I've had a 14 gallon tank going for about 2 months now with:

6x neon tetra
2x peppered cory
1x algae eater

I'm looking to put 1-2 larger fish in with these. What are some good options? chiclids?

6/26/2008 9:28:59 PM

i'm not expert, but i wouldn't put much more than you have in the 14-gallon.

6/26/2008 9:57:02 PM

Pretty much no on the cichlids. Most are predatory towards smaller fish. I guess that's cool, if you don't like any of the other fish in your tank. Stick with tropical community fish.

If the algae eater is a pleco, you may be at maximum capacity. I know it sounds ridiculous, but some of them get to be damn big, like 10 inches. General rule is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water, you can probably fit a bit more then that in there, but I wouldn't go over 20 inches of fish unless you've got some sort of super powered filtering system. The tetras get to be about 1 each, the corys about 2, and the algae eater can be anywhere from 4 to 10, so you've got 14-20 inches right now accounting for the fishies being full grown.

If you do add anything else, make sure it isn't another bottom dwelling fish, you've got plenty!

6/26/2008 10:01:07 PM

add 6 harlequin rasboras, they're cool, or add one convict so it'll feed on all others. then you can restart the tank with all cichlids

6/26/2008 10:07:06 PM

Cichlids need different water requirements ( pH on the higher side, 7.6 to 8.0., and just generally do better in hard, alkaline water) than the typical tropical community tank. I would stick with more community fish like danios, barbs, loaches, platys, tetras, and rasboras to name a few. Cichlids are also generally more agressive and will harrass the other fish, making them typically suitable with mainly other cichlids. They can also get pretty big - african cichlids can reach up to 15-20cm

6/26/2008 11:59:42 PM

jimmy123 is correct. You won't want to add much else to the tank unless you plan on cleaning it every week. The general rule is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. Keep in mind that there is probably only 12 or so gallons of water in the tank, after you subtract out the space the gravel, plants, and other decorations take up.

6/27/2008 10:07:30 AM

i'm going to third the comment by jimmy123. don't overcrowd the tank.

6/27/2008 10:20:31 AM

I've had fish tanks for over 10 years, both fresh and saltwater, and have had a pretty kick ass saltwater set up for the past 3 years or so. The biggest mistake you can make is overcrowding.

6/27/2008 11:17:54 AM

you have like a nice little community tank goin on with your tetras and corys, a great visual oriented tank that has the potential for long term stability. with the setup you have now, you can even go the live plant route with CO2 injection which is very pleasing (and how i would personally go if i was gonna do freshwater).

adding a cichlid will make for some interesting confrontations within your established community. dont get a convict! basically, as that cichlid grows he/she is gonna be the boss of the tank. also, no live plants with cichlids as they will tear them up. they will even move stuff like plastic plants around if they dont like where it is. if youre going to normal fish stores to get your cichlids they are probably african cichlids. african cichlids do well in tanks with lots of rocks. im sure youve seen aquariums with just rocks and the cichlids in there. the rocks help to keep the ph right and is closer to their natural environment.

cichlids can get pretty agressive. however, you will find that cichlid behavior is so much more interesting! they seem to be a lot smarter than other fish. if you keep your water parameters up long enough they will even spawn cichlid babies no problem. they like to hide among all the hiding places in the rocks.

but if you want to just keep the peace in your aquarium that you have now, i would stay away from cichlids. look for peaceful community fish i would suggest maybe some gouramis or some really nice fancy guppies. the color would go well with your neons. guppies will also give live birth to their young in your home aquarium which is also fascinating.

your tank has a pretty high bioload right now, so dont overdo it with whatever you decide on getting.

good luck!

6/27/2008 11:46:00 AM

I do have live plants in the tank, pardon me for not knowing their names, I knew them once and the guys at a specialty fish shop in Charlotte said they'd work well. I've got 3 patches of short grass looking stuff with a fairly involved root system, and 2 bunches of vine-like plants (~2 bunches of 5) that have not roots to mention and a couple of the vines seem to be growing like CRAZY. most are ~4" long but these 2 strands have grown to ~16" quickly. my algae eater isn't big at all. he's smaller than the cory's; probably 1", and he's recently started annoying the crap out of the cory's for some reason.

I clean my tank, change about 10% of the water, check ph, amonia, nitrite, and nitrate weekly. I was just hoping for a somewhat larger, peaceful fish that would maybe get along with what I've got. I'd gladly get rid of that annoying algae eater if it made the difference. But if most larger fish are going to be aggressive, then that's not really an option I suppose.

Thanks for all the help so far!

6/28/2008 9:22:32 AM

you definitely want to keep the algae eater. he probably does a way better job at cleaning the tank then you ever could. in fact, if you are considering adding another fish, I would make it a bottom feeder. but again, that is just my personal opinion. also, I haven't kept freshwater fish in years, so I might be a little rusty on my knowledge. when you are ready to start up a reef tank, let me know

6/28/2008 12:39:44 PM

Quote :

"birdbrainjms Veteran 107 Posts user info edit post Pretty much no on the cichlids. Most are predatory towards smaller fish. I guess that's cool, if you don't like any of the other fish in your tank. Stick with tropical community fish. If the algae eater is a pleco, you may be at maximum capacity. I know it sounds ridiculous, but some of them get to be damn big, like 10 inches. General rule is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water, you can probably fit a bit more then that in there, but I wouldn't go over 20 inches of fish unless you've got some sort of super powered filtering system. The tetras get to be about 1 each, the corys about 2, and the algae eater can be anywhere from 4 to 10, so you've got 14-20 inches right now accounting for the fishies being full grown. If you do add anything else, make sure it isn't another bottom dwelling fish, you've got plenty! "

ahh confusing!!

6/28/2008 12:59:50 PM

The reason I said that is that you already have an algae eater and two corys, usually those are all fish that hang out at the bottom of the tank. There are kind of three zones that certain aquarium fish usually hang out it, top, middle and bottom, and in my opinion, you have the bottom covered. "Opinion" being the key word there.

If I were you I'd just go to a decent pet store that sells fish and look through the tropical community fish and see what you like.

Props to you for actually really taking care of the aquarium, by the way. I work at a pet store, and someone said to me the other day "well, we want to get another small tank, we have one already and we love it that you never have to clean it or do water changes like you do if you keep fish in a bowl."

6/28/2008 2:30:35 PM

my bad, i missed the fact that he had 2 cory's. ^ he is right

6/28/2008 4:19:00 PM

i would suggest a jack dempsey.

maybe a tiger oscar

or if you really want some fun a pacu.

and last but not least, a search function

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6/28/2008 9:41:55 PM