Just joined!

[Finch]

Hey all! I'm somewhat new to the fishkeeping game. I had a 10 gal. community tank back in high school, and got back into the game this past December.

Currently, I've got a 20 gal. community tank with some lovely neon tetra, harlequin rasboras, albino cory cats, and a very lovely honey gourami.

Also new this month is a 29 gal. tank I'd like to add some cichlids to. It is currently the home to three very lovely yellow labs. I have a couple of newb questions, though:
1. the nice man at my LFS told me I could fit 12-15 smaller fish into this tank (crowding the tank to curb aggression). would this be a good idea in a tank this size?
2. based on the picture, will the decorations I have in currently provide enough cover for the fish when they are fully stocked? I have some river rocks from my yard I can pile in there if needed. would I need to treat them in any special way to get them tank ready?

 

[roka64]

Welcome to the site! Those are some great tank shots...WHAT?!?!?! No SW? LOL, just kiddin....

 

[redchick2]

Hi,
Welcome to the group. I have a 55g cichlid tank. If you want lots of the babies to survive, you might want to ad a few more rocksSimilar to the one pictured on the left. My babies stay in the holes except when fed till they are about and inch long, then they venture out more. Without places to hid they will have a hard time with the adults.

 

[Zagz]

Welcome to AA! I love the look of your tanks.

 

[melosu58]

Welcome aboard. Nice tanks.

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

 

[Alaris]

Also new this month is a 29 gal. tank I'd like to add some cichlids to. It is currently the home to three very lovely yellow labs. I have a couple of newb questions, though:
1. the nice man at my LFS told me I could fit 12-15 smaller fish into this tank (crowding the tank to curb aggression). would this be a good idea in a tank this size?
2. based on the picture, will the decorations I have in currently provide enough cover for the fish when they are fully stocked? I have some river rocks from my yard I can pile in there if needed. would I need to treat them in any special way to get them tank ready?

Welcome to AA!!

1. Don't believe everything your LFS tells you. They are usually wrong, lying, or ignorant.
The general rule that nobody agrees with is 1" of fish per gallon. What you want to consider is the eventual ADULT size of the fish, not it's current baby size that you bought it at. Another thing to consider is the bioload of the fish. I.E. are they messy feeders, do they poop a lot? Another thing to consider is the aggression of the fish. The more aggressive the fish, the more space they need. Once again it's the eventual ADULT aggression you want to consider, because most juvies are nice until they hit puberty.
Crowding the tank to curb aggression will only stress out your fish and they will become prone to diseases and death.

2. No xp w/ cichlids.

Not many people check here to answer q's. You'll want to post your q's in the Freshwater forums. There's even a Cichlid discussion forum.

 

[OceanMaiden]

Welcome to aa finch!!!

Hello Finch,

I warmly welcome you to AA. This is absolutely the best site to come to for any and all advice reguarding aquariums. This place has helped me numerous times in the past, especially when I'd first got started. Thanks to this site I have 2 beautiful well run aquariums and am planning to have more! Good Luck and feel free to bombard us with all your questions!

 

[AndrewH]

Welcome, Honey Gourami's are awesome

 

[cmor1701d]

 

[FishEggs]

hello