Community or Cichlids

[apotocki]

I'm cycling my new 70 gallon tank and still thinking about (and anticipating) the day where I can start adding fish.

Originally, I thought about a community tank where I'd have mainly Cardinals-12 or so, Angels-3 or so, Blue Rams-maybe3-4, Cory's-4-5, Oto's-3, and maybe another shoal of Giant Danios-4-5 or the like.

Last night, I once again visited my [acronym:7fabe69d91="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:7fabe69d91] and really started looking at all of the varieties. I'm intrigued and drawn to Cichlids..........I want a tank that is very colorful and doesn't look like a tank you would see in a Doctor's office (lots of typical community fish; swords, platys, guppies, etc.). I was kinda looking for a theme. Cichlids are very colorful and interesting.
I haven't researched them much though as I was concentrating on the 'community' set-up described above. I know there are certain requirements and tank conditions they need and also you need to be very careful as to what type you mix.

I've posted a pic of my tank at: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/photop...php?photo=7535
and would appreciate feedback as to whether cichlids would be ok in it.

Also, any stocking opinion is greatly appreciated. I'm looking for color and not really interested in fish that get overly large.

THANKS in advance......

Alan

[Jchillin]

Well, for the record...Angels are cichlids as are Rams. What type of cichlids have your fancy?

[apotocki]

Yeah....I realized after I posted that I should have stated that the angels and rams were cichlids...........what I'm after is a colorful tank but with not alot of different types of fish. They had a large section of cichlids in the [acronym:5730caf460="Local Fish Store"]LFS[/acronym:5730caf460]....electrics, zebra's, etc. and first of all, I'm not sure my tank is really set-up to they're liking (that's kinda why I posted the pic) and secondly, I'm not sure as to what makes sense in terms of different species.....maybe I need to do a bunch more reading and investigation! I do like the idea though of having a tank of all cichlids.......

Alan

[Jchillin]

I agree. Their are compatibility and water parameter issues that you will need to explore before making a decision.

You may want to PM "Madasafish". He is an advisor on the forum as well as a cichlid keeper. There are others as well and I'm sure when they see this, they will chime in.

Good luck!

[Billsgate]

If I had a tank that was as big as yours, I would go for something like 4-5 juvenile angels, or 4-5 discus (high maintenance). That combined with a school of any type of schooling fish. And then some algae eaters.

I wouldn't aim for allot of species, but instead choose larger groups of some species. Most fish feel better in larger groups of their own kind.

Good luck choosing!

[An t-iasg]

I did see your tank picture -- very beautiful! I don't have cichids, but the hatchery I go to has a big show tank with electric yellows, Ps. demasoni, and a few others. There's no driftwood or plants in that tank; it's all rock structures. Driftwood lowers pH values. Angels and rams would like a planted tank with driftwood. The zebras and yellows that you mentioned would like hard water with a higher pH, and rock structures. The hard water is usually buffered by crushed coral in the filter. So driftwood and higher-pH cichlids wouldn't normally go together.

There's another member, travis simonson, and he has amazing planted cichlid tanks.

[Fishyfanatic]

I'd say go with the Cichlids. As you can see, I am a huge fan of Lake Malawali Cichlids. Very colorful, active, and fun to watch.

[TankGirl]

I think mbuna would be a great choice for a tank that size. Here is a link to some stocking suggestions for a 75gal tank, from cichlid-forum.com:
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/article...cutter_75g.php

[apotocki]

Hmmmm......thanks for the input.

I think that since I already have the tank set-up more for a 'community' tank, I'll most likley stick with my original plan (Angels, cardinals, blue rams) as I don;t have alot of rocks and such (that other cichlids like and need).
I'm wondering how many blue rams I can/should have with the set-up listed below:

3-4 angels
12 cardinals
? blue rams
5-6 giant danios, or maybe another smaller shoal of rasbora/tetra?
5 cory's
4 oto's

(I know that the angels like to snakc on anyting they can fit in they're mouths and I plan on getting the cardinals first to let them grow a bit and then add small angels)

Also, I was thinking about clown loaches but not sure. And I thought that the setting up and aquascaping part was hard!