55g tank for cichlids

J

jf228

Medium Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
73
0
0
#1
Hi,
      I have a 55g tank w/ these fish:

1 Tinfoil Barb                            2 Strawberry Tetras
1 Albino red-tailed shark             1 Blueberry Tetra
1 Tiger Barb                             1 pleco
1 Albino tiger barb                     1 blue gourami
2 Goldfish                                I also have a yellow fish
1 Serpae tetra               w/ black stripes that are vertical
1 Silver Dollar                and a green tetra, please tell me
1 Longfin Tetra              names if u know


I'm gonna try to give them away or sell or something and i will like to put some african cichlids(any ideas). I have a penguin 330 and some 10 buck filter. i know i need more filtration. any suggestions? i want to know wat u need for the cichlids like caves and stuff or plants or w/e. my tank has some hiding spots if thats wat they need. plz tell me wat i need thnx
 

luvfishies

luvfishies

Large Fish
#4
Oct 22, 2002
615
0
0
60
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
www.skwij.ca
#4
55g with africans:

they will eat most plants
They prefer cavelike structures to claim a territory. IE a stacked rock wall along the rear of the tank.

Filtration:
AT LEAST an AquaClear 500 or similar output filter. These guys EAT, and make a lot of waste. They also don't like nitrAtes at all...so 2xweekly waterchanges should be good.

Just for comparison: MY 65Long
                           2xAC500s
                           1 Fluval 404
                           1 AC 302 powerhead with quickfilter

              There are 20 mbunas in there and one large pleco.
 

equinom

equinom

Large Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
386
0
0
The Blue Planet
#5
OK luv - 20 mbunas in a 65 long.  That's a lot of poop.
Exactly what fishes are in there?  I still haven't decided.  I thought I knew what I wanted, but I would like to have more than 4 fish.  
My tank is a 55 gal - I think it 50" long.  I was thinking about some Labidochromis (they were in that article  ;) ) but the adults would be too large to have very many of in that 55.
So what'cha got?  All dwarfs?
 

luvfishies

luvfishies

Large Fish
#6
Oct 22, 2002
615
0
0
60
Belleville, Ontario, Canada
www.skwij.ca
#6
Equinom, the 65 is 48"x18"x18"

I have:
4 juvie aceis "white fin" 2-4"
Lab Fuelleborni Male
lab OB fuelleborni unsexed
2 Male M johannis 4"
3 female M johannis 3"
2 lab caerulus 4"
1 ps Zebra Red Top 2.5"
2 Ps Callianos "pearlie" 2-3"
1 male kennyi 4-5"
about 6 6week old fry (johanni)
3-4 "just spit fry" (johanni)
2 jewel cichlids (red)....bought on impulse and regretted it

All fish except the fry have been in this tank for a 6 months or longer.


Just lost the female Crabro 5" and a copadichromis borleyi 3". This tank is maturing and there seems to be some power play issues cropping up.

Also there is a 14" common plec.

That's why I do 2x weekly 30% waterchanges with plecopoo vacs in between. Nitrates are 30, no matter what I do.

Look into socolofi in addition to the labs....they are lovely fish. Also, the male aulonocaras would be good with labs. There are LOTS of different colours of aulonocaras, from the "lemon jake", the jacobfreibergi, to the "red shoulder peacock".

Just remember that labs are one of the more docile mbunas. I've read that demasonis are good tankmates for a herd of labs.

Here's a couple links to pics.
http://groups.msn.com/luvfishiestankpics/picsjun2002.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=7

http://groups.msn.com/luvfishiestankpics/picsjun2002.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=9
 

J

Jay S.

Guest
#7
#7

Watch out with socolofi's they are a pretty blue but they can be VERY VERY mean at times!

You should be ok with a bunch of yellow labs in a 55.. your 55 should be 48x16x18. and I am sure you could have 6-8 of them in there.

Luv is right, cichlids require a good weekly water change.

I used to make my own buffers when I was into it, but I don't think I will get into that until you have been with them for a few months and want to sweeten up their breeding and colors.

Peacocks are also VERY pretty.. my favourite cichlids!
 

H

Hawki

New Fish
#10
Oct 22, 2002
1
0
0
#10
JF ... you may want to check out some of the smaller Peacocks and other Haps.  They would mix well with the Yellow Labs and are all quite peaceful.
You should be able to have 8-10 of these in a well filtered 55 and the colors would be great.
 

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