Hello. Newbie here .......well pre-newbie ....looking to get a game plan together for a 55g long Cichlid set up.
I have had some experience with fish having had a 20g Cichlid set up back in college but frankly I dont remeber too much ..... those brain cells have long since been recycled or died. Having done a bit of research in the past few days I can tell you I was not a very "good" fish keeper then in that I never cycled the water, had too many fish, never checked fish compatiblity, or the specifics of water chemistry. I did keep on top of ich and temperature and only had a couple of fish die ....two clown loaches and a really nice "blue" (??) cichlid.
I plan on taking a much better and thourough approach to this tank, which is being given to me (
) by a friend. Tank, stand, hood, filter pump ... the whole get up. Now I havent seen any of the equipment save for the tank (remarkably clean) yet so I cant say if I will need anything replaced or updated.
I do have a 10g tank also that I will prolly use as a QT tank.
I am hoping to have several (maybe 6-8) vibrant, active fish and am looking for suggestions for stocking.
Looking to probably have a black (dark) sand set up with bright fish. These are some that caught my eye and have been considering (based mostly on the looks so far).
Maybe 2 or 3 (total) of :
Dimidiochromis compressiceps (OB)
Dimidiochromis strigatus
Altolamprologus calvus (Black)
Aulonocara baenschi (yellow)
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (Otter Pt.)
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (Undu Reef)
Copadichromis verduyni (Narangu)
And a maybe 3-5 of :
Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)
Cynotilapia afra (Chewere)
Cynotilapia afra (Chitande)
Cynotilapia afra (Lumbila)
Cynotilapia sp. "Lion" (Magunga)
Julidochromis marlieri (Gombe)
Julidochromis regani (Nsumbu)
...and of course Yellow Labs.
Are any of these fish that I should not be considering ...as a beginner?? Is there anything problematic in any various combinations of these. i.e. will they play nice???
Other than some slight temp range differences that I've seen listed are there any particular water condition differences that make any of these incompatible?
Also ..... what are some colorful "cleaners" that I can put with the cichlids that wont get lunched?
This site is great and I am sure I willl have many many more questions about set up and cycling before I even get to the stocking part but for now trying get a good overall plan.
Thanks in advance.
-mike
I have had some experience with fish having had a 20g Cichlid set up back in college but frankly I dont remeber too much ..... those brain cells have long since been recycled or died. Having done a bit of research in the past few days I can tell you I was not a very "good" fish keeper then in that I never cycled the water, had too many fish, never checked fish compatiblity, or the specifics of water chemistry. I did keep on top of ich and temperature and only had a couple of fish die ....two clown loaches and a really nice "blue" (??) cichlid.
I plan on taking a much better and thourough approach to this tank, which is being given to me (
) by a friend. Tank, stand, hood, filter pump ... the whole get up. Now I havent seen any of the equipment save for the tank (remarkably clean) yet so I cant say if I will need anything replaced or updated.I do have a 10g tank also that I will prolly use as a QT tank.
I am hoping to have several (maybe 6-8) vibrant, active fish and am looking for suggestions for stocking.
Looking to probably have a black (dark) sand set up with bright fish. These are some that caught my eye and have been considering (based mostly on the looks so far).
Maybe 2 or 3 (total) of :
Dimidiochromis compressiceps (OB)
Dimidiochromis strigatus
Altolamprologus calvus (Black)
Aulonocara baenschi (yellow)
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (Otter Pt.)
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (Undu Reef)
Copadichromis verduyni (Narangu)
And a maybe 3-5 of :
Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)
Cynotilapia afra (Chewere)
Cynotilapia afra (Chitande)
Cynotilapia afra (Lumbila)
Cynotilapia sp. "Lion" (Magunga)
Julidochromis marlieri (Gombe)
Julidochromis regani (Nsumbu)
...and of course Yellow Labs.
Are any of these fish that I should not be considering ...as a beginner?? Is there anything problematic in any various combinations of these. i.e. will they play nice???
Other than some slight temp range differences that I've seen listed are there any particular water condition differences that make any of these incompatible?
Also ..... what are some colorful "cleaners" that I can put with the cichlids that wont get lunched?
This site is great and I am sure I willl have many many more questions about set up and cycling before I even get to the stocking part but for now trying get a good overall plan.
Thanks in advance.
-mike
