advice on cichlids

[jackie]

my new 40 inch tank is to house all the inhabitants of the 24 inch plus a few more. soon i hope to set the 24 inch as a second tank with different type of fish .i was thinking possible cichlids.. thing is i feel i need to know a bit more before i go ahead. i know they can be aggressive, also not to mix south american with african, is their some that will live happily together?do they need to be paired or in a group .?

 

[blhigbee]

you know, i have heard the same thing but i have a strange collection of fish in my "aggressive tank" i have 1 african ciclid, a large parrotfish, 1 oscar,1 little rosy barb, 1green sevrum. i was told that they would not coexisist but my tank gets along very well. so i would say that you may try different things than what the lfs guys say sometimes just do it slowly. i have had my two 300gal shows for ten years now and they are pristine. i hope this helps you. lots of luck.

 

[Brandon]

While it is possible to mix different type Cichlids and other fish, you cannot possibly provide them all with the optimum conditions that simulate their natural environment. African Cichlids are generally the most aggressive type Cichlids. They come from Rift Lakes in Africa where the water is very hard/alkaline and the pH is around 8.2 give or take a little. Males are very territorial and must each have enough space to claim their own territory in the tank or they will fight for space. If possible keep 2 females per male. In some species it is virtually impossible to differentiate males from females. African Cichlids are sexually dimorphic (I think is the correct terminology) meaning they can change sexes, usually females turning male when not in the presence of a dominant male.
There are other Cichlids from Central and South America. Most of your South American Cichlids come from tributaries of the Amazon where the water is soft. These include for example..Geophagus sp., Rams, Apistogramma, Discus, Angelfish, and many others. Central American Cichlids come from a fairly diverse range of conditions with ph averaging (I would venture to say) a little above nuetral (around 7.5). These include your Jack Dempsey, Firemouth, and many others. I would definately do some research into what fish come from where and how to best simulate their natural conditions. This will lead to a longer healthier life for your fish.....and if your good you may even have success with breeding them.

 

[loganj]

Nothing I can add to what Brandon has said...I agree 100%.
Logan J

 

[jackie]

you know i am beginning to find out what a great site this is,moving on to having a second tank is a big thing for me ,and i want to get it right,so this is agreat place to be able to ask all my questions .i'm learning more about cichlids all the time but is a 24inch x15inx 12inch tank going to be big enough for them to be happy or should i be thinking of keeping some other sort of fish. we have quite hard water in our area ,so i imagine keeping discus and rams would be out of the question.

 

[Araldq]

if you really want to keep cichlids in that aquarium, think about keeping some ramirez....i think is the only honorable choice. If not, your fishes will never be happy!

 

[ConanTheLibraia]

24x15x12 is somthing like a 20 gal. right? If I were setting up the tank, I'd go with some angels, mabie discus. But I havnt kept discus before so don't take my word for it. Do a lot of research and keep up with people on AA.

 

[Chrismac]

African Cichlids are sexually dimorphic (I think is the correct terminology)

Not sure about the terminology, but its a good subject. check out this "Male" Lombardoi well we bought him as a male, but now were not so sure. we bought two females with him, they died shorty after and ever since he's been like that. he/she is the boss of the tank anyway.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=97

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=96&password=&sort=7&thecat=534

Chris.

 

[nugrad2005]

Cichlids tend to be very hardy fish and can take just about any kind of water. In the "Great Salt Incident of 2002" (poor advice from the LFS to add a ton of salt to the tank) we lost a few cichlids, but most of them survived and have flourished since.

I've also heard that you can't mix african and south american, but i personally find that to be not true at all. We've got a mix of all sorts and those live in harmony. There are about 15 of them in a 55g tank, which they are VERY quickly outgrowing. They chase each other around, but its never gotten to the point where we had to take a fish out or anything of that sort. Once they get used to each other they can live quite peacefully. There is also a mono, an eel and some puffers in the tank and they get along quite well also.

I would say though that if your tank is only 20g go for good looking fish instead of alot of fish. You'll find they'll be much happier. They grow like its going out of style, especially if you feed them alot, so anticipate having to upgrade at some point.

Good luck!

-Dan

 

[jackie]

great photos chrimac , and thanks for all other sdvice, my tank it seems on finding out is only 14 gallons , so i'm having a change of heart over what to keep, something tells me that a wrong decision could cause a lot of agro... having just aquired a bigger community tank i don't think the master of the house will tolerate another bigger one just yet and it seems as if they grow very big. my fish store suggested keeping small puffers but are they rather nastie fish? so for the mo i'm going to concentrate on my new tank and its inmates and research and watch aa thanks keep the suggestions coming as i want to find out as much as i can bye bye for now jackie

 

[Chrismac]

something tells me that a wrong decision could cause a lot of agro...

Yes it does, but with anything you do not just with keeping fish lol.

14 gallons is quite small, you would be ok for a couple months keeping Cichlids in there until your larger tank would, could cycle. As long as your fish are only 3/4 of an inch or so.
As for adding other fish, with our 15 Mbuna we have two CA Convict Cichlids and two "Choc albino Plecos", and a Chinese algea eater. they are all doing fine, the Mbuna also lived with Clown Loaches when they were juvies.
Good Luck,
Chris.