cichlid tank?

[twistedimage92]

i am gettin a 80 gallon tank soon and i was wondering, how many fish would i need to make it look good... what kind of fish can i mix with cichlids? like suckerfish, catfish, turtles, or w/e els can live with them and not be bothered too much?

 

[Orion]

What kind of cichlids and how many of the cichlids are you wanting to get?

 

[twistedimage92]

not even sure... that is the main question... what kind of cic's?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

You have many many many....many choices.

Turtles, i'd say no. Plecos ("suckerfish") are more trouble than they are worth IMO.

What do you want to see in your tank? We can't tell you what you think looks good. Color? Activity? Etc..? I'd go ahead and say go African cichlids as they present more color and activity, at least in my opinon. As for what kind of africans well....you have your choice between Lake Malawi, Lake Tang., or Lake victoria. The normal "Mbuna" from Lake Malawi are pretty good starters and they come in a lot of colors.

 

[twistedimage92]

thanks for the info. i found a pet store that stocks lots of cic's and they are all in the same tank so i will just go there and pick out some cool ones... they have yellow and blue ones which are really cool. i am guessing the yellos ones are yellow labs... also, they had some shouvle nose cats, that would be sweet in my tank...

 

[bfish]

I agree with c-man you cannot go wrong with african. Be careful and do not overstock as they can breed like crazy and overfill your tank fast. their breeding dances are fun as heck to watch to. provide lots of caves and hiding places unless you want lots of fights as they are highly territorial.

 

[Rokl33t]

doooo not start with tangs!! lol, trust me the amount of money you'll spend on the fish and the amount of knowledge u have is not a good investment...i'd recomend with malawians, just cause, well for me it was easier to raise, then the tangs...but again its all about how much ur willing to spend in money and in time

good luck!

 

[Orion]

lol@ rokl33t, but I agree to a point. Tanganyikan cichlids do require much more planning to get the mix right, but I think its every bit worth it. These are the most rewarding fish I have found.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Yellow labs are a great place to start. I'm sure the others in with them at the LFS are various Mbuna which would also be good.

Shovelnose catfish....never kept one. I know they get big though.

 

[Rokl33t]

i think syno's are better with the tangs. plus they don't get tooooo large, but ir ur gonna get a tang make sure u have a poop load of rocks and i mean pooop load!