I have a 38 gallon tank and intend on having one or two cichlids or to be specific African cichlids. Any ideas

For any of those who suggested CA cichlids, did he not say he wanted africans? For that size of tank I would only recommend getting 2 smaller sized africans, and ones that are more peaceful in temperament. Have you decided what location you want them to be from? Just africans is not specific enough, do you want them to be from lake tanganyika, malawi, or victoria, or somewhere else completely? I would suggest trying 1 type of peacock cichlid, along with an mbuna like a yellow lab. Both of these have more peaceful temperaments, yet will live fine together being completely different looking species. If you want a single cichlid you can get a larger sized cichlid, but not too large of course. Frontosas will definitely get too large for a 38, and are recommended for tanks no smaller than a 75G. If you want some cichlids from tanganyika, you can get one fish like a calvus or compressiceps, then one other mildly aggressive tang. But it can work in a 38 gallon with only 1 or 2 cichlids. Edit: I forgot to mention, if you do go with 2 fish, remember to provide tons of rockwork and caves so that they will have their own territories and will have a place to retreat if any aggression does happen.

Either Convicts, or Jewels.

I went to answer your previous question and you removed it ,but i Like the frontosa and red devil cichlids the are great fish.

I suggest some Electric Yellow Cichlids, since they only grow up to 4 inches long and they are really peaceful.

CC Woman is chatting garbage! There is no such thing as a peaceful african cichlid, and Jon V is usually quite good at this but a Kribensis IS an Apisto and they are american not african.... So, CC is right in some respect, the Labidochromis Caureleus (electric yellow lab) is the most peaceful african cichlid but a full size adult would still rival a south american. Thats like saying a Pistol is safe because its not a Shotgun. You cannot keep African Cichlids in pairs, trios, quads or even small groups. Your tank has to be rammed full of africans if you are to do it successfully, believe me, they are THE ONLY type of fish that break the tank stocking rules. In a 38 gallon you should have at least 18-22 african cichlids. As I mentioned african cichlids are the most aggressive and to stop fishes getting stressed out and dying by the dominant mbuna, you have to overstock the tank so that the aggression is spread out over the many, you will need an extremely good filtration system to cope with it though. So if you want africans you will need to do this, if you dont like the sound of that then stick with south and central american species like: Firemouths, Rams (Bolivian and German Blue), Gold Severum, Jaguar Cichlid, Kribensis and other Apisto's, Angel fish and Discus(Dont keep Discus with any other fish than rainbow fish, dont keep Angel fish with any other cichlids), Checkerboard Cichlid, Keyhole Cichlid. There are other americans like Jack Dempseys, Oscars, Blue Acara(These are gorgeous), Red Devils and Texas Cichlid but these latter few are Very aggressive and problematic, especially in a 38 gallon (bit small). All cichlids show aggression, but a few of them are Psycho's. Dont think I'm lecturing you, I'm telling you from experience and I genuinly hope you get your set up right and that you love it. My Motto: There's one thing worse than not being able to have the fish you want, and thats having them and watching them die! GOOD LUCK!