I'm new to this world of fish...
- Thread starter NYYankee30
- Start date
Well first get a towel and dry off from those boring community tanks 
Also fasten your seat belt cause you're in for the ride of your life with cichlids Its an addiction that is hard to break....keeping cichlids.
Well first off let me point out that these are different than community fish. They are usually larger and more aggressive, so you can't just toss some in and think its gonna work. Cichlids also, IMO, tend to be more social than most community fish.
You got a choice to make to start off really. What kind of cichlid do you want? African, South American, or Central American. In a lot of cases Central American (CA) and South American (SA) can be mixed together, but i would keep the africans seperate. They all are great, but they have different aspects. Africans tend to be more brightly colorful and pretty hyper while the SA/CA cichlids tend to have darker, yet metalic and shiny colors and they seem to be more relaxed than the africans....they just hang out, but by no means are they boring. I'm not a big believer of strict pH unless you have wild or first generation fish but some are, if you are then Africans like a higher harder pH (8.0) and SA/CA like a softer (6.0-7.0). Most africans don't need a lot of protien in their diet. So don't go feeding them real meaty foods like you would for SA/CA cichlids (bloodworms). Mbuna (rock dwelling fish from lake malawi africa) at least are algae grazers and like more veggie matter.
For an african tank you will be able to stock more fish in a single tank than you would for a SA/CA tank. This is because a large group of african spreads out the aggression, and its like that in their natural habitat.
Its hard to say exactly what will be compatible with what because there are to many combos. But i suggest you decide what kind of cichlids you want to keep first and then we can go from there. Or even go further and pick out a few species you like.
Bigger is better with cichlids (in most cases) but there are a few species, both african and SA/CA that stay pretty small and are able to be kept in a smaller tank.
Hope i helped a bit.
Also fasten your seat belt cause you're in for the ride of your life with cichlids Its an addiction that is hard to break....keeping cichlids.Well first off let me point out that these are different than community fish. They are usually larger and more aggressive, so you can't just toss some in and think its gonna work. Cichlids also, IMO, tend to be more social than most community fish.
You got a choice to make to start off really. What kind of cichlid do you want? African, South American, or Central American. In a lot of cases Central American (CA) and South American (SA) can be mixed together, but i would keep the africans seperate. They all are great, but they have different aspects. Africans tend to be more brightly colorful and pretty hyper while the SA/CA cichlids tend to have darker, yet metalic and shiny colors and they seem to be more relaxed than the africans....they just hang out, but by no means are they boring. I'm not a big believer of strict pH unless you have wild or first generation fish but some are, if you are then Africans like a higher harder pH (8.0) and SA/CA like a softer (6.0-7.0). Most africans don't need a lot of protien in their diet. So don't go feeding them real meaty foods like you would for SA/CA cichlids (bloodworms). Mbuna (rock dwelling fish from lake malawi africa) at least are algae grazers and like more veggie matter.
For an african tank you will be able to stock more fish in a single tank than you would for a SA/CA tank. This is because a large group of african spreads out the aggression, and its like that in their natural habitat.
Its hard to say exactly what will be compatible with what because there are to many combos. But i suggest you decide what kind of cichlids you want to keep first and then we can go from there. Or even go further and pick out a few species you like.
Bigger is better with cichlids (in most cases) but there are a few species, both african and SA/CA that stay pretty small and are able to be kept in a smaller tank.
Hope i helped a bit.
Well Bolivian Rams are SA while Yellows are African. Generally not good to mix the 2. Also the Rams tend to be less aggressive than the mbuna...or yellow labs so that might cause some problems. So i wouldn't keep them together.
Now if you like one or the other you could expand on that. Say you want the rams more, well get some rams and apistogramma. Or Rams and Angels. If you want the labs more...gosh there are all different kinds of Mbuna out there to stock them with.
African generally like the more rocky habitat.
Now if you like one or the other you could expand on that. Say you want the rams more, well get some rams and apistogramma. Or Rams and Angels. If you want the labs more...gosh there are all different kinds of Mbuna out there to stock them with.
African generally like the more rocky habitat.
There are soooo many types of africans too. Basically you've got 3 major lakes, each with their own personality.
A south american tank, to me, is typically planted, with bog wood and sand or gravel, maybe a couple rocks. Trouble is, larger growing cichlids tend to pull up plants as fast as you can place them.
An african tank is definitely sand bottomed, with lots of rock work, and maybe a couple plants.
For a 40 gallon, you could set up a Malawi Mbuna tank. "Yellow labs" fall into this category, as well as "red zebras", socolofi, demasoni, johanni, polit, auratus, etc. A great place to browse through cichlids by region and group is http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/
They've got a section of "cookie-cutters" (click library), which basically outline groups of compatible species according to tank size.
I'd say check it out, find out what cichlids you like best, then we can help you with compatibility.
A south american tank, to me, is typically planted, with bog wood and sand or gravel, maybe a couple rocks. Trouble is, larger growing cichlids tend to pull up plants as fast as you can place them.
An african tank is definitely sand bottomed, with lots of rock work, and maybe a couple plants.
For a 40 gallon, you could set up a Malawi Mbuna tank. "Yellow labs" fall into this category, as well as "red zebras", socolofi, demasoni, johanni, polit, auratus, etc. A great place to browse through cichlids by region and group is http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/
They've got a section of "cookie-cutters" (click library), which basically outline groups of compatible species according to tank size.
I'd say check it out, find out what cichlids you like best, then we can help you with compatibility.
I've had my Electric Blue for 3 days now, he still seems shy and tends to hide. He has been coming out and looking around, and he comes out when it's feeding time....but from what I had read cichlids are not shy fish, do you think after a couple of more days he should be out swiming around lose his shyness?