# Gouramis or cichlids?



## ruhorserider (Jun 10, 2005)

Hi! I am currently looking at setting up my 55 tank (now empty) and since I have really hard water (150-250) people at the pet store told me the only type of fish which is likely to have a good life in my tank is cichlids or pearl gouramis..First of all, is this the case, or can I try something else? And what do you think is a better choice? I have never kept gouramis or cichlids. So both experienses would be rather new to me. Now that I've read a bit about both fish I like them well, but dont' want to get something that wouldn't adopt to my hard water conditions.


----------



## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

My pearl gourami's like really soft water, and at the LFS where I work, where we have hard water, we have an awful time keeping pearls alive... much more trouble than with other gourami's.

I think a tankful of rift lake cichlids is a great way to go - lots of interesting colors and behaviors. 

Other good choices IMO - livebearers (mollies, platies, swordtails, guppies, etc) and some rainbowfishes. (note - the livebearers and rainbowfishes are pretty good "community" fishes (and can be mixed) , while the rift lake cichlids really should only be kept with fishes from the same lake IMO).


----------



## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

redpaulhus said:


> My pearl gourami's like really soft water, and at the LFS where I work, where we have hard water, we have an awful time keeping pearls alive... much more trouble than with other gourami's.
> 
> I think a tankful of rift lake cichlids is a great way to go - lots of interesting colors and behaviors.
> 
> Other good choices IMO - livebearers (mollies, platies, swordtails, guppies, etc) and some rainbowfishes. (note - the livebearers and rainbowfishes are pretty good "community" fishes (and can be mixed) , while the rift lake cichlids really should only be kept with fishes from the same lake IMO).


Not sure about rainbow fish and guppies together. I once had rainbow fish and guppies together in the same tank and the rainbow fish were FAST! Then they loved to chase the guppies around too because of thier big colorful tails. I think they would start to nibble on the tail if they caught them too. After a few days my male guppies all looked like females.


----------



## talon4show (Jan 2, 2006)

CICHLID! They are very interesting and have great colors. I think you will enjoy them a bit more than the gouramis.


----------



## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

ruhorserider said:


> the only type of fish which is likely to have a good life in my tank is cichlids or pearl gouramis..
> 
> This sounds like typical "fish shop" advise. WRONG. Most livebearers esp. mollies would do well in this water. Gouramis would not. When recommending "cichlids", we need to be careful. Rift lake cichlids would do well in your water but many cichlids like soft water. People sometimes say cichlid when they are refering to African cichlids or rift lake cichlids, as if all the other cichlids don't count....


----------



## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Pearl gouramis are soft water. Rift lake and central american cichlids will do well in your setup.


----------



## ruhorserider (Jun 10, 2005)

Thanks for all the advise. I have little doubt that most advise you can get from pet stores is usless. I will most likely try african cichlids, since it sounds interesting and I've never had them before.


----------



## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

If you've never had them before then you'll be in for a shock if you get them. Research as much as you can about them before going out and choosing as many fish as you can.


----------



## ruhorserider (Jun 10, 2005)

I am not planning to get more then 3 or 4, at least for now. I don't like to make my tank "too full". Just a couple of fish looks great to me. And yes, I've been reading a lot about them, and it will be probably a couple of month before I actually purchase any fish. If thre is any books, sites you can suggest, please post. Thanks.


----------



## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Great advice given in this thread. Livebearers, African Cichlids, are great choices. You now have to decide what type of tank you want. I see you stated you want a few fish but never really went into detail about it. A few larger fish or just a few fish? A 55 gallon gives you more room for smaller fish (Lake Tang shellies would be great or L. Brichardis) but its deceptive small for larger fish like oscars due to lack of depth. Research is the key before you buy.


----------



## ron v (Feb 24, 2005)

If you only want 3-4 fish, stay away from cichlids from Lake Malawi ( mbuna ), they need to be in a crowd. I like Simpte's idea of a group of smaller Tangs.


----------



## Phantom_Cichlid (Jul 3, 2006)

CICHLIDS way more fun to watch and very colorfull, and its kinda fun to watch them eat feeder fish ( i use feeder guppies and platies and mollies)


----------



## Guest (Aug 4, 2006)

Click for some cookie-cutter setups for cichlids. You'll have to click on the names to find out more about them. That is a good starting point. Many of them tell you to pick 2 kinds, but you'll need to have I think 5 of each type of Africans.

Once you see them, you may decide you want more than 3-4 fish! 

Good luck!


----------



## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

I dont think you really CAN keep just 3-4 malawis in a 55 gallon. They would be shy, as they like company. If doing cichlids, either go with a few mid-size americans, like Blue acaras, or maybe a single jd with some smaller (but not too much smaller) fish. If set on africans, Id go with a number around 6 or 7 mid size haps, like borleyi or hap moorii. Youo could also do some tangs, and I beleive you could do a frontosa in a 55. If doing malawis youd want to do more like 25-30 small to medium ones in a 55.

Good luck!


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I'd say 8-12 full grown Malawi cichlids in a 55. Get a dozen fry and take out extra males.


----------



## super7 (Jul 24, 2006)

cichlids is the way to go they are awseome and have neat behavior characterisitcs(sp?). you want to just about overstock a cichlid tank so they are not as territorial and mean towards each other


----------

