[QuoVadis]

Anyone had exsperience with this? I like the festivum more, but I do also like the keyhole cichlid. They both have a reputation for being fairly peaceful, and I'd like to try a bigger cichlid, intead of going the traditional ram or angelfish route, and these appeal to me, but I have heard mixed things. It would be a single, lone fish, rather than a pair.

The tank is a 55g, with botia loaches (smallest being some sidthumunkis, the rest are zebras, kubotai, etc.), pearl gouramis, and some tetras/ barbs.
The smallest fish in the tank are the sid loaches, otos, black neon tetras, or harlequin rasboras.

 

[QuoVadis]

Anyone?

 

[sailfaster]

I don't see anything that would cause keyholes a problem in there. I had a pair with tiger and rosy barbs and was fine. I've never kept loaches, so i'm no help there.

 

[Grah the great]

I have heard that festivals may uproot plants and that males are grumpy, so keep that in mind if you go that route.

 

[jmf3460]

I have festivum, see my thread here, http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=457466&highlight=
to be honest I don't think a single festivum would do well on its own, they are shoal fish even mine in a small group of 5 are shy and timid sometimes. If you only had one, he would probably hide all the time.

 

[pweifan]

I successfully kept a Keyhole Cichlid in a community tank without issues. He had a hole in the driftwood he liked to hang out most of the time. Based on that behavior, I'd suggest giving it a place to hide/protect so it feels more comfortable. I don't ever recall it uprooting plants, but the hole led down to bare substrate. Very cool personality.

 

[PlantedRich]

Either would seem okay to me, given the right setup. There is a weird point that is often missed with fish thinking. If we give them lots of places to hide, they feel more at ease and hide less!
Either of these will be moderate size when full grown, so a nice large space is called for to give them hiding. Got any access to some hollow log type wood or maybe slabs that can be leaned on rock to make a cover?
If this is your first trip into cichlids that are not so common, I really like a small fish called rainbow cichlids (herotilapia multispinosa) for their easy nature. They will likely be the mildest fish in the tank. I have kept breeding adults in tanks with guppies and neon tetras. Those two are often considered bait fish for larger cichlids!

A few rainbow, Ellioti, and clown loachs

 

[Discusdude7]

I had a keyhole in a community tank once. He didn't bother anyone