throwing around some 29 gallon cichlid ideas...

[jessey]

right now my 29 gallon tank is a pretty standard community-type aquarium; one angel, one pearl gourami, a school of harlequin rasboras, etc. i've definitely decided i want to do something more "exciting," though, and i'm leaning toward cichlids!

one of my ideas was a pair of convicts, along with a school of tiger barbs. might that work? and would my rubberlip pleco survive with them?

another idea, which i'm not really leaning toward because i don't think i have the experience for it... is 2 discus. i think if i did that i could even keep my rasbora school... but again, that's a challenge that i'm not sure i'm up for.

i've also given some thought to a fairly peaceful cichlid community - maybe keeping my angel, adding some GBRs, kribs, etc.

as you can see, i'm leaning toward SA cichlids - mainly because i don't know much about africans and i have no clue what would work in a 29 gallon tank (i wish i could go bigger, but it's not happening anytime soon!). of course, this new tank setup isn't happening until i have a fish (hopefully later this week!!) and POSSIBLY even some corals in my SW pico... so i'm really not in a big hurry. but i'd love to hear everyone's input/ideas... it's fun to get excited about some new plans!!

jessey

(PS - my mom is mad at me for thinking about getting rid of my "nice fish." *laughingc we're going to have to find a way to convince her it's worth it!)

 

[IDunnoWhy]

OK, I'll answer the stuff I'm familiar with, I believe the Discus will be too large for your 29g especially if your keeping the Angel. So skip those (unless someone wants to chime in with a 29g Discus success story )

Convicts would be cool with the Tigers (lots o' striped fishies), but I'm not sure if there will be enough room for a school of adult tigers in a 29g (Just not much room for them at adult size, but I KNOW someone will pop in and say Tigers are fine in a 29g ). Your Plec may also find a spawning pair of cons to be too much for him. (Even the Tigers may get bullied during spawning, but a more experienced Cichlid keeper should confirm this).

You may have some success keeping GBR's with your Angel, I've seen it done quite nicely, the GBR's don't seem to be as "nasty" as some of the other Cichlids. And if you can find a nice pair, their colors can be quite stunning *thumbsups

I personally have 3 Kribs in my 29g Community tank, There is a pair and 1 lone juvie male. So far they only aggressively defend there little cave, and seldom chase any of the other tankmates (aside from the other male krib), however I have been told, that when they spawn they can be more of a handful, I have yet to see this behavior but I'm sure it's coming.

Another smaller cichlid to research are the Apistos, I don't have much info on those guys, but some of the varieties are quite beautiful, check out our profiles section, and the profiles over on Cichlid forum for more specifics.

IMHO with you wanting to keep the Angel and the Gourami, your probably going to be limited to the smaller varieties of Cichlids, GBR, Kribs, Apistos etc.

 

[jessey]

thanks for the response! i don't necessarily have to keep the angel and the gourami. if i decide to do a "cichlid community," i'll probably keep the angel.. i wasn't planning on keeping the gourami though i would if it worked out. could i feasibly keep an angel, GBR, krib, and apisto in one tank (maybe more than one of some)?

i also think the tiger barbs and convicts would look really cool, but i figured there would be controversy over whether or not they could do ok in my 29 gallon.

c'mon, i know you cichlid folks are full of ideas!!

 

[IDunnoWhy]

could i feasibly keep an angel, GBR, krib, and apisto in one tank (maybe more than one of some)?

I wouldn't try more than one of those species at a time with the Angel, they are all going to want to use the same caves/areas and I see there being some territory issues, I'd select one type and run with it. Your Angel will probably roam the upper waters, leaving room for a smaller species below.

 

[Big Vine]

i also think the tiger barbs and convicts would look really cool, but i figured there would be controversy over whether or not they could do ok in my 29 gallon.

I'm no expert, but I'd say that if this is what you're leaning toward doing...go for it! If you don't, you'll always end up wondering..."what if...?"...

Worse that can happen is the tiger barbs getting beat-up...possibly a few may even end up killed if you let things go too far. Still, I think that if you get the cons relatively young and get at least mid-sized tiger barbs or larger, this should have a decent chance at working without any casualties.

BV

 

[jessey]

VERY tempting advice, BV i blame you for my interest in cons anyway... the pictures you've had of yours recently are beauties.

i think this may be what i try to do eventually. i'll need to read up on breeding if i'm going to breed the convicts, because right now i'd have no idea what to expect. of course, i'm always open for more suggestions!

 

[Big Vine]

i blame you for my interest in cons anyway... the pictures you've had of yours recently are beauties.

Hehe...thanks...
But don't thank...err...'blame' me! It's all SinisterKisses fault---Brutus is the real culprit here!

i'll need to read up on breeding if i'm going to breed the convicts, because right now i'd have no idea what to expect

Once you get a pair, the biggest challenge that can sometimes arise is if one parent decides to 'oust' the other parent---in which case separating adults is often necessary in order to preserve the spawn and/or the health of the parent that happens to be getting picked on.

