Blue Acara and Angels or rainbow cichlid?

[JDCichlid]

I will definately be giving the altums a miss, far too costly and high maintenance for me at the moment.
My retirement project will be a nice big biotope set up around them hopefully but for now its out of the question.



My acara is very chilled and just hangs out around some wood unless its feeding time which is why i wary of putting the rainbow cichlids in with it and a few angels would be more suitable.
Im not sure a 40G here has the same dimensions as the US, a lot of the time when i post a full tank shot people say it doesnt look like a 40G and refer to a 40G breeder which is a term we never use here. My dimensions are 36L x 14W x 18H in inches , whats the standard US 40G measurements?

I’m actually not sure on dimensions of a 40 Breeder I’d have to look it up. My honest opinion is I doubt you’d have any problems keeping a few angels in there

 

[Stanzzzz7]

Hey , good to see you back on the scene, its been a while.
I would like Hoplos but you never see them here, if i found some i would buy them in a flash. Years ago i had them and i enjoyed them even though everyone else said they were ugly.
I was even thinking about temporarily getting some salmon cats, they have some 5cm ones for sale but they would grow so quick i would only have them for a few months most likely and as I said i want some more permanent fish. Pictus are a consideration too but they are expensive and a bit too boisterous for my tastes.
I was thinking angels as i was going off the rule that cichlids ususally see fish with similar body shape and/or colours as competition so the angels would look a lot more different to the acara than the rainbow cichlids.
Its also nice to see some pure strains of them for sale too, all in seperate tanks in the LFS, labelled and so different from each other. Much better than the usual mix of all sorts of low quality "assorted angels $10 each or 3 for $25" that has been the norm for the last few years.

I would not be concerned about the acara being aggressive towards the angels,I see no problem there. It’s angels on angels that would be my concern.
You may get away with a compatible pair in there but any more than that and there will be fighting.
I’ve kept angels many times and I’m always surprised how aggressive they can be,even in a 7 foot tank.
Have you considered a shoal of diamond tetras or something like that? Could make a nice display.

oh and thank you, it’s nice to be back.

 

[fishguy1978]

I kept H multispinosa in a 60g cube (24in) that is heavily planted. I started with 5 which turned out to be two pairs. Once they started spawning I couldn’t keep up with their production rate. They were fairly mellow even when spawning. Defended the fry but didn’t destroy each other. It was even more humorous once the fry groups merged into one ball of “whose kids are in the house today?” They didn’t pay much attention to the H rasboras that were in the tank. Get them small and grow them out should work with the acara.

Rainbow Cichlid (Herotilapia multispinosa)

I have a group of 5 Rainbows in a 60g cube. There have been multiple spawns but this is the first viable and they are now free swimming. I do not know when the spawn occurred. Occupants include about a dozen Harlequin rasbora and 6 ish juvenile BNP.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

 

[Ogertron3000]

I kept H multispinosa in a 60g cube (24in) that is heavily planted. I started with 5 which turned out to be two pairs. Once they started spawning I couldn’t keep up with their production rate. They were fairly mellow even when spawning. Defended the fry but didn’t destroy each other. It was even more humorous once the fry groups merged into one ball of “whose kids are in the house today?” They didn’t pay much attention to the H rasboras that were in the tank. Get them small and grow them out should work with the acara.

Rainbow Cichlid (Herotilapia multispinosa)

I have a group of 5 Rainbows in a 60g cube. There have been multiple spawns but this is the first viable and they are now free swimming. I do not know when the spawn occurred. Occupants include about a dozen Harlequin rasbora and 6 ish juvenile BNP.

www.monsterfishkeepers.com

I remember watching your thread when i was looking everywhere for the rainbows and couldnt find them, I basically set the tank up for them and some liveberers as a sort of CA biotope but they were totally unavailable, then i decided i wanted some nice angels and none of them were around so i got the acaras which i have been happy with.
Now of course the 2 fish i originally wanted have popped up and i dont have room for both and cant decide on which one to get. Im very tempted to give the angels a try but not 100% commited yet.

 

[fishguy1978]

I remember watching your thread when i was looking everywhere for the rainbows and couldnt find them, I basically set the tank up for them and some liveberers as a sort of CA biotope but they were totally unavailable, then i decided i wanted some nice angels and none of them were around so i got the acaras which i have been happy with.
Now of course the 2 fish i originally wanted have popped up and i dont have room for both and cant decide on which one to get. Im very tempted to give the angels a try but not 100% commited yet.

I love angels and think they are amazing. They are rather majestic in the way they swim. The downside is that you start with a group but end up with only a pair.
The multispinosa can be housed together even when their are multiple pairs. Their color change when spawning is beautiful.

 

[Ogertron3000]

I love angels and think they are amazing. They are rather majestic in the way they swim. The downside is that you start with a group but end up with only a pair.
The multispinosa can be housed together even when their are multiple pairs. Their color change when spawning is beautiful.

The reason im thinking angels is as mellow as rainbows are meant to be they are still a CA cichlid and will be with another cichlid in a small tank.
I remember my salvini experience which didnt end well so am a bit wary.
Maybe i need to find some space to set up my big tank, a nice CA mix of fire mouths and rainbows might be cool.