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Permalink Reply by Adam Carbary on November 1, 2011 at 7:19pm

It all depends on what you like. I just got into the hobby starting 3 months back and asked myself the same question. I decided to go with a community tank instead of a cichlid tank because cichlids as a whole, with the exceptions of a few, are semi to very aggressive. They are best to keep with other cichlids and even best to keep same family to same family, zebras to zebras and peacocks to peacocks. However, I will say that the colors you get from cichlids is as close as you can get to keeping saltwater fish. My LFS has a 150G cichlid tank that is beautiful, but boring IMHO.

 

In my tank I have rummy nose tetras, sterbai cory cats, yoyo loaches and a bristlenose pleco. My tank is very soothing to watch, but very active at the same time. My corys are all over the place non stop, while my loaches only come out every so often. They all swim differently though and all have their own character. That is why I went with the community tank route, diversity. If you really want cichlids you can get one or two rams in your tank. The have the aggressive look of the cichlid as they are part of the ciclidae family, but are peaceful fish and will get along with most community fish. Follow this link if you want to see what rams look like http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+889+1084&.... I personally am considering getting a German blue ram for my tank just for something different.

 

I apologize for the long winded response, but I hope this helps your decision.

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Permalink Reply by brenden (funnymakeslifesunny) on November 6, 2011 at 8:57am

What cichlids are you talking about? Apistos can go with tropical fish mostly so I would go with them. :)

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