90 Gallon, and want to start a Cichlid Tank..

[AngelFish]

Hey everyone..
I just purchased a 90g tank today and am setting it up tomorrow to start cycling.. I'm really interested in making it a lovely home for some cichlids.. But the thing is i know nothing about them. I recently lost my Albino Oscar a few days ago.. Had him for about a year, he was around 8 inches long.. So sad to see him go.. So now i'm looking to start something new.. So if anyone could give me some basics on what these fish prefer and any other tips that would be great! Also some ideas on what species to put in.. I want to keep the price decent, but still get some healthy and entertaining fish in there... Thanks everyon

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Make sure you get tons of rocks and stack them up. Make as many caves and holes and such as you can, african cichlids are very territoral. Also make sure you have a sandy bottom, the cichlids love the sandy bottom.

Also a plus is to get a lot of small cichlids, so they can grow up together, that's always better.

If you plan on adding new cichlids as you go, you will have to rearrange the tank everytime you add a new cichlid. Since cichlids get territories, the new cichlid will get stressed because of all the attack he would be getting, then die. That's why I suggest getting all the cichlids you plan on having at the same time, and around the same size.

They like warmer temps. They like some what of a current in the water aswell.

There are so many sp. to pick from, I personally like the hap. cichlid sp. since they coming in so many colors. One of my haps has about 5-6 diff colors. They all come in diff. colors and patterns, very beautiful, but hardish to find young and small.

You need anymore info?

 

[AngelFish]

That was very helpful.. Thank you for the great basics..

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Your welcome.