New to cichlids

[stevenht]

That tank is really purrty. I wish my tank was that big ?

 

[philip0381]

Put blue dolphin ciclids

 

[stevenht]

Before and after

 

[stevenht]

Next I have to find my otto and my BN pleco and move them to my 20 long.

I got 100lbs of seagull PFS that's going in. How do I get rid of that algae along the walls? Will pressure washing take care of it or will cichlids appreciate something to graze on?

 

[stevenht]

Almost done

 

[stevenht]

Went ahead and got all the algae off the back wall. It was bothering me too bad.

 

[stevenht]

Where can I buy shells for my Shellies? All I have is saltwater and they're not very big at all. I have one big magic conch (spongebob) but that's not going to be enough for my Shellies

 

[Brookster123]

Amazon

 

[stevenht]

These will be enough for Shellies to live in? So hard to gauge through a picture.

 

[stevenht]

Saw a video today with those shells in a tank with shellies, a frontosa, and brichardi's and they look pretty big. Thanks brookster

 

[Freakgecko91]

My best advice: start with Shellie's alone. One species, no tank mates. Learn their behaviors and understand them through experience before attempting a cohab tank. Will save you lots of time and money, trust me. My Shellie tank that brooks spoke of earlier was a major pain to get just right and took me several weeks before things evened out. Something as simple as upgrading the tank size made my entire colony crash.

To be honest, a bow front would not be my first choice for Shellie's. Brichardi live in family units and wouldn't be a terrible choice for this tank, but again, no tank mates. If it were my tank, I'd either replace the tank with a 40breeder or do a pair of angelfish and some dithers (which I see you had previously)

 

[Freakgecko91]

Also, have a tub of escargot shells in the basement. These work perfectly for Shellie's, should you go that route.

I saw Callipterus mentioned earlier. This is a larger species and I would avoid them for a beginner. Look towards multifasciatus, brevis, or ocellatus IMO

 

[stevenht]

Yeah angels are fun but they don't roam the tank as much as fish like tetras. They're more stationary, at least the pair I had was.

Yeah the Callipterus is out of the question because of size. I do like Brichardi's. I really wouldn't mind having a pair but the tank isn't big enough for a colony.

Actually the Multifasciatus, Belvis, and Ocellatus are the 3 I was looking at and 3 of the species readily available through a local cichlid breeder. I'm probably going to try the Ocellatus first. They have some nice colors when the light hits them just right.

If I do the Ocellatus, would kind of ratio would you do? Will there be any removal of fish involved or should they live peacefully? I'm going to a landscaping yard today to get THR and river rocks for the scape. So there will be multiple caves and hiding spots for breaking line of sight.

 

[stevenht]

I can't replace the tank. It was a present for Christmas one year so it has some sentimental value attached to it. When I'm able to afford, I'm going to buy a 125 and do a African tank with all sorts of stuff in there.

Right now I'm unfortunately limited to what I got :/

 

[stevenht]

I can't replace the tank. It was a present for Christmas one year so it has some sentimental value attached to it. When I'm able to afford, I'm going to buy a 125 and do a African tank with all sorts of stuff in there.

Right now I'm unfortunately limited to what I got :/

 

[Freakgecko91]

Ratio will be a "remove as you go" kinda thing. Extra males will often get bullied. Depends on the species as well. Some are more harem breeders, other are pair breeders. Multi breed in harems, ocellatus and brevis tend to be more pair based. Typically these species aren't extremely sexually dimorphic, so it's best to remove bullied fish, as these are typically the excess males

 

[stevenht]

Dave said the ocellatus and temporalis are my two best options for my tank.

He also gave me the option of a couple different species of julidochromis. I think marleri gombe and ornatus

 

[stevenht]

Any experience with any of these species?

 

[Freakgecko91]

I would go with ocellatus personally. I've kept gold briefly in the past and liked them.

Again, I'll stand by: get a colony going first, then work on tank mates. Gain some experience with tangs first. Otherwise, yes, Julies would work eventually, given a proper rock set up

 

[stevenht]

I'm gonna stick to my Shellies. A lot of people say they're pretty easy to keep. I'm not gonna worry about a centerpiece right now.

So how many would you go to start out? Then start removing them based on aggression and the best breeding pair?