New tank

[Big-j]

Hey I have two nano tanks currently but sometime this fall I will be getting a much larger tank hopefully a 55-100 gallon, I really want a cichlids tank and I would love to get a breeding group, if you have any tips or recommendations I'd love to hear them, any and all advice is appreciated.

 

[kholton]

Are you planning on keeping the cichlids in the nano tanks? If so how big are they? I don't see you being able to keep anything other than Appistogramma species in a nano tank. Get back to us with some info on the tanks and I can help more!

Thanks,

~Kaden

 

[doogle]

do you want african cichlids? i hope you do...your homework... get at least a 40 long or 55gallon. overfilter your tank. i got lucky and got most of my africans all at once , almost and cycled the tank with them. i was lucky , no deaths or illness to this day and i moved them to a new tank in a different room using the existing water and filter. i wouldnt add a new fish in mid=cycle because the fish i got from the beginning got use to the rising ammonia and nitrite slowly, while a fish thrown in during mid cycle would get shocked from the higher levels of ammonia and die. anyway i love african cichlids , so i hope thats whatyou want too. thanks for reading ,if you hung in this long !

 

[Big-j]

Yeah I definitely want cichlids don know what kind yet, I'm gonna get a 55 first I think so here my question, with a 55 I want to put a sand bottom some rocky caves some live plants, a school of about six or seven corys and as many cichlids as my limit allows and I want to breed them hopefully so I'll have a 10g ready to go for the babies at all times, now is this a good plan or am I gonna have trouble with it, please help I'd love to own cichlids but I won't buy them just to have them die in an environment they can't handle

 

[carey]

Are you saying you want corys AND cichlids? In the same tank?

 

[Big-j]

Preferably, is that a bad idea?

 

[kholton]

The short answer is yes.

 

[carey]

I have a malawi african cichlid tank and nope, I would never put a non aggressive fish in there. Cichlids are notoriusly aggressive and will eat most any plant you put in your tank.

More experienced people will chime in I'm sure, it's still early yet.

 

[kholton]

Sorry.. Didn't mean that to sound harsh, but yeah, corys and cichlids would in general be a really bad idea... Depending on the cichlids I suppose.

 

[Big-j]

Why? Are the cichlids just more aggressive than I assumed?

 

[carey]

Yep. I used to keep americans years ago and they ate everything they could fit in their mouth. The ones I have now haven't shown any bad behavior yet but I'm constantly changing their rockwork around to keep aggression down.

 

[carey]

do some research online or in this forum. First you have to decide on new world (s. and n american) or african, you can't mix em up. You also will def need the 55 or better if you want a nice selection of fish. they can grow quite large in some cases.

 

[Big-j]

Ok well, let's go a different direction, what kind of cichlids would y'all suggest, I'm totally new to cichlids, love colorful fish, however interesting behavior and personality is what I really want in my fish. I also want to breed them so knowing all this how many and what kinds of cichlids do y'all think I should get, thank you all for helping so much btw

 

[carey]

With cichlids personality is what you'll get. LOL Mine put on a show for me everytime I look at the tank.

if you intend on breeding you may not want to get a huge selection of different species. And usually people suggest 3 or 4 females for every male since the makes will chase the heck out of the females it kinda saves them the hassles.

I currently have mbunas and some haps in my tank. Not the best mix but mine have been growing up together.

Theres sooo much info on cichlids its silly. But I do highly recommend them if you can maintain their tank (messy eaters, and big fish big poop).

let us know what youre thinking?

 

[kholton]

If you're looking for cichlids that you can actually keep with other fish, you're going to want to go with Apistogramma species... (or similar dwarf cichlids)

 

[Big-j]

I would like to keep them with the corys still would the dwarf cichlids be ok if I go that route? And if so how big a tank should I get for them?

 

[kholton]

Haha, Appistos are quite different than what Cary here is describing however... They don't get very large (usually 3 inches) and some species (as I said) can be kept without incident with a variety of other fish. Whereas with African cichlids even if you only use cichlids from the same lake (Malawi) you can still be pushing the envelope if you put the wrong kinds together. (haps and mbunas)

 

[kholton]

I'm a little prejudiced when it comes to tank size. I will always tell people that smaller will work, but as everyone else says (and I agree) bigger, haha, is almost always better. Keep up with water changes, and make sure they don't feel like a cat living in a shoe box, and they'll be fine.

 

[carey]

Yeah they do have dwarf cichlids, i just assumed he wanted "regular" ones LOL. I still would be hesitant to add any cichlid with anything else though. I tend to worry too much I guess

 

[Big-j]

Ok well let's see I don't mind losing the corys if necessary but I'd like to have them, what are the limitations of the dwarf cichlids are they more maintenance or more sensitive to ammonia or nitrite?