New kid on the block HELP

[juniormor]

:help: Hello..
My friend here wants to start an african cichlids 30 gal tank. Is play sand "reallY' OK? Cost is an issue here and he can get free sand from Home Depot. He knows to clean it very well as we looked in the forum. Guess we just want to hear it again. How many pounds should he get to cover a 30 gal? Should he mix it with gravel? Is there a way to tell the difference between male and females? What kind of salt do you use for the tank? Do you use salt water fish salt? How many fish should a 30 gal hold? What about readings..do you go by a freshwater chemical or salt water chem reading? What's the best food for them. What kind of sacrafice fish should he get to start the biological filteration of the tank?
Junior thanks you very much!! :help: :help:

[Rbishop]

I'll move this to the FW newbie section for ya'

[Coler]

Hi & welcome.

What cichlids is he thinking of ? that would help people give advice. You'll probably find people will tell you 30 galllons is a little small for some african rift lake cichlids.

Post the length of the tank as well if you know it - cichlids like territory. Lenght is more important in some ways than gallons.

Play sand I believe is fine. Depending on your tapwater ph and what you want to keep however something like crushed coral might be useful to keep the ph nice and high (around 8 or so for rift lake). I have one inch in some places in my tank, ranging down to like a millimetre, where the africans I keep have dug it out and moved it, because they do that.

Personally I don't have any salt in with mine. There are some who will say you should use aquarium salt though, not table salt.

You want a freshwater test kit. API is a good one - does ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, Ph in one box.

He obviously knows enough about biological filtration to know he need it; no sacrifice fish necessary. You can load up your bio filter using just ammonia, which probably won't take any longer and will be way less work (with the 'sacrifice' fish you have to do daily water changes to keep 'em alive). Look at the top of this forum. The threads labelled stickies have really good info.

Good luck to him. Kudos to you for looking for help on his behalf.

edit p.s I'm new too. If someone says different to me I'm probably wrong.

[Mgamer20o0]

play sand would work. had it in my tank for years.

[Rallysman]

Play sand works, swimming pool filter sand works better. It's a bit more coarse and much easier to clean. (plus, it's pre rinsed so you dont have to rinse it as much as play sand)

If you use play sand, RINSE IT LIKE CRAZY. Otherwise your tank will look like mud.

[juniormor]

What kind of sacrofise fish does he needs? How long does he needs to wait to add african cichlids? How much cichlids could he had on his 30gal fish tank?Do you know what kind of african cichlids breed on a fish tank. What kind of food do they eat? What is the diffrence of a male and female? What kind of fish could they eat? Do you know what other fish could go with a african cichlids?

[liv2padl]

since nobody else seems to want to address the tank size issue, i'll step up to the plate. while your friends (and yours) enthusiasm is admirable, neither of you seem to know enough about African cichlids to maintain them successfully.


How much cichlids could he had on his 30gal fish tank a thirty gallon tank just isn't big enough to house the kind of African cichids i'm sure you're interested in. (Mbuna). these fish are rock dwellers and VERY aggressive. you need to add rocks sufficient to have a cave for each cichlid in the tank and these should be built from the bottom of the tank to the top. by the time you've installed the necessary rockwork, there won't be enough room to properly house these species. they need to be maintained as a group of at least 4 and more is better. thast group needs to consist of one male and the rest females.


What kind of fish could they eat? NONE! these fish are vegetarians. feed them 'fish' and you'll kill them.


Do you know what other fish could go with a african cichlids NONE! these fish are too aggressive to live with other non-Africans and you don't have the room in any event.


What kind of food do they eat? spirulina algae


What is the diffrence of a male and female? this and much more can be found by using Google. do some research BEFORE you consider African cichlids.

[GirlieGirl8521]

liv2padl is absolutely right. :) I'm glad you addressed the tank size issue, as I was about to post about that.

For a 30g tank, its best to stick with cichlids like a pair of dwarf cichlids and some community fish. There are some African cichlids from Lake Tanganyika that would be appropriate for a 30g, but you should do alot of research before buying.

[musho3210]

yeah dwarf cichlids is what i would recommend, some dwarfs can be housed with community fish which opens a larger chance of different fish.

[Rbishop]

You don't need any salt.

Use a freshwater testing kit, liquid style.

Do a fishless cycle, not a fishy and sacrificing fish.

[juniormor]

Does these dwarf cichids mate and have babys

[Rbishop]

I think most of your questions have been answered and folks are waiting for some answers to their questions, in order to help you. :)

[juniormor]

but do they breed yes or no

[Rbishop]

do what breed? fish? cichlids? dwarf cichlids? It would help for you to be more receptive and narrow things done a bit, and polite to respond to the questions that have been posed...