Basefrog said:
Congratz! You should post some pictures up!
I was thinking of converting my large tank into a Cichlid tank. What lessons did you learn along the way?
Where to start... In no particular order (several of these are obvious to seasoned Cichlid-keepers, but not so to noobs).
- Opinions vary widely between so-called experts. Below are what I considered the popular opinions. Someone out there will say I am wrong about at leat some of these points, I'm sure.
- African Cichlids should not be kept with South/Central American Cichlids.
- The family of African Cichlids includes Lake Malawi, Lake Vicrtria, and Lake Tanganyika. All are very different, requre different water parameters, and not necessarily compatible.
- Lake Malawi African Cichlids prefer hard, alkaline water. Bypass the water softner. Assume I'm talking about Malawi Cichlids henceforth in this post.
- Just because fish food says "Cichlid" on it does not mean it is good for all Cichlids. LFS and Omega One seem to be preferred for Africans.
- There are over 1000 different species of Lake Malawi African Cichlids alone and several species are not compatible with several other species. Take time to do sufficient research to make sure that water parameters, tank size, and existing take mates are compatible BEFORE purchasing fish.
- A 55 gallon tank is not considered a "big" tank. Some even consider it small. Choose the type and number of fish smartly for the size of tank you have.
- Investigate the Male/Female ratio of each species and get the appropriate # of each before buying the first one. Males often are aggressively competitive toward one another and aggressively "attentive" to females, so more females and less males spreads out the male's attention.
- Re above. It is not easy to sex Cichlids, especially juveniles, so good luck with the above rule.
- Chain pet stores consider about 5 very different species all to be called "Electric Blue Cichlid", for example.
- A store tank that is labeled "Misc African Cichlids" or just "African Cichlids" often contains mutts, mixed breeds.
- Re above: Folks seem to frown on cross-breeding. If you don't care about this, don't sell the mutts.
- At least the 2 chain pet stores in my area only know about 2 on a 10 scale about Cichlids. Feel free to shop at the chain pet stores (I do), but use forums like this to gain information before purchasing.
- Overstocking a Cichlid tank is frequently acceptable because it "distributes aggression" and keeps small/weak fish from being singled out and targetted (I have proven that this does in fact work.) Of course, that means you need to maintain it more to keep the water parameters acceptable.
- Partial Water Change (PWC). Folks vary from 15% to 75% and even more. I do about 50% weekly and vacuum every time.
- Mbuna (rock-dwellers) love rockwork and caves for hiding in. I didn't feel comfortable with the weight of stones so I chose a lot of lightweight alternatives instead.
- Too much feeding, or feeding too much protein can lead to a condition called Cichlid Bloat, which is typically fatal (I have lost two to it).
- Don't medicate for Ick, look up the Salt and Heat treatment for Ick.
- Re above. Buy more than the minimum required heater, so you can crank it up if/when you get Ick.
- 55 gallon or more tanks should have two heaters, one on each side, to distribute the heat and provide rediundancy/failover.
- Mechanical and Biological filter media are often the same thing. Don't change filter media until it becomes so clogged that it is inaffective. Beneficial bacteria colonize in filter media, especially when it gets nasty.
- Activated Carbon is NOT for bacteria colonization or removal of Ammonia, Nitrites or Nitrates. It is for "chemical treatment" i.e. to remove small amounts of other comtaminates like Chorine or Chloromine, etc. It can and does get saturated and become ineffecctive. Some even say that Carbon is not even needed in filters as long as the water is free of contaminates.
- Check your water parameters frequently. BTW PetCo and PetSmart will check your levels for free.
- I acclamate new fish in a clean bucket before I add to a tank. Start with the store water in the bag, and by degrees add small amounts of tank water for about 20-30 minutes. Then net out the fish. Don't dump the store water in the tank (who knows what's in it).
- Having a quarantine/hospital tank is a good idea if you can manage it. Add new fish there for a couple of weeks before adding to your main tank. Otherwise you roll the dice and take a chance whenever adding new fish.
Don't let me scare you off. Cichlids are the closest thing to salt water colors as you can get. They are very entertaining and not too hard to keep up on or to afford compared to salt water fish.
I'm going to lfs to get a HUGE variety of lake Malawi cichlid . Also have 2 other tank 10G for platy fry and 20G with 3 platys moving danios in too. I got a 60 HOB filter and going to get another smaller one (30) on the other side. Hoping to get blue gene jack Dempsey for jack Dempsey too 
