"Larry" wrote in message
...
Hello Netmax and other members,

First time poster. Was pleasantly surprised to find a ng just for
cichlid lovers. Wife bought me a 26g (don't laugh) for Christmas. I
thought it was pretty big but notice that many are talking 55g plus in
this ng. Guess I'll work up to it.

I have just put in 7 cichlids and notice as you pointed out that the
top half is not used too much. I have two yellow Labs, two dolphin
and two zebras and one can't remember. They are just babies now (1"
+). Eventually I want to put in a pleco and small eel or blue
crayfish. Do I have any room to add more with the 26g tank or should
I be satisfied with what I have?

TIA

All the best,

Larry
Southern Ontario

Do you want the good news or the bad news first? ;~) The good news is
that you have started with some of the more interesting and personable
types of fish in the trade. The bad news is that you will soon be
hooked, and within a year, you will look back fondly at your 26g which
will be a quarantine or a fry tank, and be admiring your dolphins
swimming back & forth in their 60 to 100g tank (dolphins or Cyrtocara
moorii get to about 20cm (7-8 inches) and are best kept in groups of
about 5 to 7 fish). They group fairly nicely with Labs which have
similar diets but prefer the lower reaches of the tank (the dolphins will
take to the upper reaches as they mature). Labs are properly kept in
small groups as well. Zebra (some type of Pseudotropheus) can have
nastier dispositions and require more vegetation in their diet. They
will be your 'black sheep' and will probably make that tank feel smaller
than it is for the other occupants.

Trade secret: larger tanks are in many regards, much easier to take care
of than smaller tanks. Personally, my smallest tank which I have
patience to operate is 40g, and I really prefer larger than 60g as this
is when I find the system stabilizes much more easily, jmo.

Please look into cycling *important* as it sounds like these fish were
just dropped into a new tank. They will die or suffer tremendously in
the accumulation of their own waste unless you take aggressive action to
control this while the tank cycles (establishes a colony of bacteria
which converts fish waste into less toxic forms).
http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

ps: more fish - bad idea, unless you were already cycled, and were just
using this as a grow-out tank, before they were moved into something
bigger in 8 months.
jmho
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