Cichlids, what should I get?

[DangerousMouse]

I am being given a tank, i think it's about 180l. I need some ideas about what to put in it.

I already have a tank with a Betta, another tank which is community with a pair of long finned rams and a nursery tank with some odds and ends in.

I am thinking of cichlids, but have never kept them before, can you advise me which live together happily and which are the pretty ones!

Am open to other ideas aswell, I like decisions like this!

I think 2 pairs would be too many in your tank. I would probably add the barbs first because they aren't territorial like kribs so they'll already be around and established once the kribs arrive. Don't forget to quarantine the kribs!

Great, will do! We now have caves in the tank which look great, along with some plants, and the lighting is sorted. My DP is making the lid this evening while I go and watch James Bond as it didn't come with one.

Going to go with tiger barbs, hopefully around 15/20 so we get some nice shoaling action, the tank is very high so that many would work well.

15-20?? That's way too many. I'd go with 8-10 max. They get to almost 3 inches and they are very lively fish so they need the space.

I have kribs and they are fantastic.

But I also love my Elliotti cichlids. They are in the same family as firemouths. But a bit more peaceful, and imo much prettier. Have a Google.

They are a bit different. My local maidenhead aquatics stocks them but they aren't very common.