Cichlid Woodstock: A Tank of Peace & Love

Question
Dear Dr. Coleman, As I've read your answers here, my dreams of stocking a 100 gallon tank with an Oscar have faded. (My better half wants a diversity of fish.) What combo of the following would you recommend:
- 1 Chocolate Cichlid (I've heard these are similar in intelligence to the Oscar, but mellower)
- 1 Blue Acara
- 1 Sajica
- 1 Rainbow Cichlid
- 1 Gold Severum
- 1 Uaru
What I'm looking for is one or two big Cichlids and a few medium-sized ones that won't turn my tank into the Balkans. (Per your advice, the tank will have lots of decor and plants, and I'll be changing 25% of the water weekly.) I understand how this isn't carved in stone, but in your opinion, who are the hippies of the Cichlid community?

Best of Luck in Your Research,
John

Answer
Hi John,
 Aggression is a function of several things including competition and what the fish normally eats. So, for example, an oscar is typically "aggressive" because they eat other fish.  That is their regular diet.  Chocolate cichlids are more omnivorous so provided that they have a complex environment (as you describe) they are much less likely to pick fights.  I actually have a bunch of them myself.  If you want to keep the fish to strictly South American, I would not put in the sajica or rainbow cichlid.  The severum and uaru are good.  You could easily have several kinds of catfish in there, such as one of the interesting loricariid catfishes (e.g., the gold nugget which is beautiful) and a school of up to 20 or more corydoras catfish.   There are also various other
"acaras" out there, as well as eartheaters, known as "geophagus" type cichlids that could easily be added to the tank.  

-- Ron
  rcoleman@cichlidresearch.com
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