Starting a cichlids tank

[Fred Bloggs]

Hi Folks,

We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
do something a little different when I get going again.

I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
rocks, but are they compatible with plants?

Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot of
color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
require live food.

Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
conditions?

Thanks

[Elaine T]

Fred Bloggs wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
> starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
> do something a little different when I get going again.
>
> I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
> rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
>
> Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot of
> color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
> require live food.
>
> Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
> conditions?
>
> Thanks
>
>
Cichlid is a little general. Two "not excessively aggressive" groups of
cichlids come to mind. First, Lake Malawi has a group of open water
fish often called "peacocks." Aulonocara spp. are probably the most
common. Males will not tolerate same-colored males, but you can species
with beautiful results. They do not generally eat plants, but they can
dig extensively so potted plants or ones tied to driftwood survive their
digging better. Malawi cichlids like moderately hard to hard water, and
a pH above 7. You can put seachells or crushed coral in the tank or
filter to easily set the water conditions.

The second group that comes to mind are the peaceful South American
cichlids like angel fish, festivums, keyholes, rams, and Bolivian rams.
These fish are very plant friendly as they generally refrain from both
eating and digging. They still have much of the interesting behavior or
their more aggressive cousins but without the bloodshed. Severums and
Uaru come from the same biotope, but they have a reputation of being
plant eaters. These cichlids prefer soft water with a low pH, but can
be kept in just about any municipal water.

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[coolchinchilla]

Fred Bloggs wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
> We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
> starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
> do something a little different when I get going again.
>
> I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
> rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
>
> Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot of
> color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
> require live food.
>
> Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
> conditions?
>
> Thanks
>
>
Cichlid form is a good place of articles for all sorts of cichlid
fish. This link gives suggestions for what kind of fish would work
in a 55-gallon: http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php


HTH
coolchinchilla

[Daniel Morrow]

"Fred Bloggs" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Folks,
>
> We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
> starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
> do something a little different when I get going again.
>
> I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
> rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
>
> Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot
of
> color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
> require live food.
>
> Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
> conditions?
>
> Thanks
>
>

Typically the water needs to be very alkaline and the ph needs to be high.
You could use aragonite in a media chamber in a filter to raise the
alkalinity (or so I am told - when I did that my general hardness went up
but the carbonate hardness, otherwise know as alkaline, stayed almost rock
bottom and I used Bermuda pink carib sea substrate in my filter's media
chamber) or I guess you could leave the water soft, etc. but not expect any
breeding. Others here will be able to fill you in a lot better than me and
give you more details, good luck and later!

[sbb78247]

Elaine T wrote:
> Fred Bloggs wrote:
>> Hi Folks,
>>
>> We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get
>> it starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but
>> I want to do something a little different when I get going again.
>>
>> I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding
>> places and rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
>>
>> Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for
>> a lot of color and small to medium size fish that are not
>> excessively aggressive or require live food.
>>
>> Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
>> conditions?
>>
>> Thanks
>>
>>
> Cichlid is a little general. Two "not excessively aggressive" groups
> of cichlids come to mind. First, Lake Malawi has a group of open
> water fish often called "peacocks." Aulonocara spp. are probably the
> most common. Males will not tolerate same-colored males, but you can
> species with beautiful results. They do not generally eat plants,
> but they can dig extensively so potted plants or ones tied to
> driftwood survive their digging better. Malawi cichlids like
> moderately hard to hard water, and a pH above 7. You can put
> seachells or crushed coral in the tank or filter to easily set the
> water conditions.
> The second group that comes to mind are the peaceful South American
> cichlids like angel fish, festivums, keyholes, rams, and Bolivian
> rams. These fish are very plant friendly as they generally refrain
> from both eating and digging. They still have much of the
> interesting behavior or their more aggressive cousins but without the
> bloodshed. Severums and Uaru come from the same biotope, but they
> have a reputation of being plant eaters. These cichlids prefer soft
> water with a low pH, but can be kept in just about any municipal
> water.

Watch out with the severums They do get aggressive! Golds seem more so and
plucked out the eyes of a green! The green recovered from his wounds and
lived a long time by himself. We called him Tommy after the attack.

[Elaine T]

Daniel Morrow wrote:
> "Fred Bloggs" > wrote in message
> ...
>
>>Hi Folks,
>>
>>We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
>>starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
>>do something a little different when I get going again.
>>
>>I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
>>rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
>>
>>Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot
>
> of
>
>>color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
>>require live food.
>>
>>Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
>>conditions?
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>
>
>
> Typically the water needs to be very alkaline and the ph needs to be high.
> You could use aragonite in a media chamber in a filter to raise the
> alkalinity (or so I am told - when I did that my general hardness went up
> but the carbonate hardness, otherwise know as alkaline, stayed almost rock
> bottom and I used Bermuda pink carib sea substrate in my filter's media
> chamber) or I guess you could leave the water soft, etc. but not expect any
> breeding. Others here will be able to fill you in a lot better than me and
> give you more details, good luck and later!
>
>
Daniel, your advice is way off target for all but Tanganyikan cichlids.
Are you aware that discus, rams, and angels are also cichlids and
prefer very soft, acidic water? Or that even African Lake Malawi and
Victoria cichlids don't require extreme alkalinity and pH?

