re doing 55g planted

yesterday i got really frustrated with my 55g planted and took the whole tank apart( do to the large loss of acaras), I'm getting rid off the community fish and replacing them with cichilds.

Any subjections like what kinds of cichlid can i keep in a planted aquarium( dwarf south Americans?)


PLEASE I NEED SOME HELP FROM YOU GUYS.

Most cichlids and plants don't get along for the most part. I would look for crypts, java fern to name a couple that should work.

I also had amazon they were growing above the water line, one took half of the 55g long and other took the other half. I had some java fern in there but it burn out must of it had to trash it..i don't run clay gravel only reg gravel so its hard for plants to anchor on the button. also James i was thinking of removing the gravel placing a layer of top soil then of sand then replanting the plants i have left. or getting new ones.

angels or discus are great in planted tanks also kribensis are easy on plants. I myself have angels and kribs in planted tanks.

I like Kribs myself vixen..good idea also angels sound good i like those koi angels

I have african cichlids on a planted tank and never had a problem with.. i agree with vixen you can try discus too..

apistogrammas will work with plants.
Any of the carnivorous cichlids will work with plants.
Pretty much any cichlid you can do with plants if you feed them enough veggi matter and don't mind some nibbling.

Yes boiled top soil and sand is the best and cheapest way to go. Just never vacuum, only hover over the sand to clean and that's it, or you will mix it all up and have a mess.
You want roughly 1/4-1/2" of dirt then 1-1.5" or so of sand. Avoid cichlids that dig too.

If you need some plants let me know, I have a nice assortment of stem plants.

apisto,kribs,discus,angelfish,and rams. will work I've have 2 large angels in a planted tank, and i've also kept discus in planted tanks before.

vals,sags,crypts,swords,ferns,and anbuisies(spelling?) will work...

I've even seen blood parrots with swords in a 125g aquarium with no troubles.

i just looked at the apistos nice selections how many of these cute guys can i fit in a 55g?

I would put in 1 male and 2 females to start they breed easily. Be sure to have plenty of caves.

yep yep like vixen said have plenty of caves/hide places for them they get terrioral

this sonds like i good idea im waist deep in fish with no space.

you could always get a 29 gallon and have a trio of just apistos in it.

Could do German Blue Rams or Bolivian Rams. I like the look of apistogrammas but I am a Ram lover.

I can't keep rams alive over 3 mo. HHMMMMM.

I've killed a lot due to the fact that I normally to large water changes (40% or more sometimes) because most tanks that I have contain a ton of fry. I quit with the Rams for a while until I have a house that I can set up more tanks in. Then I plan to get the German Blue Ram tank that I've always wanted. Bolivians are much easier to keep alive btw. They are really hardy compared to their German Blue counterparts.