Ditching My Community for All Cichlid Tank.

[lonelobster]

Hey guys I'm new to the forum I posted an introduction earlier but my names Jonathan and here is my dilemma...

To give you an idea of what I'm working with here is my setup:

45g tall tank (36"x24"x12")
WavePoint T5HO 78 Watt Lighting
Fluval 306 Canister
Planted: Anacharis and Amazon Sword's all medium sized plants
Driftwood w/ peat moss attached
2 medium sized lava rocks.
150 Watt heater set to 78-F
Substrate is 1 bag of Eco Complete Fertilizer and the rest petsmart gravel

Water Parameters:
Ammonia-0
Nitrite-0
Nitrate-10ppm
pH-8.0

I have 10 rummy nose tetras in my tank right now. I don't think they are liking the high pH of my tap water very much. they have had more than enough time to acclimate to my tank and they have never had really bright noses they hug the bottom of the tank and don't really swim around much. I am looking to possibly relocate the rummies and make this tank an all cichlid tank.

What are you suggestions.
I'm not worried about them tearing up my plants or that kind of thing.
I just want fish that can thrive in my hard alkaline tap water. I really don't want to chemically alter my pH and drift wood and peat moss hasn't helped.

If cichlids are a good choice. what region has the most diverse selection of cichlids. I know they should all be from the same region but this tank is in my parents living room and ultimately will become my dads tank when he learns everything. but they want diversity in color but most of all they just want happy fish.

Any thoughts you have would be appreciated don't really have any friends into fish keeping so i can't discuss this with anyone other than on a forum like this so I'm glad to be here.

thanks,
Jonathan

 

[eTrain]

Is it a community tank or a species tank? Are there other fish besides the tetras? With a foot print that small you would probably want to stay with the smaller less aggressive Africans, like Rams or Kribs. African cichlids territory's are established in length and width, so a tall tank isn't really ideal but it can work.

 

[5x5]

Welcome.

Based on your higher pH tap water (how high is it by the way?) and the desire for a variety of colors, you may want to look at African cichlids. The lake Malawi Cichlids are very colorful and thrive in the water parameters you described.

I rarely recommend African cichlids because I don't like or keep them personally, but they would likely be a good fit for you. They are probably the most popular cichlids in the hobby right now. If you pursue this, would change the decor to rock work and get rid of the planted look.

You could also look at doing smaller sized central American cichlids. This would match your current tank appearance better. They normally prefer neutral or acidic water, but tend to be fine with a higher/non-fluctuating pH.

Good luck.

 

[phishfriend]

I would also say africans with your PH where it is. I wouldn't recommend rams who do best in the lower PH range.

 

[lonelobster]

RE:

Thanks for the advice.


I was thinking because of the size of my tank I might go with 1 or 2 african cichlids, that way territory depth is not as much of a problem. I probably wouldn't get any more than 2

with only a couple fish in the tank, they had better have a good personality. I don't want any that just float around, but something that's going to be interesting to watch/feed.

 

[Flyingyahoo]

I have a 65 gallon tank that us 36x24x18. I have a lot of rocks in the tank and about 14 mbuna african cichlids, 1 Cory cat, and a BNP. Do a 40% change once a week and have three filter. Magnum 250, marine land 300 or 350, and large sponge filter. Lots of caves and Rock work. I found that when I upped the mbuna from 10 to 14 the tank did much better. Aggression was spread out and territories were smaller. When i had 10 or less fish i had one socolofi take over the whole tank. My other male mbunas adopted female colors. When i got a few more, the males colored up. I also moved from a community tank. It was a great move. I would suggest dwarf mbuna. I personally like the red top hongi or cyntotilopia afra. Yellow labs look great in any tank.

To save money a got my rocks from a landscaping rock yard. 200 pounds cost less than 20 bucks. Cleaned really well.

 

[Flyingyahoo]

By the way the tank is very lively. Great to watch. One other caution is to be sure get the ratios of males to females correct if getting more than one the same species. also
Some mbuna are more aggressive than others so be sure to research before you buy. I did not and wound up with a very pretty aruatus. That fish was pure evil. It was over the top aggressive. He went back to the lfs in a hurry.

 

[lonelobster]

RE:

Thanks for all the replies.

So I have relocated my 10 rummies into an established 15g tank and I now have 6 Kenyi cichlids about 2-2.5 inches in length along with one 8 inch BN Pleco. They really did not take long to acclimate and are very mildly territorial so far. I have added more canyons and rock with the cichlids so they have a good amount of territory if they need. My only 2 concerns now are 1.) making sure that my pleco doesn't keep my cichlids up all night and 2.) making sure my pleco gets to eat because even when I drop in algae wafers, the cichlids take it right out of the plecos mouth (literally) and run off with it. My tank really doesn't have algae at the moment so he just gets to eat the slime off the glass, and i don't want him to start peeling apart my amazon swords trying to find sustenance.

by the way I have 4 female kenyi and 2 males.

 

[Flyingyahoo]

Try dropping algae wafer in at night after you have turned off the lights for 15 minutes. Pleco just might get enough head start.