Cichlid tank

[Harryhorse]

Doing a 200tr Cichlid tank soon an wondering if peps had any good stockin tips.I like jd's labs, convicts just a few I like

 

[bruinsbro1997]

No labs with convicts and JDs, that'd be total aggression issues and different pH issues.

 

[Harryhorse]

Cool I was not puttin them in they were just the cichlids that I like so far would just use one off these plus others

 

[brock029]

Im pretty new to cichlids my self but I'm going to say first thing is to pick if you want africans and from what lake or if you want south america/central american cichlids. I personally like africans because of there colors and they dont go over 6 inches in size. I have a really simple set up with 4 yellow labs, 4 johanni, 3 acei, 3 OB Peacock, and a Rainbow Shark in a 75 gallon tank.

 

[NyteGTI]

Im pretty new to cichlids my self but I'm going to say first thing is to pick if you want africans and from what lake or if you want south america/central american cichlids. I personally like africans because of there colors and they dont go over 6 inches in size. I have a really simple set up with 4 yellow labs, 4 johanni, 3 acei, 3 OB Peacock, and a Rainbow Shark in a 75 gallon tank.

and before anybody asks, you are doing a fishless cycle first correct?

there's a ton of info here, I'm pretty much brand new here and have already learned so much(nowhere near "knowledgeable"). read up, check out some other members tanks and ask a lot of specific questions rather than "im looking for info".

Sorry if I'm coming off harsh, I don't mean to, im just inebriated and can't figure out proper ways of putting things

to answer your post, Brock's got it pretty much on. Don't mix lakes, don't mix continents, read up on which ones get BIG(some do) & what their needs are(example acei's need a 5-6ft tank because of their swimming around)
I'll note one thing from personal experience(so it's not a hard fact but it's happened to me) my rainbow shark in my malawi tank doesn't get food much. The cichlids tear through it so fast & fight him back from it. I think mine is just a submissive one and will probably go into my angel tank when I get the bigger tank for them. Other than that have fun with it and post pics

 

[Harryhorse]

Yer I have books an no not to mix lakes just thought I would find out what ciclids people have that were cool to watch and interesting. Yer fishless cycle

 

[NyteGTI]

so, back to normal this morning haha.

My personal favorite are my yellow labs. my one lab Leo is definitely the boss of my tank. there's little chases here and there between him and the 2 female kenyi and the male kenyi as well as the other labs. be careful, they're so curious that one of my female labs actually tried to swim into my gravel vac as I was pulling it out of the tank because she thought the gravel were really big pellets She was able to swim out even before I got the vac fully out of the tank but still scared me pretty bad haha.

 

[brock029]

Yeah I have 4 yellow labs and one of them likes to use the bubbles like its an elevator and shoot to the top of the tank. I did have a long finned oscar for awhile and they are some very interesting fish. They are very emotional like one day I changed his food and he tried it...didnt like it for some reason got mad and hid in a rock for probably around 24 hours...next day came back out I fed him his old food and he was happy again. but yeah so far all of the fish I listed before are very fun to watch...like my 3 aceis play follow the leader all day and try to fit into holes in the rock that are way to small for them.

 

[Fishguy2727]

Chemistry may not be an issue unless your water is very soft. Since most people seem to suggest not altering anyways, each of your tanks will have the same chemistry. I do prefer to add special salts and buffers, the fish do better that way IME.

Mixing cichlids, lakes, and even continents is purely a matter of preference (and aggression levels, careful selection, etc.). Some people suggest keeping mbunas only with mbunas, peacocks only with peacocks, shell dwellers only with shell dwellers, etc. Some people suggest sticking to only one lake. Some people suggest keeping lake cichlids together and not mixing them with any other cichlids. Some people suggest keeping them separated by continent, and many people have had success keeping cichlids from all over the world together. It is really up to you, but without experience with all these cichlids it is almost impossible for you to determine their aggression levels and therefore compatibility.

IMO that tank is pretty small for cichlids. If you stick with cichlids I would keep the tank pretty specific. For example, have only jack dempseys, only mbunas, only peacocks, only Tanganyikans, etc.

 

[KonvictKeeper]

I have cons. They are so cool. That is if you want babies.

 

[Mrc8858]

I'm a big fan of johannis and auratus but must be kept separate to keep from hybridization although I dont... any babies don't leave my house to keep from messing up the species

 

[Fishguy2727]

Depending on how you define a species these are not different species in the first place. There are many definitions that scientists use to define a species, and which one they use depends on the organisms they are working with. There is nothing magical about auratus, labidochromis, or any others. If they can hybridize they are arguably not different species anyways. Nothing is being 'ruined' by 'hybrids' (especially since aquarium cichlids will never be released into the wild to repopulate the lake, and even if they were, hybrids would be just as good as 'pures').

 

[Harryhorse]

Thx for all your input all cheers