5 Great Cichlids for Community Tanks and 5 to Avoid

Hi All,

Today I wanted to help out beginner fishkeepers out there to avoid 5 of the worst, most terrible community cichlids that beginners buy and instead offer up 5 alternative cichlids that will work out great.

Hope this helps!
Enjoy!

0:00 Introduction
0:27 Apistogramma
1:34 Convict Cichlids
2:11 Angelfish
2:58 Mbuna
3:53 Bolivian Rams
4:53 Jaguar Cichlid
5:38 Blue Acara
6:29 Jewel Cichlid
7:32 Kribensis
8:45 Flowerhorns
9:37 Additional Tips and Tricks
11:04 Outro

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#CommunityTanks #Cichlids #BlakesAquatics

[AussieAquatic]

I would also add Keyhole cichlids as Great Community tank cichlids, very docile and very charming :)

[newfie]

I have 2 Bolivian Rams, 1 Electric Blue Acara, 1 Krib and 1 Angelfish in my 65 gallon community tank. They are a good part of the community and pretty peaceful .

[luisnahle]

Other peaceful cichlids to consider in a community tank, are severum 8in, maroni 4.5in, festivum 4.5in, discus 7in, guianacara 4in and blue dempsey 6in. Just one per community tank

[TheGjboz]

To your point about Apistogramma, my single male Apistogramma Trifasciata gets along perfectly in my community tank with Green Neon Tetras and Corey Cats! Great video! Thanks!

[jiayaw]

I've always been big fan of having angels and rams as center piece and then getting some tetras and bnp/ottos/catfish to create a nice south American tank

[kathydoro]

Love my neon blue acara - So personable. Comes up and says hello every time I come up to my tank. Gets along with all the other tank mates. LOVE THIS FISH. (thanks for that idea)

[frillersfishandreptiles]

Great vid mate! Would love to see more vids like this!

[FishmanEricRussell]

Hey Blake! Lovely video! Hope you have a great weekend!

[jordi]

Excellent video. Bolivian ram is one of my favourites and a great alternative.

[jauken]

Someone in my area bred WAY too many convicts because every store near me had a tank full of them.

I asked an employee and she said that a guy came in with a 5g bucket full of them, left it in the fish area, and walked out.

[phili]

Thanks Blake that was very informative and useful never imagined such a thing as a jaguar cichlid, they look like they mean business

[mrWonderphilly]

I used to have a beautiful green Severum. Normally he was totally peaceful and chill but sometimes he'd come out with darker colouration and chase everything in the tank for a couple of minutes... Then back to chill. I think he'd get in a bad mood and decide to show everyone who was the boss. 😂 Anyway depending on the tank Severums can be an interesting community fish... Plants are impossible though.

[edstar]

great video mate. Shot very well with some great footage. Thanks mate

[morilot]

I have a fully planted aquarium, my maintenance is cleaning the filter ones or twice a year and the "prefilter" on the intake when ones every other month. I mostly only top off water level and only do water changes when parameters are rising or to get rid of tannins.

[giftofthewild]

I've kept kribensis in community tank. They are peaceful when not spawning.

Be wary when they have fry - when the fry go for day trips around the tank (with parents escorting) the parents will batter anything that gets near them.

[Calilasseia]

One you missed ... Anomalochromis thomasi from West Africa. This is as close to a "pacifist" Cichlid as you will find anywhere. Lovely breeding colours, and aren't even bad tempered when breeding.

Next up - Laetacara curviceps. A small and peaceful South Amercian that *really* deserves to be far more widely available.

And, if your community tank consists of larger fish (e.g., Denison's Barbs, Congo Tetras, Clown Barbs or some of the 6 inch Rasboras), then Keyhole Cichlids are a good choice.

[mikefisher]

It still blows my mind that jewel cichlids are a species of African cichlid I just found that out a few years ago I grew up with them and I always thought they were South American because I only ever seen them with South American and Central American cichlids💯

[mikefisher]

My experience is angelfish are like bettas They are aggressive but they’re only aggressive towards their own kind They’re just not as aggressive towards their own kind as bettas are💯

[aledjones]

I've got a pair of Bolivian Rams and a pair of Super Red Viejita Apistos, along with some dwarf neon rainbowfish, Honey and Thick-lipped gouramis, tetras, corys, and even amano and cherry shrimp. Everyone seems to get on fine (though its heavily planted and lots of rock and bogwood hardscape so loads of places to hide).

[andreacasoli]

I have a 90 liters (dunno how many gallons) planned especially for Ramirezi with schooling little friendly fish (Ember Tetra) and Corydoras panda, well one day a couple was creating a nest in the sand (or at leat i think it was, a hole), one unlucky and incautios Corydoras panda swam too much near it and they killed it, poor fish, they can be territorial too, greetings from Italy