I love my ice blue (pictured in the group shot), yellow labs at a splash of super bright color... I haven't really gone in depth with my fish, I goto the LFS, pick a fish I like and put them in. It's not the best way to pick fish, but it's worked for me. I have a 40 gallon long, but if I knew I was getting cichlids I would of went with at least a 55. When setting up your tank sand will always be best, rocks and what not can be found at your local garden or landscaping store (get creative, it keeps it from becoming to costly). Cichlids are relatively easy to keep if you do some research first. I traded my guppies for some convict cichlids, and then from there traded those for Africans (I still have lots of convicts though...).