Top 10 Beginner Cichlids - Great Options for Your First Cichlid Tank

[@davidsankey5793]

I know I'm late to comment, but you nailed this one as always. All great suggestions mate. Keeping Kribs and Angels got me into cichlids, and keeping an Oscar made me truly fall in love with them.

[@aquariumtreasures1054]

Just what I needed to know for my second tank I'm working on. 🐟🌿👍😊

[@AFellowDoktuh]

I have two Electric Yellow Cichlids and they are just awesome little fish.

[@herpdiversity9152]

The flag cichlid is so pretty that would be a great centerpiece for one of my tanks. Also I think how mean angel fish are partly depends on tank size

[@DanielKeepingFish]

Great list and awesome information mate. The Accra are much underrated for me but my favourite has to be the Bolivians.

[@edstar81]

Some great Lookin fish in there is like to own. Thanks for for video mate. A great watch like always.

[@tbonesfishies1797]

Great vid Blake & good information for us beginners.

[@blakehowden5086]

Nice list. I like the albino kribensis. The white/pink body with the orange dorsal fin is groovy.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Agreed 👌

[@mtress66]

Thank you good information I will try

[@jackanddan]

Nice Blake....angels where my first 42 years ago hahaha harlequins were Jack’s 👍👍

[@marypaigeflynn4512]

Blake, I truly appreciate when you do these videos! And this was really good one! I still consider myself a beginner especially with the cichlids! Even though I kept cichlids years ago... it's really sad because I had no idea what I was doing and of course it was pre-KZbin before I found or even knew about great channels like you've created! I remember having a 75 gallon tank and just putting anything and everything that was called a cichlid in it! As you can imagine it didn't last long! It is just awesome to learn about the smaller cichlids that can be kept in the community setting that I find the most interesting! I can't wait to get this 33 gallon set up and pick me out a pair of one of these amazing species to go in my tank! Thank you for taking the time to break it down about these beautiful little fish! I hope you had a great day! Thank you for sharing!!🌿🐟🌿🙏

[@pelhamsaquatics]

Thoricthys Meeki the firemouth cichlid would make a good beginner cichlid I think as well.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Nice suggestion 👍

[@nobvirusplayz5520]

Great video mate,keep up the amazing work.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Thanks mate 👍

[@atkinsnatureaquariums3552]

Great video, the oscar is my favorite cichlid, glad it made the list

[@riteshfamily369]

Beautiful video really nice new friend here❤️

[@pattiespetitetanks6181]

There really is a cichlid for everybody.

[@lakedog3616]

Gold Occies are the best shell dweller . By a large margin .

[@xisotopex]

I thought you were Taj Burrow for a moment!

[@flemmingj1965]

I have the polar blue parrot cichlids in my 40 breeder

[@mapd6831]

Wow I got my first Bolivian rams like half an hour ago haha

[@BlakesAquatics]

What a coincidence lol

[@downstairsaquarium6670]

yellow labs were one of my first cichlids :)

[@BlakesAquatics]

Me too!

[@mr.x2567]

Are we still talking about fish?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Yes labidichromis caerulus i think is the scientific name

[@calebzajac6253]

lyonsi are easy to keep too they just aren't popular

[@NevBlue149]

One thing I seem hard to find on these beginner cichlid videos is which cichlids can live together. I’ve seen many telling which are good beginners but don’t know which ones can cohabit

[@BlakesAquatics]

To be honest i wouldnt often suggest comingling cichlids for any beginner though because there can be aggression and territory issues

[@craigbroderick8935]

Severums!!!

[@budsommers3308]

Can a cichlid live alone in a tank, or with other kinds of fish, no other cichlids? Also, is it alright to have male only tanks, I don't want to breed fish, intentionally or otherwise. Thanks for the informative videos.

[@BlakesAquatics]

A cichlid can live alone no problem and a lot of people keep larger ones that way. Male only tanks also work but its hard often to be sure at the size you buy them from a store.

[@lifesajoke6965]

Yeah Oscars aren't too difficult as long as you have a large enough tank with decent filtration.

