Need help with setup for cichlid tank

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Chasnkevin4ever

Chasnkevin4ever

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Sep 28, 2011
Messages
485
Location
Big spring tx
Okay everyone I need to know all the stuff I need for my cichlids to be happy. The best food for them? The type of gravel/ substrate? I am getting them some small clay pots. Are the filters with carbon bad? How to set the tank up? Should one side have the clay pots and hiding spots and other side be open for swimming? How could I still give my Hap bloodworms without lab getting any of them? Anything would help tomorrow is payday and I want to hook them up with all the good stuff. I have read that I can use pool filter sand so it don't raise ph to high, can anyone give advice on the sand?
 
Hmm where to start.... The clay pots work good, I use limestone holey rock and they love it plus it buffers the ph UP. I noticed you said you didn't want anything to raise the ph, so maybe your oh is already really high? Cichlids like a high ph around 8 is where I keep mine. I feed strictly OmegaOne super color pellets but any high quality Pellet it good like NLS or something like that. I doubt you can keep your lab from eating some of those bloodworms, I just use brine shrimp as an occasional treat. As far as sand goes with cichlids it seems that a darker substrate makes their colors pop more, so I used Black Diamond blasting sand from Tractor Supply. It's like $7 for 50lbs and looks great just rinse very very well.

I attached a couple pictures of my 150 gallon to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

What exactly is your stock list?
 

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That is a really pretty tank! My big one that I am planning on getting I want it to look similar to that. Beautiful! Right now I have a male blue Hap and female yellow lab. I have pics of them on my profile. They are beautiful fish. I am going to get them a 125+ gallon as soon as I can. I know I should not have mixed them but when I got them from petsmart they told me any cichlid could go together I had to get rid of my jewel I bought. Now I have my two babies and my male has been showing signs of being interested in her, so I may have some hybrids. Oops I didn't know! They might turn out pretty. That something else do I need to split up male and female if they do so he don't eat babies?
 
I doubt the lab and peacock will breed.. And Its okay to mix haps and mbuna, as long as you give them what they need, i don't think it's okay to mix lakes though. I have peacocks, labs, rustys, acei, afra, demasoni and other assorted ones. As far as the fry go the parents usually won't eat them but which fish were you talking about.
 
I was asking if my Hap would eat the babies? So how would I need to setup the tank for both species to co exist? And as long as all the cichlids I get are from lake Malawi I should be alright? Would it matter about the male female ratio if they are different species from same lake?
 
Male to female ratio is important within a certain species. 3:1 is supposedly best more females if you can. With your peacocks you can have all males(very pretty) females are kinda ugly anyways. Or have many more females than males. But some species are better about it than others. Is it just the lab and peacock in the same tank? If so what size?
 
Bully405Customz said:
Hmm where to start.... The clay pots work good, I use limestone holey rock and they love it plus it buffers the ph UP. I noticed you said you didn't want anything to raise the ph, so maybe your oh is already really high? Cichlids like a high ph around 8 is where I keep mine. I feed strictly OmegaOne super color pellets but any high quality Pellet it good like NLS or something like that. I doubt you can keep your lab from eating some of those bloodworms, I just use brine shrimp as an occasional treat. As far as sand goes with cichlids it seems that a darker substrate makes their colors pop more, so I used Black Diamond blasting sand from Tractor Supply. It's like $7 for 50lbs and looks great just rinse very very well.

I attached a couple pictures of my 150 gallon to get an idea of what I'm talking about.

What exactly is your stock list?
Click to expand...

Hey bully I went and got some of the blackdiamond blasting sand how do I clean it before I put in my tanks?
 
When I cleaned my sand I took a bucket and 1/3 filled it with the sand.Then I filled the bucket nearly to the top with tap water.Then you simply mix the sand around and you will see the water colour.Empty off the dirty water leaving the sand behind.Refill with fresh water and repeat until the water is clean.Hope this helps. :)
 
That's how I cleaned my sand but I got mine for free when I traded some stuff at my lfs and it was prewashed. So I never actually had to clean mine. But the bucket way is the best. Just be thorough.
 
Another black blasting sand tank ? I LOVE mine.... I used a pillow case to clean mine with warm water.... Easier IMO to rinse and transfer into tank.
 
Bully405Customz said:
I doubt the lab and peacock will breed.. And Its okay to mix haps and mbuna, as long as you give them what they need, i don't think it's okay to mix lakes though. I have peacocks, labs, rustys, acei, afra, demasoni and other assorted ones. As far as the fry go the parents usually won't eat them but which fish were you talking about.
Click to expand...

Parents may not eat them initially, but keep in mind that the "parenting" aspect in these fish is relatively short term ~ a couple weeks at the most once the female releases. After that they revert back to their normal nature as omnivorous fish, which is basically "anything small enough to fit in my mouth is food." If you want to have success raising young fry in with the parents, your tank needs to have lots of hiding spots for the fry to be able to escape to and hide, and even then, you're only going to have about a 10% survival rate of the young over time, especially as the tank becomes more stocked with larger fish.
 
My lab died last nite from Malawi bloat :( and I was getting everything to make her better. I hate losing my fish so sad. She was beautiful! That's okay I will just stick to non mbunas when I get my bigger tank less stress on the Malawi bloat with them. My blue has done great. The mbunas are to sensitive for my taste in fish. Thank you everyone for all the help trying to get her better. I appreciate it. And I will always come here first with any question I have on my cichlids y'all have been great help!
 
She had Malawi bloat when I bought her. I thought she was preggo but she wasn't. I know what signs to look for when I get more so I don't get sick fish next time.
 
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