New Tank Start-Up Questions???

[Coyote251]

Hi All, I am currently in the process of cycling a new tank which I would like to setup as a cichlid tank. I am not 100% sure what type of cichlid's I will be putting in the tank, but have seen a few local people advertising convicts for a decent price. This might be a good idea due to the fact that I am very new to fish keeping, not a whole lot of sense investing tons of money in fish until I have a better idea of what I am doing. So, the tank I am cycling is a 30g, I currently have some planted plants and a bunch of beach stone,making alot of crevases and caves. I do know that this won't house the fish for long and I am fully prepared to upgrade to a larger tank within the next year.

Onto my questions :

1) I am using the fishless cycling method and am wondering when to start conditioning the water for cichlids? I don't want to affect the cycling process by adding minerals and messing around with the GH/KH as I know that this will affect the PH as well. Should I wait until the tank is fully cycled and then add the cichlid water conditioner and KH booster? Do I even need this stuff?

2) What kind of numbers am I looking for in my water tests? I checked it tonight and the GH was less than 20mg/L and the KH was about 65mg/L. The current PH is about 7.5.

3) What things do I need to be worrying about in preparing this tank for cichlids?

4) How many fish could this tank house safely for the first year if I planned on upgrading to atleast a 80g tank within the next twelve months.

Any help,suggestions or direction to any good resources for cichlids would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jmedic25]

1. Dont worry too much about ph, and GH. Unless they are very low. They need stable as opposed to perfect water when it comes to PH. Most fish are farm raised now and are used to lower ph. Its hard to keep PH with chemicals. So just see where it goes naturally.
2. It totally depends on the cichlids you keep

3. Most plants African/south american chiclids wont allow. They will eat them or dig them up. Africans do ok with anubias and java fern. But you have to have good lights. 1-2 watts per gallon.
4. Totally depends on what type of cichlids your keeping.

Lots of online research. Look at the sticky thread on top of this forum
Good luck! Welcome to the forum

 

[joel618]

1. Dont worry too much about ph, and GH. Unless they are very low. They need stable as opposed to perfect water when it comes to PH. Most fish are farm raised now and are used to lower ph. Its hard to keep PH with chemicals. So just see where it goes naturally.
2. It totally depends on the cichlids you keep

3. Most plants African/south american chiclids wont allow. They will eat them or dig them up. Africans do ok with anubias and java fern. But you have to have good lights. 1-2 watts per gallon.
4. Totally depends on what type of cichlids your keeping.

Lots of online research. Look at the sticky thread on top of this forum
Good luck! Welcome to the forum

Pretty much my thoughts exactly.

 

[thegundog]

Just another thought since you are cycling....

I would suggest adding additional filter media to your cycling tank, FILTER media you can transfer to a quarantine tank.

I'll try to explain better based on what happened to me:

I fishless cycled my tank, just like you....

I purchased fish and added them to my cycled tank.... 7 days later ICH breakout....

Had I cycled additional filter media during my main tank cycle I would have had cycled filter media available to quarantine my fish before introducing them to my main tank.

You really should quarantine your fish before you add them and if you have additional cycled media ready to go it makes quaranting possible.

Have fun and be PATIENT!

 

[Coyote251]

Unfortunatly I do not have another tank for a quarantine, and cannot spend the money right now to get one. It is a good idea though and will most likely get one as soon as possible. My biggest question now is should I be conditioning the water now for cichlids or should I wait until the tank is cycled?

 

[Jmedic25]

My biggest question now is should I be conditioning the water now for cichlids or should I wait until the tank is cycled?

4. Totally depends on what type of cichlids your keeping.

 

[Coyote251]

I am looking at what is being advertised for a decent price and my options currently are Kribensis, Red Zebra and Yellow Labs. Due to the size of my tank I am currently only looking at juvenilles and frys that are being advertised. Which, if any of these fish are compatible? I understand that the Kribensis are more bottom dwellers so would the other 2 types be able to coexist with them or would they fight for territory. If I do go with any of these do I need to start conditioning my tank now or wait until it is cycled. I dosed my tank again for the first time tonight so the process has started anyways.

 

[Jmedic25]

A 30 is a little small for zebras and labs. It would work for a few months if you do. I dont own kribs so im not sure on them. I dont think labs,zebras and kribs are suitable tankmates. Now labs and zebras do fine.

 

[5x5]

Kribs are riverine cichlids. They come soft, acidic water like SA/CA cichlids, rather than the hard, alkaline water of the rift lakes. I don't think they are a good fit with the labs and zebra.