Are cichlids appropriate for my tank?

[Unhallowed]

I have a 70gal(4ft) with tiger barbs, a couple gouramis, and a few asst catfish(including one cranky RTBS)... Very soft, slightly acidic water, bunch of driftwood caves and the like. Are there any cichlids out there that would be ok for the tank? Or should I stick with what I have?

[monkE]

you could use some south american cichlids like rams, or other dwarf cichlids, just don't get anything with long fins. Those tiger barbs though very cool looking and fun to watch are going to be your big problem. How many of them do you have? I would stay away from angel fish with those tigers as they are very aggressive fin nippers.

[Unhallowed]

10 tigers. They seem to keep to themselves. Had most of them since they were very small and they've been raised around the gouramis which they've never tried to nip at. But yea I'm not wanting to encourage anything.

Would convicts be ok? Been doing a little bit of reading and they seem like they might work, although I don't have much to compare them to.

[-DC-]

Hey, many cichlids will work in that mix, avoid the aggressive African rift species, you'll want a smaller american species of some sort, aim for species marked as more peaceful like severums maybe angles

Convict's are horrible aggressive if in mating pair's, but you could get a solo convict, or a same gender pair and shouldn't have many issues. Just dont mix m/f convicts together will torment and kill tank mates.

Most SA/CA type cichlids get very aggressive in breeding pair's so if you want pairs go with smaller dwarf species. if you want larger cichlids I'd suggest solo individuals.

hope that helps!

[BelieveInBlue]

I'd say dwarves are the best bet; they're small, colourful, decently hardy, relatively peaceful, easy to breed, and very fun to watch. Here's a few easy beginner dwarves for you, if you're interested:

Apistogramma:
A. cacatuoides
A. agassizii
A. baenschi
A. nijsseni
A. panduro
A. borelli
A. macmasteri
A. bitaeniata
A. trifasciata

Microgeophagus:
M. altispinosa (not as colourful as M. ramirezi, but usually hardier, cheaper, more common, and easer to breed [better parents])
M. ramirezi (aim for the wild type blue rams, as they're much less inbred, and are usually hardier than the man-made strains)

Ok maybe that was a bit more than a few...

There are, of course, other cichlids, like angels and firemouths, but I'd say the dwarves I listed above are a nice place to start. Keep in mind though, that they can be pretty territorial, the apistos in particular, to same/similar species, and female apistos have an annoying tendency to resemble each other. If you're going to go the dwarf cichlid route, I'd suggest only 1 species.

[Unhallowed]

Alright thanks everyone! If possible it would be cool to get a breeding pair. So I'll check out the ones mentioned.

[-DC-]

Good luck, share pic's when you have them!

[Edarion]

If you believe pet smart employees. Cichlids should be kept in a tank container nothing but cichlids due to their aggression... It does make sense though

[Unhallowed]

lol petsmart... I'll maybe go get supplies there if I'm desperate.
I generally stick with Island Pets Unlimited.

Speaking of which, IP's fish room guy recommended kribs. Also stating that if my tigers get along with my gouramis then I can get away with almost anything.

Anyways, kribs look cool... and from what I have read people have managed to have them with tigers successfully. Anyone have input?

[Momobobo]

Should be fine, arn't incredibly agressive. I have heard pairs can get as agressive as Convicts when breeding though, so watch out for that.