20 g Cichlid tank setup

[jordanguerrero]

Hi everyone,

I was looking for advice on setting up a 20 g cichlid tank. I want to use a sand substrate and find big stones to put in it for hiding spots, but I am on a budget. Any ideas on where to get rocks and sand cheap?


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[Malawi MaD]

Locale beach? Give the sand and rocks a good clean

 

[jordanguerrero]

I don't live near a beach :/ I do live near rivers and creeks. I have also thought about getting sand and rocks from the local Home Depot, but I wasn't sure if that was ok for the fish...


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[Freakgecko91]

What kind of cichlids are you planning?

 

[jordanguerrero]

African Cichlids. I really like the peacock cichlids.


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[Malawi MaD]

Ohh ok, no beach sand then lol
Yeah home depots usually have sand/rocks you can use. Do you know what they supply?

 

[jordanguerrero]

Yea, I used to work there. They have all purpose and playground sand. I've heard and read of people using the playground sand in their tanks. The rocks I don't know too much about, but I do know they have a lot of landscape rocks and pebbles.


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[Malawi MaD]

Yeah play sand is perfectly fine. It does compact once wet, so it needs to be moved around a little when you do your maintenance to stop gasses building up. Again most rocks/pebbles are perfectly fine just avoid rocks that have a rust/gold patches or look.

 

[jordanguerrero]

Awesome sounds like I'll be able to save some money and keep the fish safe as well. Thank you very much!


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[mikem691]

Peacocks won't work in a 20 too small. Look into dwarfs or multis

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[jordanguerrero]

Not even if I got them small and then gave them away or sold them at a certain size?


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[Cichlid-dude]

Not even if I got them small and then gave them away or sold them at a certain size?


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These fish grow rather fast, they would outgrow that 20 gal in no time. I would either get dwarf species or get a larger tank.


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[CoronaBlue]

I have 2 tanks. My 55 gallon ciclid tank and my 25 gallon live bearer tank. I couldn't imagine putting Ciclids into a 20 gallon tank. They will out grow it way too fast.

 

[jordanguerrero]

I appreciate the feedback from everyone. I am looking into the dwarf cichlid idea, but may go ahead and just do a community tank. I went ahead and got the play sand for my substrate and put it in today. How long do you think it will take for all the cloudiness to go away?


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[CoronaBlue]

Did you rinse sand before putting in? Also don't run filters for a few hours give the sediment time to filter down and not get sucked up in filter. If you rinsed before u put it in should be clear 6 hours or so. If you didn't rinse could take 12 or more for everything to settle.

 

[jordanguerrero]

Yea I did rinse it before putting it in the tank. I did leave the filter running, but I will turn it off now for a few hours.


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[CoronaBlue]

Post a pic after the tank clears. Interested to see how the tank progresses.

 

[jordanguerrero]

Will do! Thanks again for all the help!


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