if i were to start up a cichlid tank...

[mariners]

if i were to start up a cichlid tank, do i need any special plants/live rocks/more salt or anything that is different to a fw tropical tank, you see the thing is the more i look up cichlids the more i fall in love with them and i want to get a tank for some cichlids, so im going to research first, are there any fish that are good for beginner cichlid keepers?

 

[420Loach]

they like rocks some are okay to have with plants. most bio's point out if a cichlid tears up plants, or likes to dig and move the substrate(redecorate, if you will) or if they are peaceful or overly aggressive.

and of course you need to think about things like tank size, american or african cichlids, how many you want/what size fish,feeding, water diffrences,(in ph, cichlids do vary) and habitat setup. Cichlid Man or Soulfish could probably reccomend good beginer cichlids, better then i could

 

[mariners]

ok thanks, so say i got another 29 gallon, rocks , is there a big difference between american and african?

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Sorta.......i would say African are more colorful and smaller, While Americans tend to run a little bigger with darker patterns.

Cichlids love rocks. Of course they will adapt to your aquarium. Its just fun mimicking the natural habitat of the fish.

 

[mariners]

so if i chose african, any beginner fish? or are they all about the same to look after.?

 

[wayne]

Africans can vary quite a lot, some are good beginners fish, some aren't. Also beware, some of the commoner ones offered for sale , notably auratus are just a timebomb. Read, read, read - try the cichlidrecipe.com - this guy goes thro' genus by genus descriptions of what's good, bad or just plain difficult. He also has some tank ideas but beware ,lots of people think his tanks are terribly overcrowded.
I don't know of an equivalent S American site, but there are lots of OK articles on cichlidae.com. I prefer S American myself, but that's life.
2 things - remember there's no such thing as typical cichlid, they vary in size from 1 1/2 inches to 3 feet in both africa and S America (lets not forget india, madagascar or central america),
and always think of a tank in footprint not gallons ie 3 foot, 4 foot not 29 or 55 - cichlids are territorial horizontally, not vertically. A tall tank is wasted. But a 29 is 3 feet long yes, and there a lot of nice cichlids that'll go in there.

 

[Managuense]

yellow labs are a species i tell most african cichlid newbies to check out. they are hardy, non-aggressive (for an mbuna) beautiful, and do well with other species.

if i were to do a 55 gallon with JUST mbuna i would probably go with a nice "school" of 7 or so yellow labs and a couple of synodontis... and that's it!

i dont like tanks that have 1 kenyi, 1 yellow lab, 1 zebra, 1 auratus, 1 this, 1 that....i think those are boring.

avoid (as mentioned above) :

melanochromis auratus--too aggressive, much too aggressive

maylandia lombardoi (kenyi)-- too aggressive, hybridizes with everything under the sun.

maylandia crabo--- very large, quite aggressive though manageable in most cases..

pseudotropheus demasoni--- dwarf mbuna, but so, so, so territorial!! males will eliminate other demasoni systematically in a matter of time IMO and IME. YMMV.

HTH
M

 

[Brockway]

Can kenyis hybridize with convicts?

 

[Managuense]

Can kenyis hybridize with convicts?

i can say NO with 99.9% certainty on this. since kenyi are an african cichlid and convicts are central american, they have adapted to extremely different environments and it is highly unlikely.

it is also very unlikely that an african mouthbrooder and a cave spawner would be able to produce viable offspring even if they tried to spawn.

with hormone injections and all of that nonsense going on in the amphibian world though.... i wouldnt give a full on 100% no.
M

 

[moricollins]

for a 29 gallon tank you could make a good tank with either shell dwellers (from lake tanganikya (i have no clue how to spell that word) or with some dwarf cichlids from south america... they would make a great centrepiece, i keep apistogrammas (dwarf SA cichlids) and i love them to death, they are fun to watch, very colourful, and easily maintained, so long as youhave access to soft water (buying RO is a necessity for me)...

 

[wayne]

29 gallons you can have shell dwellers, or smaller mbuna, or some smaller Aulonacara (Haps, butterflies), a small tanaganikiya community
Central america - a pair of the smaller species like firemouths, spilurum, sajica,any thorichthys, archocentrus. Lots of people will harp on about convicts,well that' great but once you get a pair you won't be able to keep anything else, and they'll produce loads of unsellable fry. If you're going to ge something from here look around and get something else.
S America - any apisto or other dwarf species, angels.... look at cichlidae.com
My recommendation goes on local water. If you locally have soft water you can do what you want, and I like S Americans. But if I lived in a hard water area I would keep Africans or C Americans as they don't need to me to fiddle around with the water so much

 

[mariners]

ok cool thanks for the info. guys! greatly appreciated

 

[Cichlidian]

try convicts

try convicts if u r a begginer coz they r hardy, a pair can b kept in a 20 gal long tank, max size 6". Dont put very bright light they prefer subdued lighting. provide lot of hiding places like rocks or upturned flower pots 6" in diameter r excellent hiding places coz they resemble their natural habitat.
All the best having a cichlid.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Would be very limited if you got convicts....

You could do a very nice shell-dweller community. Plus shellies are very intresting/entertaining fish.

 

[Black Dahlia]

If you are going to start a cichlid tank go out and get plenty of rock for your tank and get hardy leafy plants, nothing with needles the cichlids with tear right into them which in kind you with have abunch of the plant floating around that will get into your filter and destroy it which might turn into a catastrophy. I would also plan out exactly what you want, African or South American. The only reason my Blood Parrot is in with my Africans is because I dont have anywhere else to put him and so far so good, also he has to be the most hardy fish ive ever seen, if it can survive the nuclear disaster that was my first incarnation of a tank then it can survive anything. If your looking into getting an African which I highly suggest get a Brichardi, I know they are pretty easy to get a hold of but they are well tempered and very unique looking and I stare at mine on a daily basis.