Suggestions on fish.

[Crew]

I had recently inherited a little money, and decided to get back into my past fishtank years.
I've got a 29g tank(believe me, an upgrade) and everything nice and set up.
About a week later. Got some fish started, clown loach, striped peacock eel, and two bristlenose plecos.
Now, I had a few years experience so I thought everything was fine and dandy... By alas, not so.
One pleco and the loach died. I was aghast. What went wrong?
Got my water tested the next day, our tap water(well) was at about 8.5 for ph.
Crap.
Bought some ph decrease and set to work saving the other two. Over the course of a week I had emptied the bottle with very little progress, so then I bought the ph 7.0. After a few days of using that both the Other fish died simultaneously.
What the heck???
My ph is now at around 7.6ish. The ph 7.0 is almost all gone too.
So, now I'm thinking. Cichlids are tolerable. Why not them?
It's been another week, my tank is just running without fish. I add some ph 7.0 about 2-3 times a day, as said on the bottle.
Now then, if I haven't bored you and made. You leave, what kind of cichlids would be decent in a 29 gallon? Personally, I thought this was a big tank. I had a 14gallon for about 4years back when I was younger.
Any other details I'll gladly add. Appreciate any suggestions!!!
Right now I'm liking the black convict, snow white, jewel, and "assorted".
For the convict, I'll likely get a female as they tend to be less aggressive.
Anywho, thanks

 

[barterking85]

Possibly rams but I wouldn't shoot for any ph my ph is 8.5 all the time and I keep goldfish cichlids angels livebearers tetras farlowellas fish do better with a consistent ph rather the a changing one another thing when you add your fish do you float the bag I do then add a cup of water from my tank every 15 mins for 1 hour then pour them in I have lost very little fish with this process hope this helped and I didn't bore you too much

 

[Crew]

Haha you didn't bore me.
What I did is I leave the bags to float in the water for 15minutes. Let the water climatize.
The last two fish lasted about two weeks... :/
Butchea, rams? Forgive my ignorance but I'm new to cichlids.

 

[vitacrux]

Most people on here will tell you that fish tend to adjust to whatever pH level your tank is at, and I find that to be true as well. Sometimes the chemicals like pH down do more harm than good and are just a waste of money, so I would start by not adding any more of that and let your pH lay where it may.

Secondly more important on your water quality than pH is your ammonia and nitrite levels as these are toxic to fish, they should both be at 0. The API master test kit should help you with determining those.

As for what type of cichlids, your best bet will be some shell dwelling species like L. Brevis, since they max out at about 3 inches. You could also do some research on other dwarf cichlids such as Apistos. I hope this helps and you get your tank sorted out.

 

[Cichlidsheaven]

How about a pair of convict? Lol soon you will need a 100 gallon tank to house all the juvies and their juvies lol.

I really think some nice jewel cichlid could be a good choice. I really like them.

 

[barterking85]

Haha you didn't bore me.
What I did is I leave the bags to float in the water for 15minutes. Let the water climatize.
The last two fish lasted about two weeks... :/
Butchea, rams? Forgive my ignorance but I'm new to cichlids.

Just try adding water to the bag every 15 mins for an hour this will help them adjust to your ph and a liquid test kit is a great idea you don't need a master that's expensive and I don't even use half of it a mini master gives you ph ammonia nitrites and nitrates that's all you need and usually costs 20$ or take your water tto

 

[barterking85]

Your lfs and give us the readings

 

[Crew]

I loved the jewels right when I saw them.
I loved the convicts too. Till I heard about the agression and breeding habits. I think I'll get a female to lessen the temper.

 

[Crew]

Also, got my water tested for everything only thing out of place was ph and alkalinity.

 

[barterking85]

Well then I wouldn't worry about ph just slowly add the fish of your choice

 

[Crew]

I think I might do that.
Any good sites or stores to gets rams and shellies?

 

[barterking85]

I think I might do that.
Any good sites or stores to gets rams and shellies?

No good local stores in your area they might order in for you then they are responsible for the shipping I don't really order online but iam sure someone will chime in

 

[Shark_Bait]

Hey Crew, I know you were asking about Cichlids, but i have 2 dwarf gouramis and 2 neon blue dwarf gouramis and i love them!!! very easy fish to maintain. I had a bad case of ick and they were the only ones out of 12 fish to survive

 

[Crew]

As a matter of fact a few years ago I had a pair of blue gouramis and a pair of gold ones.
Great fish. Also, at a pet store real close they were on sale for 1$ each!!!
I got my water tested and they said I shouldn't get them... The sale is off now...

 

[barterking85]

I think for a buck I would have tried anyway lol

 

[barterking85]

But of it's cichlids you want then I would do a cichlid only tank IMO I never had good luck mixing my cichlids with anything except loaches that's just my experience with them

 

[Crew]

Yes my tank isn't nearly big enough for incompatible fish.
I want a pleco though, would I have to get a medium-large one?
The cichlids I'm planning on getting aren't very big...
Could I get a small one?
Just a cost situation... Small ones are 5$ less than the medium size.

 

[barterking85]

Something like a farlowella is a great addition they don't get huge and look amazing but it's your tank I don't know to much about plecos but if there is a small breed it should be fine I know commons grow like wild fire and my buddy has one that's 18" or bigger but someone might chime in with more info on pleco types

 

[Crew]

I will definitely look them up!
Butchea, I wasn't sure if I could get a small one because I don't want it to get killed by any aggressive fish. I don't plan on getting any highly aggressive cichlids. I guess we'll see!
The fish store I head to about every day has small ones on sale for 1$ each.

 

[Crew]

Just saw the farlowella.
Wow! Probably one of the weirdest looking fish I've ever seen. Very small bit very long!
Where can I find one of those?