Hello

[Mnevarez]

Hello, my name is Miguel and I am new to this site. I came across this site will googling remedies for Ick 3 weeks ago. This site helped out a lot, I never had to deal with Ick before. My 29g tank has been running for 4yrs now, it is stocked with community fish. 6 Guppies, 3 Cory's & 5 neon tetras a total of 14 fish. I have not had a fish die in over a year before a stopped in at petco 3 weeks ago. I came home with 4 new cherry barbs and that's we're problems began, fish started to die within days and spots appeared all over them. Now I have 3 Cory's & 2 guppies. Everything seems to be back to normal, can I add fish now? It's been around a week and a half since treatment has been over. I am also currently cycling a new 50g bow front tank that I want to stock with cichlids. 50g Is running a Aquatop cf- 400 uv canister filter will this be enough filtration? I want smaller sized cichlids with tons of color any suggestions? Any recommendation on dwarf cichlids with lots of color ?

[FreshSaltGirl]

Hi, and welcome to the site! My name is Jenn. First off, may I ask what medication you used to cure the ich and for how long? Did you raise the temperature while adding medication? If so, you can be 95% positive there is no ich left. But, to be absolutely sure, clean the substrate in your tank thoroughly, as some free-swimming juvenile parasites (tomites) may still have survived.

Congrats on your new 50gal! Yes, the aquatop cf400 should be fine, as long as you change the filters when needed. Cichlids normally do not present to be a heavy bioload, but if your tank is thoroughly stocked, change the filters every 5 weeks. Of course, you probably have enough experience with that, having kept an aquarium for 4 years already.



Personally, my fav dwarf cichlids are kribensis and rams, which are relatively non-agressive. However, they are territorial, and will need a cave-like structure to be truly content. In a 50g, it is possible to keep both rams and kribs without dispute, if there are enough hiding places.

[Mnevarez]

Hello Jenn, thanks for recommendations on cichlids. I don't know much about them so any advice would be great!! I really want to get the tank right before adding fish because needless to say I DONT want to lose any more fish. I still have time to research since cycle on 50g tank isn't complete. As for my 29g community tank. I started Ick treatment with 50% water change then turned heat up to 82, removed my carbon from the Marineland penguin 200 and left bio-wheel in, emptied 3 packets of API super Ick cure into tank, 48hrs later repeated the dose & finally 48hrs later 25% water change. I will add 3 or 4 new fish this weekend so hopefully all goes well!!

[FreshSaltGirl]

The kribs and rams are lower level fish, so they won't eat flakes if you offer them. I had "super color - sinking cichlid pellets" and they loved them. They also enjoy bloodworms every now and then. Be sure to buy these cichlids in pairs. With kribs, the female will have a noticeably more purple belly, and will be considerably smaller. The male will be quite a bit larger with a diamond shaped caudal fin.

A male ram will have extended filaments on his dorsal fin and ventral fin as opposed to the female's.

With the ich, it seems like you really did a great job getting rid of it. I have nothing to add to that. Good luck with your new fish I hope all goes well!

[Mnevarez]

Hello again Jenn. Kribs & rams both being lower level fish how many would you suggest for 50g tank?

[FreshSaltGirl]

I had one pair of each in my 40gal and they did very well for several years. Since you have 50gal you MIGHT be able to put one more pair in, though it has a lot to do with how long your tank is.

What other fish were you wanting to put in? Angels, discus, other dwarf species?

[FreshSaltGirl]

Very nice-looking tank, by the way

[Mnevarez]

I really like discus but I was told this is a difficult species to care for. I am not sure what kind of other fish will in tank as of now. Maybe other dwarfs, I will have rams & kribs for sure!! I am going to start with one pair of each then go from there. Tank measures 36"long x 21"tall x 12" width on sides to 16"center of bow-front. Thank you for compliments!! Still a work in progress but over all I am happy with the way it turnout.

[FreshSaltGirl]

I agree, discus are a little harder to keep, but only because of the specific requirements they need. With 36" I think starting with two pairs is a great idea! If you can't make up your mind about tankmates, I recommend angels, as they are beautiful - but are considerably easier to care for than discus. They live long too. I still have my male black lace angel, and he'll be 6 this January.

Anyway, good luck with your kribs and rams let me know if you have any more questions.