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

[JG]

Why not start by posting your local water conditions? It's much easier to
keep fish that fit your local parameters rather then making your water "fit"
your fish.
"Fred Bloggs" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Folks,
>
> We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
> starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
> do something a little different when I get going again.
>
> I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
> rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
>
> Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot
> of color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive
> or require live food.
>
> Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
> conditions?
>
> Thanks
>
>

[scrappy]

Good morning folks. I too am new to cichlids but have had tropical fish for
over 30 years. I posted over in the cichlid group but this is a much more
active group. I'm actively searching for a good group for discussions and
even just chit chat with people having the same hobby.

I started a Lake Malawi tank, one word of advice, be careful about where you
buy your fish. I'm in a small town in SE Michigan and there are only "big
box" pet stores around here. I got some misinformation and have two fish
that could grow to 12 inches long. I have a 46 gallon tank for my cichlids
and don't see a larger one in the near future unless I tear apart my 70
gallon tropical tank which has a huge green severum in it along with my
smaller tropical fish (one severum alone seems to do really well with them
as long as I don't put gouramis in there). The two fish are beautiful and I
was finally able to identify them yesterday. One thing I was told and this
seems to hold true from everything that I've read on the groups is that it
is best to put all your severums in at once as they quickly establish their
own territory in the tank and are very aggressive to new comers.

Since I'm just learning too I'm not going to offer any other advice. ;-)
Good luck with the new hobby... I am loving the cichlids and really enjoying
the fact that they act much like salt water fish, which is what I had wanted
to do but couldn't afford all the extra skimmers and filters it seems like
is required.

Nanette
"Fred Bloggs" > wrote in message
...
Hi Folks,

We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
do something a little different when I get going again.

I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
rocks, but are they compatible with plants?

Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot
of
color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
require live food.

Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
conditions?

Thanks

[steve]

Elaine T wrote:

> Cichlid is a little general. Two "not excessively aggressive" groups of
> cichlids come to mind. First, Lake Malawi has a group of open water
> fish often called "peacocks."
snip


> The second group that comes to mind are the peaceful South American
> cichlids like angel fish, festivums, keyholes, rams, and Bolivian rams.
snip

With my city water, I'm able to keep a variety of cichlids from both
groups Elaine has mentioned. My tap water is 7.4 and very soft. With
some bog wood tank decorations and a tiny amount of peat moss in the
filter basket I had Apistogramma borellii cichlids spawning in no time.
Now, the Angel fish are spawning once a month as well. The water in
these tanks is about 7.2 pH, 2 deg KH and 1 deg GH.

To set the water properly for my new Malawi tank, all I had to do was
put some crushed coral in the filter basket along with beach sand for
my substrate. The water is conditioned with Malawi lake salts at water
changes. It's quite simple to set up the proper conditions for these
facinating fish.


steve

[Daniel Morrow]

"Elaine T" > wrote in message
...
> Daniel Morrow wrote:
> > "Fred Bloggs" > wrote in message
> > ...
> >
> >>Hi Folks,
> >>
> >>We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
> >>starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want
to
> >>do something a little different when I get going again.
> >>
> >>I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places
and
> >>rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
> >>
> >>Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a
lot
> >
> > of
> >
> >>color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive
or
> >>require live food.
> >>
> >>Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
> >>conditions?
> >>
> >>Thanks
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > Typically the water needs to be very alkaline and the ph needs to be
high.
> > You could use aragonite in a media chamber in a filter to raise the
> > alkalinity (or so I am told - when I did that my general hardness went
up
> > but the carbonate hardness, otherwise know as alkaline, stayed almost
rock
> > bottom and I used Bermuda pink carib sea substrate in my filter's media
> > chamber) or I guess you could leave the water soft, etc. but not expect
any
> > breeding. Others here will be able to fill you in a lot better than me
and
> > give you more details, good luck and later!
> >
> >
> Daniel, your advice is way off target for all but Tanganyikan cichlids.
> Are you aware that discus, rams, and angels are also cichlids and
> prefer very soft, acidic water? Or that even African Lake Malawi and
> Victoria cichlids don't require extreme alkalinity and pH?
>
> --
> Elaine T __
> http://eethomp.com/fish.html <'__><
> rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Sorry about that - when I wrote it I thought I was right enough, please
excuse my assuming I was right. Later!

[lgb]

In article >, says...
> Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot of
> color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
> require live food.
>
> Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
> conditions?
>
It's a lot easier to find out what kind of fish like the water
conditions you have and go from there :-).

--
BNSF = Build Now, Seep Forever

[Gill Passman]

"Fred Bloggs" > wrote in message
...
> Hi Folks,
>
> We recently moved and tore down our aquarium, and it is time to get it
> starting again. It was a community tank with lots of plants, but I want to
> do something a little different when I get going again.
>
> I am thinking cichlids which I understand needs lots of hiding places and
> rocks, but are they compatible with plants?
>
> Any recommendations on good fish for a 55gal tank? I am looking for a lot
of
> color and small to medium size fish that are not excessively aggressive or
> require live food.
>
> Is there anything special I need in the way of filtration or water
> conditions?
>
> Thanks
>
>
Hi Fred,
What are your local water conditions? I live in a liquid rock hard water
place with a pH of 7.5 or above, hence my Cichlid tank is Malawi. I would
love to keep cichlids like Rams but have failed because the water conditions
do not suit them.

Buy the fish according to your local water - far less problems....

If you have hard water with a high pH I'm more than happy to give you
details on my Malawi set up which is a great thriving community with
multiple fry, juvs and adults....

Gill