Are cichlids hard to keep??

Riss

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2002
93
0
0
Brisbane, Australia
#1
Hi,
I'm just starting my first tank, and was planning on keeping tropical community fish, but after looking at cichlids and the water parameters that they prefer (which are very close to my typical local water conditions), I've come to the conclusion that I would now prefer cichlids.

Are there any special requirements that they need? And are they relatively easy to keep.

Any comments would be great!

Cheers  *celebratesmiley*
 

fishboy

Superstar Fish
Oct 22, 2002
1,565
0
36
34
Cincinnati, Ohio
#3
So thats like about 375gph you will need more filtration anyway, because you only have 5 times the tank volume a hour. You will want to have atleast 10 times per hour. ;) So yes you will :)


Most cichlids are relatively simple to take care of.

Most of the larger fish need a big tank..... bigger than 55( u have that covered :) ) With the larger fish you will not be able to have a heavily planted tank, with the exceptions of a few smaller fish species, i.e kribs, rams,acaras,angels,etc. They need atleast weekly water changes in typical tanks. ( this may very )They like tropical temps of above 75F.

Hmmm............but good starter cichlids, convict cichlids, kribs,severums,oscars (but beware oscars and severums get between10-12 inches) angelfish, firemouth cichlids, blue acara, and jack dempsey. There are also the african cichlids but there are alot of different kinds, and i am not a african cichlid person. But, the africans usually have very bright colors. Again many of these are large and somwhat aggressive fish. BTW what are your water parameters ???


Also do you know about cycling? :)

I formed that in a rather confusing way i know. *laughingcryingsmiley*
 

wayne

Elite Fish
Oct 22, 2002
4,077
3
0
#5
Frankly a lot of cichlids are pretty easy to keep.  What sort of tank would you like to see - I can see the appeal of some simple, medium sized cichlids and cats for a first tank, and I think it would be do-able.  Your biggest problems will be that the temptation to overstock will be very great, and you won't have enough experience to know when to say stop, and if you get something super aggressive you won't know how to deal with it.
 But a tank with a blue acara, firemouth,kribs, some small spoty catfish (syno's or pictus), and a couple of other similarly sized fish would be an interesting starter
 

Riss

Medium Fish
Oct 22, 2002
93
0
0
Brisbane, Australia
#6
Hi, thanx for the advice.

After looking around I like the Lake Malawi Mbuna Cichlids. Maybe some Labidochromis caeruleus. What would go with these?

I wouldn't have any plants, and I dont think overstocking would be that much of a problem because my expenses are limited to ONLY what I need right now.

So about the filtration, you think I should go with another 1500Lph filter?

MY TAP WATER:
pH = 7.4 (would have to make that higher)
GH = 10 degrees
KH = 8 degrees
temp = 26 degrees c

I'm cycling my tank at the moment, "fishless cycling" and am up to day 8:

Ammonia = 0ppm
Nitrite = 5ppm
Nitrate = 5ppm

Hope this is on track...so I still have a bit of time to decide.

Cheers  *celebratesmiley*
 

#8
I love my Cichlids i have a few tanks a 125g and 2 55g among many 20g for all the fry i have,
I have in no certain order
Lelupi
Frontosa's
Jacobfribergi Peacocks
Electric yellow labs
C moori and T morri
and also some neo brichardi's
and some Polit's
these are a mix of Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika
these 2 links are where i get all my info on cichlids
anything and everything u'd want to know on just cichlids
http://www.african.uklinux.net/phpBB/

Check out the pic section on this site so u can get a idea of the kinds of fish there are to choose from
http://www.vatoelvis.com

Good luck to you !!