[@AlphaOmegaKnight77658]

I'm new to keeping a proper aquarium and I was going to get a blue ram for my 20 gallon tank but they might be to delicate for a beginner like me lol. I'm thinking maybe the Flag Cichlid is good for me. Do they need a pair or can they do fine with other compatible tank mates?

[@butkusfan23]

Did you ever get one? I had one in my 55 gallon community tank with tetras and endlers. I had a single male and he did just fine in my tank with no issues.

[@rubengorsseling8231]

Hi can angel fish go with cichlids ?

[@BlakesAquatics]

Take a look at my recent video of community tank cichlids, angels should be good with most of the ones i recommend there mate

[@jamesc.7988]

I want to stock a 125g aquarium with Peacocks. Do you have a top 10? 20? list of Peacocks for beginners? My main objectives are to find fish that grow to somewhere between 5" - 8" and are relatively peaceful in regards to other Cichlids. My tank is currently cycling but when I'm ready, I'm hoping to fill it with a wide variety of males.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Peacocks mainly differ in colour, from my understanding they don't have different difficulty or behavioural issues across the spectrum of peacocks, just pick a colour or colours your like and you should be ok

[@jamesc.7988]

@@BlakesAquatics Okay, cool. Thanks for the reply!

[@vanschermerhorn7167]

Would help to spell the names of the fish on picture screen that you suggest

[@BlakesAquatics]

They are spelled in the "chapters" and in the description

[@Godmyster]

I got a good question, I've been trying to google this but there really isn't much about what are the least or even peaceful cichlids? i really would like to buy a pair but i do have guppys and I've heard they will kill all my guppyes but i also know there is some cichlids that are less aggressive and I'm looking for the peaceful ones that will live in a community, recently got a 29Gal going to set it up soon.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hey Brian. Its definitely possible. The trouble youll have is that the ones id recommend such as rams and apistos prefer soft water and guppies prefer hard water. You could try a pair of kribensis. They may take down a couple of guppies when breeding but id give it a go. Curviceps or golden dwarf cichlids are good options too

[@Godmyster]

@@BlakesAquatics thank you, i really liked the electric blue acara also they look really good, im guessing those aren't so peaceful?

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@Godmyster theyre still peaceful just a bit bigger and you know what they say about anything that can fit in a fish's mouth will end up there

[@Godmyster]

@@BlakesAquatics I see, well my water is around 7.5ph id really love to have a few cichlids and to co-exist with my guppys. What I really want the most is peacefulness and lots of personality in the fish

[@Godmyster]

@@BlakesAquatics I also thought what if I buy the cichlids when they are still small like half an inch maybe they wpuld adapt better to the community? And just one more thing what would be your top 3 least aggressive cichlids for a community? I want to see if my local fish store has them thank you

[@nobvirusplayz5520]

Hi, I'm a beginner fishkeeper and I have 2 convicts and 1 salousi cichlid with 2 small bristlenose plecos. My tank size is 55 gallons. Is my tank overstocked or understocked? I really want to get an angelfish but I don't know if I should

[@BlakesAquatics]

Hey mate the stocking level is ok its more the fish that are there that will be the issue. Convicts are highly aggressive and will attack anything put into the tank now, also saulosi are from africa and want a high Ph water where convicts prefer neutral Ph

[@nobvirusplayz5520]

@@BlakesAquaticsMy convicts aren't actually that aggressive to the point I literally have mosquito fish in the same tank. But could I still get angelfish? Or should I get jewel cichlids as they are the same aggression level as convict cichlids.

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@nobvirusplayz5520 not aggressive yet maybe. I personally wouldnt recommend either sorry mate

[@nobvirusplayz5520]

@@BlakesAquatics So should I keep jewel cichlids? I'm kinda getting mixed signals mate.

[@BlakesAquatics]

@@nobvirusplayz5520 ok my recommendation: if you like the convicts, keep convicts by themselves. If you want a community tank: get rid of the convicts and get less aggressive fish

[@chriss8206]

What rocks to raise the ph in my 75.

[@BlakesAquatics]

Anything with limestone. Texas holey rock or base rock are the common ones