Cichlids for a pond

[bettaowner]

I am going to turn my 60 gallon turtle pond into a mbuna pond. Can you give me any good ideas for cichlids I can add.

 

[Jacobsal91]

Pond? Sounds pretty cool. I never thought to do that. How deep is it? They are gunna still need caves and such but you could probably put zebras and/or aratus and\or johonni and fish of that nature.

 

[bettaowner]

The pond is about 25 inches deep max. I have some rocks that I can arrange into caves. There will be a continuous supply of live bloodworms in the pond ( lucky me!) Would I have a good chance of them breeding?

 

[Jacobsal91]

Bloodworms are no good for mbuna cichlids... Too much protein they should have a veggie based diet. (mbuna=zebra, aratus, johonni, peacock?). If you want to feed blood worms get different types of cichlids like frontosa and birchardi, compressor, and other tangenyikans.. But again same concept get a lot of caves and such. They will probably breed in there if they are happy. But the odds of the fry surviving might not be too high because they may get eaten if u dont have a lot of hiding spots and what not. Also africans require certain water
Conditions. If you live somewhere that it gets
Really cold and your pond is outdoors personally i wouldnt even bother. And rain can ruin the water parameters. Just keep those things in mind but it sounds like a totally awesome idea

 

[Ovid]

The pond is about 25 inches deep max. I have some rocks that I can arrange into caves. There will be a continuous supply of live bloodworms in the pond ( lucky me!) Would I have a good chance of them breeding?

Just remember that high protein diets can cause bloat in Malawi Cichlids and Bloodworms are about 55% protein. As far as reproduction goes, that would be up to the fish, but if you maintained it to the specifications they need, there is no reason they wouldn't. I do like the pond idea though, but make sure you look into bird deterrents, or you may be back to a hole with water before you know it.

 

[Jacobsal91]

Just remember that high protein diets can cause bloat in Malawi Cichlids and Bloodworms are about 55% protein. As far as reproduction goes, that would be up to the fish, but if you maintained it to the specifications they need, there is no reason they wouldn't. I do like the pond idea though, but make sure you look into bird deterrents, or you may be back to a hole with water before you know it.

Yeah if you cant control said flow of bloodworms i wouldnt get malawi. Abd as far as birds and other animals eating them is also a problem. Get something a bird cant grasp. Like some big frotosas or something

 

[bettaowner]

Thanks. I might go with the tang cichlids. Could I get fast moving fish ( guppies) to eat the bloodworms? I still am interested in the cichlids mainly the zebras and auratus. Any advice on how to care for them?

 

[Jacobsal91]

If u put guppys in the pond with the cichlids they will get eaten. Thats why i sugested a carnivorus/omniverious fish. So the protein wont damage their systems. But basically mbuna are mainly herbavores, they can be quite agressive, and need a lot of caves and nooks to hide in. To prevent agresstion people will recommend overstocking but thats always dependent on the size tank/pond you have, And most mbuna usually dont get much larger than 6 inches.. But some get bigger than that. I think that soze pond would be ok for overstocking. If you can solve the bloodworm thing which becomes a problem with fish like these; you will be set to go. Parameters for mbuna: ph-7.8-8.2
Nitrate-0
Ammonia-0
And some also recommend salting the water a little, Like one rounded tablespoon for every gallon i think. (double check label lol). And a fiet of mostly veggies but some meat is good, just not a lot of it. I give mine live/frozen brine once a month. But thats just my preferance its not
Totally nessasary

 

[bettaowner]

I am interested in trying to raise mouth brooders. Zebras are what really interest me. I also think the auratus would be for me. Are peacocks peaceful? I don't want to have a bunch of semi aggressive fish and a couple peaceful fish that are going to be bullied. I need all semi agressive to aggressive fish or other fish that can hold their own against the cichlids.

 

[gman42]

if your not setvon africans, look into south american cichlids. they could eat the bloodworms, but you couldnt have as many fish.

 

[5x5]

Just remember that high protein diets can cause bloat in Malawi Cichlids and Bloodworms are about 55% protein. As far as reproduction goes, that would be up to the fish, but if you maintained it to the specifications they need, there is no reason they wouldn't. I do like the pond idea though, but make sure you look into bird deterrents, or you may be back to a hole with water before you know it.

This has been discussed in other threads, but it's not true that high protein percentage alone causes bloat, but rather the quality of the food and how the protein is derived.

With the being said, bloodworms aren't the best.

 

[jetajockey]

If your goal is to breed the fish I suggest going with a container that you can monitor them in and pull the fry as needed. You won't be able to do that very well in a pond. Not that a pond wouldn't work for breeding, you'd just need to stock it in a way that would maximize fry survival, which usually means very sparse stocking. Either that, or go with a fish that is less predatory against fry.

 

[bettaowner]

I decided that I will net out the bloodworms and have malawi cichlids. Can I combine them with tang cichlids? I plan on using the overstock method to disperse aggression.

 

[jetajockey]

How are you going to know aggression levels if you can't closely monitor their activity?

 

[Labenator65000]

I am going to turn my 60 gallon turtle pond into a mbuna pond. Can you give me any good ideas for cichlids I can add.

The water parameters and temperature need to be kept the same as if you had them in a tank. Remember these fish are from Africa.

 

[Jacobsal91]

I decided that I will net out the bloodworms and have malawi cichlids. Can I combine them with tang cichlids? I plan on using the overstock method to disperse aggression.

That will work. But as the others said you reallly have to watch their activity closly to make sure everythings going smooth. I would love to see a pic of this pond

 

[bettaowner]

If I introduce several cichlids to the already cycled pond all at once, will this affect aggression?

 

[garfy]

It's your best option as all the added cichlids will have to mark their territories as appose to some being added to an already established tank and being seen as intruders.

 

[bettaowner]

If I decide to add other cichlids after a few die, should I rearrange the rock work so the resident cichlids don't view them as intruders.

 

[garfy]

There's really no reason why any should die as long as you pick compatible fish but yes rearranging the rockwork is the way to go when adding to an already established pond.