What kind of things do cichlids like?

[TigerBarb56]

Hey, i will be changing my 38 gal. community tank to a cichlid tank, and i was wondering what kind of things cichlids like in a tank?

First off, i changed my gravel substrate to sand substrate, so far that is all i have done.

I was just wondering, what kind of rocks do cichlids like? how dense of plants do they enjoy? and how many rocks do they like?

All in all i just want to know everything cichlids like to make my tank setup most enjoyable for them. I am planning on getting Lake Malawi Cichlids.

Thanks so much!

 

[FroggyFox]

why dont you take a look at some pictures of cichlid tanks either in our rate my tank section here?

Cichlids that like to dig and move sand around generally dont do so well with plants because they get uprooted. You might try a few plants...but most cichlid tanks dont have any, or have very few plants. You can use pretty much whatever stone you want They like to have places to hide so something that you can make caves out of might be cool.

 

[LongTime]

I am writing about the New World ones primarily. They like caves and flat rocks. Plants do not do well because they will dig and move them if they are in the way. I've even seen small ones tug on a heavily weighted plastic plant hard enough to pull a leaf off the base in an attempt to move the whole plant.

Since they dig, remember that any cave you make can colapse because they have dug all the gravel or sand from around whatever is supporting the sand. I've known more than one person who ended up with a cracked tank or trapped fish because of a rock slide!

 

[Cichlid-Man]

Good to see another changing over to cichlids

Cichlids from the rift lake come from areas of rocks galore. Hardly any plants, except for the shallows of the lakes. Sand and rocks are mostly found in rift lake tanks. However that does not limit you to just sand and rocks.

Cichlids just need places to hide and swim around. Its whatever you like really, same goes for the kind of rock you choose.

Plants, eh, there are some plants you can have in a cichlid tank but be aware that the fish will dig and move the plants around. Also i'm not sure how good sand substrate will be for plants. You could have plants like anubias and Java fern, that you can attach to rocks or wood to anchor them and still have them grow. And they are low light plants, you don't usually see high lighting systems on rift lake tanks.

Here is a non updated pic of my tank now. I have a few more rocks in it now.

 

[fishfloater]

I put the rock toward the back of the tank so they have plenty of swim space in the front. It seems to work great so far. The chasing doesn't last very long because they can weave in and out of the caves to get away.

 

[Exevious]

Do your research for each cichlid...
There are several that come from sandy areas, and some from rock...

Click on the link in my sig, for pictures of my tanks.
I try to mix a rock/root set-up. Someday I want to get into sand. Havent done much with it yet.