Newbie! Cichlid advice needed

Hi everyone!
I started about 3 weeks ago and currently have 4 yellow labs and 1 pleco.
It is a fairly small tank, 55L.
I have done loads of research and most people recommend that easiest solution to move past cichlid aggression is to overstock your tank.
I had a look at what other types of cichlids I want to add to my tank. But it's really hard to find out if they are compatible with each other. This is my list:

Pseudotropheus socolofi
Pseudotropheus saulosi - dwarf mbuna 9cm
Kribensis
Ramirez
Astatotilapia flame back
Melanochromis chipokee
Neolamprologus transcriptus
Neolamprologus brichardi

Which cichlids do you think wil get along? I am not sure about mixing American and African cichlids??
Would really appreciate the advice!

 

I'm no expert in fact probably know less than you...but from the research I have done they recommend not mixing American and African cichlids. ...but if you get it right I would like to know how!

 

Hi, and welcome to TASA.
Post a pic of your tank, as we always enjoy looking at pics of other setups.

You are a bit limited due to tank size, so you would need to look at dwarf cichlids.
Kribsensis and Ramirezi would be suitable if you kept a few in a tank that size.

 

No expert but would recommend the following:
- Do not mix cichlids from different origins as said above
- African cichlids (Malawi's in general (although Tanganyikans are also available)) - two main groups, i.e. Mbuna & Haps/Peacocks. Do not mix the two groups. Apart from Mbuna being aggressive, they are herbivores where as Haps/peacocks are carnivores.

There is a lot more to say on the subject - there is a lot of information available on the internet.
Enjoy!

 

Hi @Bianca94 and welcome to the forum

Bianca, you are right in what you have read about African cichlids and overstocking to disperse aggression however, the minimum tank size recommended in those articles is also a lot bigger than yours with obviously bigger filtration systems so that is your first problem

Mixing African and American is also ideally a no go for various reasons, some mentioned above and also aggression issues
Except for Kribs and Rams as Pezulu said, I wouldn't consider any others
Remember American cichlids themselves are divided into South American and Central American cichlids and both groups have fairly different temperaments with CA cichlids in general being extremely aggressive (especially as they get older) and most get very big.

The other thing I would like to mention... your pleco.... if that is a normal pleco.... it grows huge very fast and it produces massive bioload in the tank
You wont be able to keep him in that tank for very long so reconsider that....

This is my take... Im sure some of the more experienced African cichlids keepers will soon chime in
As part of your research, search this forum for threads/posts by @Jackstone ... there are numerous excellent write ups by Jack.

Good luck and all the best