C i c h l i d s

[CCXGT]

I've been messing about with community since I started and I've decided to get into African Cichlids.

I've just gone and picked up a 240l (63USG) and it's getting set up in the near future.

So, I don't have much of a clue about Cichlids.

Literally act as if you're talking to a 6 year old, tell me everything..

What decor?
What substrate?
What food?
What fish?
What everything?

Every bit of help I get is absolutely critical so thanks in advance..

 

[Astro387]

I've never personally kept any cichlids. Head over to cichlid-forum.com[URL] good info and a community forum for help

 

[Venom_]

They are aggressive fish so you kind of have to overstock a little to divide the aggression among each other.
There are 3 main types of african cichlids; mbunas, haps and peacocks.
Mbunas are more aggressive and are rock dwellers that eat mainly algae.
Peacocks are less aggressive and like more open space.
Haps are mostly predatory fish that feed on fry of other cichlids they are also open swimmers. Some haps get really big so a 63 gallon wouldn't work for most haps.
They prefer hard water and a high pH range, 8.2 is the best.
Decor: just rocks are fine they love rocks. Mbunas would like a lot of rocks and peacocks and haps would prefer less.

 

[Venom_]

Substrate: sand! African cichlids love sand! Any type of sand will do.
Food: mbunas require a vegetarian diet because they love to eat algae.
Peacocks not 100% sure but they require a protein rich diet and so do haps.
It is not a good idea to mix peacocks and haps with mbunas do to their different diets, also it is not a good idea to put different kinds of fish that are not african cichlids in with them. The fish would get killed by the cichlids. Some catfish can mix with Africans like synodontis catfish.
Just keep researching there are lots of things to learn with cichlids but they are great fish.

 

[bettaowner]

In my opinion mbuna would do best. They are colorful and very interesting to observe. My favorite species is the yellow lab