The pair of cons I had briefly a while back spawned and raised the fry together just fine in a 10 gallon tank, so don't let my previous comments discourage you.

I'm no expert by any means, but it is my understanding that convicts are often much more cooperative parents than a lot of other types of cichlids. I think you'll love em'! An excellent choice for getting into the world of aggressive cichlids, IMO.

BV

 

[Cichlid-Man]

The pair of cons I had briefly a while back spawned and raised the fry together just fine in a 10 gallon tank, so don't let my previous comments discourage you.

BAM! Another person who has had sucess at this. Don't let those anti 10gal folks ruin your day. Stuff like this can be done! *thumbsups

I'll post some ideas/suggestions tomorrow for a 29gal setup. Way to tired right now. Remind me if i forget!

 

[jessey]

*shameless bump to remind matt he wants to post with ideas...*

 

[jessey]

i'm giving this a bump to add some new thoughts.

i'm 95% sure i'm gonna go with convicts (i never really got much feedback on what i could do in terms of africans, so convicts are what i feel most confident about at this point).

-right now i have some java fern (which has seen better days), java moss, and 2 different crypts in the tank, as well as some artificial plants, a piece of driftwood, a little "sunken ship" decoration (somewhat hidden, it's mostly there for anyone who wants to hide in it), and an artificial log. i plan to add some rocks/slate/maybe a flowerpot.. can i leave everything in there? i know the plants may get eaten up but i'm not too worried about that. i can always pull them if they really start to look like crap.

-i want a pair of convicts and 8-15 (??) tiger barbs. it seems to me like it would be logical to add the barbs first, but would i be better off buying several cons and let a pair form, returning the others, and THEN adding the tiger barbs?

-when my cons spawn and are raising their fry.. how long can i expect to keep the fry in the tank? it seems like it will get pretty crowded with the tigers, cons, AND baby cons... but i don't have a seperate fry tank.

-i plan to leave my rubberlip pleco in there for now and see how he fares... ok i guess that's not so much a question, just a statement, but feel free to comment

jessey <3

 

[Going for broke]

If your going to do convicts keep in mind that things will get ugly when the cons breed. they become VERY territorial when spawning. I'm not saying it's not possible to have other fish in there but it will become a aggressive enviroment come spawning time. (and they will spawn.)

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Ok i really did forget, sorry! Been busy with work.

Its my duty to do this so...for a 29gal its possible to have a small Mbuna setup. Saulosi or Demasoni would work out well. Would probably have to be a species tank but these 2 species really make a GREAT species tank.

 

[jessey]

sheesh, well now i'm practically back to square one. well, not completely... but both of those are gorgeous mbunas (i think i like the saulosi better, primarily because the color changing is interesting, lol). if i decided to set up a saulosi tank, how many would i be looking to keep?

 

[Helena21]

i have saulosi species tank too . They are really great fish!! im no expert but in a 29 i would say 6-8 maybe?

 

[silver dollars]

could i feasibly keep an angel, GBR, krib, and apisto in one tank (maybe more than one of some)?

I have had a bad experience with that combo. I put 2 rams, 6 kribs, and 4 apistos in my 75G and all but 1 apisto died, 2 of my normal kribs almost died, and there is a war going on just for this one cave. Here is an idea for a cichlid community.

1 angel
2 keyhole cichlids(really cute and fun to have)
2 rams(mine do fine with keyholes and the 5 angels in the 75G)
And however many Rasbora you have

I think that your mom would like this tank cause the angel will grow and look really good, and the rams and keyholes are really cute. Good luck with the tank and when you get the fish, share some pics with us

 

[Cichlid-Man]

For saulosi i'd look to get around 8-9ish probably...2 males MIGHT work but might not...at least 1 male for sure, you could get 10 fish with 2 males at first and then weed the 2nd male out if he becomes a problem.

For demasoni i'd look to get 12, again with more females then males if possible.

 

[jessey]

hmmm too many desicions.

silver your right, my mom would be in LOVE with that tank. and it'd look beautiful too.

of course 10 saulosi (or 12 demasoni) would be gorgeous too!

and i still love cons and they would be fun and when they color up they're stunning as well.

i have no idea!!

 

[jessey]

i think i may go mbuna!

i was at the lfs yesterday (with my grandpa, by the way, which was so cute and excited with the whole ordeal), and after looking around for a while, i asked the girl there if they only carry africans as 'mixed'. she said yes, but they might be able to get something in for me if there was something specific i wanted. i told her i was interested in the saulosis, and she looked them up, and said yeah, she could get some in. so i filled out a lil request card.. and they should be on the way!!

i'm so excited. i don't really know where to get rocks, but i guess i could probably go to a pond nearby. i'll make my grandpa go with me, lol, he'll be happy for the adventure!