For my college ecology class we have to put together a terrarium or aquarium. For mine I have an African Dwarf Frog, two Golden mystery snails, and three African cichlids. Before putting them together I cleaned the tank that my professor provided with vinegar like the fish guy told me to and rinsed it out very very well. Yesterday evening I put some fish gravel in the bottom some rocks to hid from the other fish and frog in and some aquatic plants. Everything seemed to be going well last night when I left, however this morning around 10:20 my three fish were dead at the bottom of the tank. Both snails and my frog are alive, and one of the snails was eating one of my fish. I'm not sure what caused the death of my fish. The tank is out in the college greenhouse where it stays fairly warm. Everyone elses fish are still alive so maybe my frog killed the fish? Any ideas?
African Cichlid Problem
- Thread starter kzani93
- Start date
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BettaGal
Aquarium Advice Addict
What size tank are they in? What are the water parameters? ADFs don't kill fish unless they can fit in their mouths to become food. They're scavengers and pretty peaceful.
Its a wee bit bigger than a 10 gallon. As for the parameters I have not checked, and will do so as soon as possible. I didn't think the ADF would do anything to them, seeing as I have had one before with my Beta and they both lived forever!
BettaGal
Aquarium Advice Addict
That's one of the big problems. Cichlids need big tanks. I think one cichlid needs 30 gallons minimum. They get too big for 10 gallons. Once you get the water parameters, you'll need to look at smaller fish.
MurderComplication
Aquarium Advice Activist
Did you have a heater in the tank? African Cichlids need a warm water. I keep a tropical Semi-agressive tank on top of a fireplace, and I still need a heater.
No I do not. I am in Great Falls, MT and I believe it got about 32 degrees F outside, so I'm not 100% sure what the temperature was last night in the greenhouse. The store I got the fish from didn't really tell me much about the ciclids besides the fact that they were vegetarians and sometimes they pick on each other.
The fish guy said three would be okay. Basically what I need to have is a self sustainable deal with three trophic levels. He suggested the African ciclids due to the fact that they are vegetarians. What kind of fish would you suggest instead of those?
MurderComplication
Aquarium Advice Activist
I would try a schooling fish, like neons, raasboros, or tiger barbs (7 to 10), one center piece fish.... A beta works well. But Angel fish need a minimum of a 20G high, but I've heard of a single angel living long lives in a 10G. I would try Darwf Gourami's, but they need to be in a group of preferably 4 since they are quite aggressive, or alone. The snails and ADF can be seen as a lower level, Schooling, low to med level and the center piece is a high level fish. Maybe.... 5 or 6 snails?
BettaGal
Aquarium Advice Addict
Schooling fish need 20G minimum because of activity level, and dwarf gourami's have to be alone. They get real aggressive with other DG's. they're in the same family as bettas. You really would only want a maximum of 4 snails. That way they all get adequate algae for the most part. I would suggest a small mostly solitary fish, like on DG or one betta. In a 10 gallon you're pretty limited on suitable fish. If you wanted, you could do 2-3 guppies, but they breed like mad and are messy.
BettaGal
Aquarium Advice Addict
Oh yeah. Basically guppies eat, poop, and make love. Food wise, I fed my two guppies just tropical fish flakes. Just know that they are messy and you'll have to do good gravel vacuums when you do your water changes.
MurderComplication
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have four Drawf Gourami's in my tank and they got along pretty well, one is more dominate than the others and won't let them go near 'his plant', but overall they're fine.
BettaGal
Aquarium Advice Addict
Three are probably females then. Also, this is for a 10-gal. That would be too small for 4 DGs to have their own territory like they would need.
MurderComplication
Aquarium Advice Activist
They're all male --- but one DG would be fine for your tank, IMO anyway since they're prettty easy to keep. I think Platy's would work in your tank too - but they breed like crazy.
BettaGal
Aquarium Advice Addict
You could do either guppies, one betta, or one DG. Those would be my suggestions.
BettaGal
Aquarium Advice Addict
A group of platys will get too big for a 10 gallon. And they are really messy.
MurderComplication
Aquarium Advice Activist
Also depends on how active you want it. Betta's generally are pretty lazy. Guppies, from what I've seen at the LFS, are really slow swimmers and just look pretty. DG's are actually really active and swim like a maniac half the time.
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