I have a 55 that I am trying to set up now. I have four citronellums in it. All at 1 inch of smaller and I am trying to figure out what would be the best way to it up. If any of you all have a picture of a tank that has a pretty good set up could you post it for me and any suggestion would be appreciated. I also have a 45 that I am going to be getting soon and I would like to set it up as an African Cichlid tank. Any suggestion on fish I should go with or set ups would also be appreciated. Thanks.
Help with setting up a Cichlid tank.
- Thread starter jeffsspace
- Start date
hello. it is ok to keep 4 devils (midas) in a 55 gallon as juveniles, but only one adult.
as they start to mature you will quickly see what i mean, plus at 12+ inches there is not enough space for more than one in a 55.
in your 45 gallon for african cichlids--mbuna i am assuming?
i would do: 5 yellow labs, 2-4 Rusties or Labeotropheus and that's about it! the little school of labs looks terrific and none of the above are very aggressive, so it would make a nice community.
avoid these mbuna:
maylandia lombardoi (kenyi)
pseudotropheus demasoni
melanochromis auratus
maylandia crabo
all of these are either too aggressive, large, or have other problems that make them poor community mbuna.
HTH
M
as they start to mature you will quickly see what i mean, plus at 12+ inches there is not enough space for more than one in a 55.in your 45 gallon for african cichlids--mbuna i am assuming?
i would do: 5 yellow labs, 2-4 Rusties or Labeotropheus and that's about it! the little school of labs looks terrific and none of the above are very aggressive, so it would make a nice community.
avoid these mbuna:
maylandia lombardoi (kenyi)
pseudotropheus demasoni
melanochromis auratus
maylandia crabo
all of these are either too aggressive, large, or have other problems that make them poor community mbuna.
HTH
M
Since we are on the topic of Africans. I always wanted some Frontosa's but never could find them. Now I live accross the street from a fish store that has them. What can I kkep in the tank with thema nd how aggresive are they? I live aggresive fish but I alreayd have 5 that could require thier own seperat space. I don't need any more like that. Thanks.
One more thing. Anybody know how to get tank peices without having to pay for them. Just some suggestion on items that I could run accross that would look good in either of the tanks I am trying to set up.
One more thing. Anybody know how to get tank peices without having to pay for them. Just some suggestion on items that I could run accross that would look good in either of the tanks I am trying to set up.
Frontosa's are some huge fish! Up to 12+ inches, requiring 50+ gal. for each fish, unless you want to overcrowd. I was thinking about frontosa's and mbunas at one time too. They're good when they're babies, but they get a little to big for me. Mbunas get about 6 in. depending on the species, requiring 10+ gal. each, still to big for me. But frontosas need a large tank with plenty of rock caves and rocks and stuff like that. And I heard that you can't put just a few in there, its either one or several. A bio-wheel would be good, too.
frontosas need a 150+ gallon tank and should be kept in a species only tank with 12 or more others, they are great fish but in order to keep them properly you need to be devoted, 29 gallon is too small for mbunas, id put shell dwellers in it, or possibly a pair of julies, i would also say that labeotropheus get a bit big for a 45 gallon, id suggest just a group of 8 pseudotropheus saulosi 2 males 6 females, possibly 1 or 2 more females, they are a great fish, not overly agressive, are a dwarf variety (maxing out around 3 inches) and have the 2 most popular colors in mbunas, females are entirely bright yellow while males are blue and black striped
i completely agree with soulfish on the frontosa advice-- they are a gregarious piscivore (rare among the cichlids) and really do best in large groups. so yes, a 150+ is really the best option for long-term care. most people purchase several (8-14) juveniles, thin out the males as they mature, and end up with 1 (2 if the tank is big enough) males and 9-10 females.
the saulosi would be a nice little addition to your mbuna tank also....especially as opposed to the demasoni, which i rant about in another post. unless you want to have to pull bodies every time you move a rock in your tank i would stay away from the demasoni.
M
the saulosi would be a nice little addition to your mbuna tank also....especially as opposed to the demasoni, which i rant about in another post. unless you want to have to pull bodies every time you move a rock in your tank i would stay away from the demasoni.
M
id say peacocks are too big for a 29 also although you could fit 1M 3 F of a smaller species, shellies arent very colorful but have loads and loads of personality which more then makes up for the lack of colors, occelatus and multies are good choices, probably have to order them offline in which case www.armkes.com is a good place
man... a month ago i could have given you as many multies as you needed!! the ocellatus are also a good choice.
if you ever get to watch the national geographic "jewel of the rift" video (which all cichlid keepers should IMO ) you will see some little multies attacking a crocodile tail! tough little buggers when you consider that they are the smallest of all cichlid species!
for shells, i liked to use old apple snail shells. you can usually find these at your LFS and usually they will give you dead snails and empty shells for free. after you get them, i just boil them for a bit and spray them off.
if you also have a grocery store that sells escargo, you can use those shells which work well from what i hear.
M
if you ever get to watch the national geographic "jewel of the rift" video (which all cichlid keepers should IMO
) you will see some little multies attacking a crocodile tail! tough little buggers when you consider that they are the smallest of all cichlid species!for shells, i liked to use old apple snail shells. you can usually find these at your LFS and usually they will give you dead snails and empty shells for free. after you get them, i just boil them for a bit and spray them off.
if you also have a grocery store that sells escargo, you can use those shells which work well from what i hear.
M
soul-what about cyprichromis?
i notice alot of them stay in 3-4" range and i've seen them recommended for 30gal tanks (pretty close to flex's 29) i've also seen them recommended as tankmates for shellies...so long as your not worried about your fry too much
just throwing this out there...i have no idea...what are your thoughts on this?
agree about shelldweller personality (i'd take that over pretty colors anyday) saw some multies a lfs this weekend and it was soooo hard to leave them there
flex--btw armkes also sells neuthauma (sp?) shells for shelldwellers, theres other shells that are appropriate (and cheaper) but you have to know what to look for, i dont, so i'm probably going to buy those
---liz
i notice alot of them stay in 3-4" range and i've seen them recommended for 30gal tanks (pretty close to flex's 29) i've also seen them recommended as tankmates for shellies...so long as your not worried about your fry too much
just throwing this out there...i have no idea...what are your thoughts on this?
agree about shelldweller personality (i'd take that over pretty colors anyday) saw some multies a lfs this weekend and it was soooo hard to leave them there
flex--btw armkes also sells neuthauma (sp?) shells for shelldwellers, theres other shells that are appropriate (and cheaper) but you have to know what to look for, i dont, so i'm probably going to buy those
---liz