Finally Decided

[Alvarez]

I have decided to go with some Cichlids for my tank (the 56 gallon. 30 inches long tall tank)

I know I want a yellow Lab for the tank as I love the color of them and it should fit in the tank with no stress. I am still keeping my rainbow shark which many have said it should be no problem because they get along with cichlids well.

What are some good tankmates, with good colors?

Also how do I make the water Brackish, keep the water brackish after water changes and test the water for salt?

Thanks for any help!

 

[RoK]

They don't need salt in their water, it just needs to be hard and alkaline. In fact, especially the shark will prefer no salt. CC should do the trick, you don't even need it if the water is hard enough.

 

[Alvarez]

The water here in Indiana is hard enough more than likely... I have had a few LFS around here say that the water in IN is perfect for tropical fish... PH and the hardness.

Any recommendations on tankmates that will go well with the Rainbow Shark and the Yellow Lab?

 

[Guest]

Yeah, definitely don't add salt to the water... i actually just started with African Cichlids myself... I just went to the fish store and bought a bunch of babies in a small tank that were 1.99 each. Ive actually just finished Identifying them and found out that some of them may have to go as they get older... The Yellow Lab is a Malawian Cichlid so you want to stick with all the same kinds.

I don't really care for the people on this site http://www.malawimayhem.com./ becuase i posted a few questions over there and totally got flamed for "not knowing what i was doing" but.. whatever, im a newbie, why do you think i was asking questions? Anyway they do have a good species profile database.
I was also given a link to this site http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php

 

[Jchillin]

Indeed...the fish you are speaking of are not brackish, therefore...no salt.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Acei's make great tankmates for Labs. Most have a purple body with yellow fins. They can be found in the color combinations of purple with white fins, black with whtie fins, and black with yellow fins. But the others are hard to find.