jakedalab
Aquarium Advice Activist
So I have an already established 55 that I'm wanting to change over into a cichlid tank. Anyone have any ideas as to what kind and how many I could keep?
changing the 55 around a lil
- Thread starter jakedalab
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joel618
Aquarium Advice FINatic
What kind of Cichlids?
jakedalab
Aquarium Advice Activist
Lol cool ones. I honestly don't know much about them other than they can get pretty aggressive and for the most part are really pretty fish. Any suggestions?
DragonFish71
Great white snark
In a 55 I would suggest some of the smaller types; jewels, rainbows, keyholes, convicts, firemouths etc.
I have a 55 set up for my firemouths with pea gravel, DW, lots of live plants and terra cotta flower pots (they love them for spawning.)
With cichlids you can do anything, but there is one constant, they LOVE caves. They are very territorial, caves help them mark their turf, give them a retreat and give them a spawning site.
Some cichlids dig more than others. My JDs never touch a thing yet my firemouths and my mbuna dig like they're looking for gold. So you have to take that into consideration. Also some prefer a higher pH like mbuna, but they can adjust to any stable pH. Then think of feeding, SA/NW cichlids like JDs, FMs, keyholes etc need high protein diets, mbuna need low protein or they will bloat.
Your best bet, see something you like, research the ADULT size the fish will grow to, check out the feeding habits, natural area it would come from, if it needs anything special, then go from there.
I have a 55 set up for my firemouths with pea gravel, DW, lots of live plants and terra cotta flower pots (they love them for spawning.)
With cichlids you can do anything, but there is one constant, they LOVE caves. They are very territorial, caves help them mark their turf, give them a retreat and give them a spawning site.
Some cichlids dig more than others. My JDs never touch a thing yet my firemouths and my mbuna dig like they're looking for gold. So you have to take that into consideration. Also some prefer a higher pH like mbuna, but they can adjust to any stable pH. Then think of feeding, SA/NW cichlids like JDs, FMs, keyholes etc need high protein diets, mbuna need low protein or they will bloat.
Your best bet, see something you like, research the ADULT size the fish will grow to, check out the feeding habits, natural area it would come from, if it needs anything special, then go from there.
jakedalab
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ok I have the pea gravel in my tank as well as some of the pots you mentioned. I have fake plants. I dunno if that makes any difference or not. I feed frozen brine shrimp three times a week. I have two very small cichlids in there now. They were marked as assorted cichlids where I got them from. I may see if I can get them pose for a couple pics and see if y'all would be willing to help me ID them and maybe we can work out a stocking list from there?
DragonFish71
Great white snark
Marked as assorted? Then my guess is you have mbuna cichlids, which are african. Most of the "assorted" are yellow labs, kenyi, red zebras, blue zebras, albino zebras, auratus, acei, sometimes a bumblebee thrown in and a few random others (at least in the stores here) Any of those will generally get to 4-6 inches adult size. You don't want many in a 55 because of adult size and the possibility of aggression issues. Those are omnivorous but lean more towards a higher vegetable diet (herbivorous). They will bloat if you feed them too much protein (meats), can be very aggressive (depending on which ones you got) but are very hardy. They are supposed to love high pH, but they do adjust to any pH as long as it's stable, just like most fish will.
jakedalab
Aquarium Advice Activist
Last I checked my Ph was in the high eights. I think I have a yellow lab and blue zebra then. Ill tank some pics to share with ya when I get home. So do I need to try to rehome them? I'm planning on getting a 125 I found on Cl come with a stand and equipment for 500.
jakedalab
Aquarium Advice Activist
I live in Casper WY. And as far as I've found I only have one person that deals in fish. PETCO..
DragonFish71
Great white snark
They'd love the 125, and you'll be fine keeping them in the 55 for now. If you got them from a store that has them like I mentioned above, they are probably pretty small and you'll have plenty of time to set up the new tank for them.
DragonFish71
Great white snark
That's what I thought, that or Petsmart. They both do their "assorted" about the same. No worries. We'll get you through this.
jakedalab
Aquarium Advice Activist
Lol I hope so. Yeah the blue one isn't even an inch long. Little Bitty cute guy. Yeah imma go on a city wide search next time to see if I can find a lil mom and pop fish shop or something. Thanks for all your help
joel618
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Look at aquabid.com. I've had good luck from there and nearly all my fish have came from there. Just find people with good feedback and if you are lucky you can find people that are relatively close to you.
jakedalab
Aquarium Advice Activist
Ok cool ill for sure check it out. Thanks for the tip
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