what kind of fish can i add to my tank?

Question
i have a 12 gallon tank with 1 white angelfish, 3 dalmation mollies, 1 red tail shark and 1 lyretail swordtail. i have an eclipse hood with carbon filter and bio-wheel. I do about 25% water changes every two weeks and i also change the carbon filter then too, my tank is pretty new - maybe 3 months old. i wanted to get maybe one or three more fish, but i'm not sure what will get along with my current fish. at the pet store, i saw some electric yellow cichlids, but the guy said that they are pretty aggresive, but whne i did some research, it says they are pretty peaceful. will they be ok in my tank? I was also thinking of some gouramis, but i read somewhere that their water conditions are different from most tropical fish. I don't want any clown loaches, platys, goldfish or guppies. please let me know what you think.

Answer
Hello Jess,

Your tank is extremely overstocked as is, I would not add anything else. Rather, it would be a good idea if you returned the angelfish to the store. Remember, fish grow. That angel can easily reach a foot in height and almost that in length. If you returned the angelfish you could get a gourami.

I would get a honey gourami, they stay small and are easy to care for. Their conditions are not different from most. They do like a little salt though, and so do your mollies. Do not put more than one gourami in one tank. Unless you get only females, but since it is very hard to sex honey gouramis your best bet would be to only get one.

You also must step up your water changes. Water changes must be done 50% weekly or, preferably, 25% twice a week.

The electric yellow cichlid would destroy everyother fish in the tank. The information can be a little misleading. When you read profiles of malawi cichlids, it is relative to other malawis. If it says the fish is peaceful, it means peaceful compared to other malawis. Even though compared to most malawis it is peaceful, it is still an extremely agressive fish when compared to tetras and mollies. I would not put one in your tank, even if you buy it small it will eventually wipe out everything.

-Nick