, too. I personally don't think dwarf cichlids are the best match for either species, but you can try.

 

[frankie21]

I can upload a picture of the one we have but I cannot be 100% sure on the mix of it (pet store wrote parrot fish as description). To my guess he isn't one of the big king kong parrots that go to 10" to 12". We had the Parrot fish in the 60 gallon with community fish and he was fine with them never bit a single fin but he did keep them over on their side of the tank.

I have 3 tanks
60 gallon cycled (community fish presently)
30 gallon almost cycled (going to be community tank)
10 gallon hospital cycled (parrot fish in there presently)

 

[Mike Wise]

OK, then my guess is that this is the hybrid fish. Now some answers:

Questions
Should I place the dwarfs in mated pairs only?

Not unless you plan to breed them. BTW most apistos don't form mated pairs. As a general rule, any female will breed with any available male of her own (or closely related) species.

Should I only get males if I plan on having a couple different types?

This is your choice. If you don't plan to breed them, then just buy the more colorful males.

Do I need a 2 to 1 ratio of female to male with any of the dwarfs?

Here again, it depends on the species. Some are polygamous, some monogamous, and some are somewhere in between.

Does anyone have any specific Apistrogramma recommendations with a pair of Parrot fish?

If it were my tank, I wouldn't uses smaller cichlids like dwarfs. Eartheaters (Geophagus or Satanoperca) might be better suited. Still, if you want to try dwarfs, I would suggest some of the larger, more robust apistos like A. sp. Rotpunkt, A. macmasteri and 'A. viejita' forms. Other possible options are Laetacara curviceps, L. fulvipinnis (Orange-fin), and Nannacara anomala. Please let us know what you decide to add and how it works out.

 

[frankie21]

Thanks for the help it was greatly appreciated. Talking to all the local fish shops and reading all over is a pain because you always get a million different stories so I duno what the end result will be. I will post pics of the fish and tanks with a few comments when I start stocking it.

Best thing is if I only buy males (since I don't want to breed) they will be larger so its safer for the fish and in turn my wallet.

 

[Apistomaster]

Most fish shops in the USA only sell Dwarf Cichlids in pairs but maybe it's different in your unlisted location. Other Dwarf Cichlid buyers feel lucky when they can buy spare females when that rarely happens.

Mike is urging you to choose larger Cichlids for good reasons. Dwarf Cichlids are high strung, nervous fish because they are a frequent prey to larger Cichlids. They don't live very long if something is stressing them.
I would consider some Mesonauta spp as they are a medium size Cichlid with mild temperament. There are some Geophagus which are very colorful yet don't get very large. If you keep the blood parrots then there are other Central American species which would be compatible. Firemouth and Rainbow Cichlids are pretty nice fish which are medium sized fish. I have never seen any Blood parrots much more than 4-1/2 inches but I haven't considered keeping any of the unusual hybrid Cichlids and don't know if the blood parrots get as large as some of their ancestors. On the larger end of the medium size Cichlid scale there are some really nice Heros spp. They have a good temperament for their size. I guess the same could be said of Oscars and Jack Dempsy. I definitely would avoid Convict Cichlids which are quite belligerent for their size.
Your options would expand if you were to not keep the blood parrots.

 

[frankie21]

I am living between Detroit and Lansing so I buy fish from a couple really nice shops in the area and none of them said anything about only buying pairs. People in the shops definitely give you feed back, ideas and their opinions. However, my wife and I have been debating hard over having dwarf cichlids or a mix of Red Spotted Severums, Honduran Red Points, Firemouths. The Red Spotted Severums is a major reason we may be going that route in the 60 gal with the Parrot Fish.

Once my communal fish die off in a few years is when I will probably look into Dwarfs again for the 29 gal planted tank. The would probably be happier in a planted tank anyways.

I rather be a good fish owner then a bad killing fish slowly and surely by stressing them out.