noob chichlid questions

[Fishywishy]

Hi, my husband bought me a 55gal tank, 2 weeks ago. I set it up, put some live plants(bought at a store that keeps their plants and fish inside the same tanks) in (various) some tree stump looking caves. I used gravel and about 5 gals of water from a 10 gal tank I had been running (with no fish diseases). So, I think cycling is going to go really fast...

anyway, at the lfs they have these "assorted african chilids" a few look exactly like the avatar on kay-bee19's avatar and some are about the same size but yellow. I'm guessing these grow to about 5 inches if given the space/food to grow that large???

Here's my questions:

1) can i mix in some bala sharks with the chilids? let's say I only planned on keeping the sharks until they got to a certain size and then sell them back to the fish store and got smaller ones (my kids favorites) or how about a small school of tiger barbs (my husband's favorite) I ask this because I notice they have all sorts of things in this overstocked fish tank at the store.

2) If I can mix let's say 6 tiger barbs, 3 bala sharks....... how many "assorted african chilids" could I put in with that mix? (55gal....rectagular in size if that makes a diff) given that i buy them all small and young (like you do from a lfs)

3) If I did the tank with just chichlids, how many would this 55 gal support? (my favorite fish...and it is MY fish tank)

please don't point to the stickies at the top.....I tried reading, and it just isn't sinking in. I'm sure if it did, I wouldn't have to ask these questions and sound like an idiot.

 

[Kephren01]

hey fishy,
let me see if I can help you out a bit. (wait to see what other people say, I am also semi-knew and make some mistakes) First off, I was looking at tiger barbs... however they are semi-aggressive tropical and probably would do really bad with cichlids. You typically do not mix anything with cichlids. People put in pleco's and angels sometimes, I have a striped rafael, but you have to be very careful. (Bala sharks I don't know... some of the people around here mix certain sharks with their cichlids)

Usually the "assorted" cichlid tank is the tank of baby cichlids where they are to small to determine what breed they are (even though some of them you can plainly tell). As far as the plants... I don't liek them. To much extra stuff to worry about... but if you are buying the plant from the same tank the fish are in, I guess it couldn't be that bad.

As far as stocking. I have a 40 gallon tank. I have at the moment 15 cichlids (+-1) plus a striped rafael. As long as you have enough hiding places for all of them, then it is good. Slightly overstocking a cichlid tank tends to reduce aggression b/c the fish lose each other and there isn't always the 1 picking on the same one b/c he's the only one in the tank.

hope some of that helped.

 

[JWright]

Do they look something like this? yellow labidochromis - Google Image Search

A 55 is too small for Balas, Balas can grow to a foot in length and need a lot of swimming room. In my opinion, Balas should never be kept in home aquariums.

I run a 45 with two adult trios, and several juveniles that were born in the tank. All told, probably 10 fish (the number of juveniles fluctuates as more are born, and some are taken out of the tank).

I don't like the look of tanks that are packed with fish. All of the fish just hide in their holes and in general the tank just looks crowded.

Now... to speak to your questions...

You're being to vauge.

"Assorted cichlids" is like "Assorted dogs". If you live in a small apartment, you might be able to keep 2 or 3 football-sized dogs, but you'd be nuts to try to keep a great dane or a border collie.

 

[Cichlid-Man]

anyway, at the lfs they have these "assorted african chilids" a few look exactly like the avatar on kay-bee19's avatar and some are about the same size but yellow. I'm guessing these grow to about 5 inches if given the space/food to grow that large???

5-6" yes. Some even 7ish". Depending on species.

1) can i mix in some bala sharks with the chilids? let's say I only planned on keeping the sharks until they got to a certain size and then sell them back to the fish store and got smaller ones (my kids favorites) or how about a small school of tiger barbs (my husband's favorite) I ask this because I notice they have all sorts of things in this overstocked fish tank at the store.

I'd echo everyone else on avoiding the balas personally. As for the tiger bards, i've seen them mixed with cichlids...though me personally...i wouldn't do it. While they may be able to stick up for themselves to a point i'm taking an african Mbuna over a Tiger barb anyday in a fight. Also i like the more natural tanks and tiger barbs and africans just don't mix in that respect. But i've seen it done.

2) If I can mix let's say 6 tiger barbs, 3 bala sharks....... how many "assorted african chilids" could I put in with that mix? (55gal....rectagular in size if that makes a diff) given that i buy them all small and young (like you do from a lfs)

I'd different from JW, i like busy, slightly overstocked tanks (means more WCs though). And if it were me i'd be looking at 15ish fish for 55gals max. Though that is all depending on species, and then dependant on sex if sexable at the time. And thats without the tigers or balas. With the tigers i'd go for less then 20.

3) If I did the tank with just chichlids, how many would this 55 gal support? (my favorite fish...and it is MY fish tank)

See above. I'd say max 15 depending on species.

On a side note, the link JW linked to the yellow labs, good starter species....very common in LFS and in the mixed african tanks. Fairly peaceful for Mbuna too. I'd recommend them.

 

[Fishywishy]

thank you for the quick responses.

I'm sorry to be vague and say "assorted african chichlids" ....that's the total description from the lfs. And, yes, the yellow ones in that tank look like that, but they also have these electric blue ones with black stripes, and greyish looking ones with dots, one that i think is a firemouth maybe from the pictures. It's hard to know when you are looking at about 20gals of water with about 40 fish of assorted variety, there was a algae eater, a couple of catfish, a couple of rainbow sharks and a few other non-descript fish along with about 6 of the yellow and 6 of the blue chichlids....... that's the best description I can give you. The employee didn't know chichlids from goldfish after asking a couple of questions.


The most specific I can be, is my set up thought is going along the lines of 3 tiger barbs, 3 green glass barbs (the green tiger barbs), 3 bala sharks and like 2 of the yellow "assorted african chichlids" and 2 of the blue "assorted african chichlids" and maybe an angel fish. A total of 14 fish, changing out the bala sharks for something else when they start to get too big. I know this mix isn't a "natural mix", but the only people who know that are you and me Everyone else that comes in and admires the fish tank and enjoy the fish don't know diddly. I'm still in the planning phase of buying fish, so I can't be very specific....... I haven't bought anything but plants and rocks and tree stumps I'm asking here, because the other fish I can find and research... but I sure want one or two of those blue chichlids, they are soo pretty!

I think I've decided, based on Chilid-Man, to try the barbs (now should i get 6 tigers or 3 tigers and 3 green glass???? LOL) and a couple of the chichlids to start the tank when it's ready, and see how everyone gets along.

I'm well aware of the whole bala shark argument/statement. I just can't make a 6 year who is smaller then the fish tank understand that the tiny sparkly little sharks would grow almost half the length of the fish tank Which is why I'm thinking of temporarily housing a couple, he'll be bored with them by the time they reach the size I would need to find a new home for them anyway(they aren't so cute then). Maybe I'll convince my husband to buy me a 300 gal fish tank to keep the kids' sharks by then.......JOKING!

thank you for your help!

 

[Kephren01]

the blue one you described might be a kenyi or possibly an ice blue. anyways... if your going to mix semi-agressive and cichlids, all I can say is good luck, and let us know how they do... i'm interested (seeing as I likeD the idea before i researched it)

 

[JWright]

Mixing semi-aggressives and cichlids? I would describe many species of cichlid as "semi-aggressive"... How can they not mix with themselves?