What to do with cichlids?

[railNtrailcowgr]

Ok so I found an amazing deal on a 29 gallon tank from craigslist, stand, hood, filter, ect... The catch is it comes with the inhabitants. 4 3-4" africans, a jack dempsey, 2 fire mouths, 2 "large plecos" and some "baby fish." I'm not 100% positive to what I'm getting into but my plan is to get rid of them before I get attached. I have no room for a large tank (which these fish will be growing into quickly). And I'm unsure of how appropriate it is to house those fish together. The whole reason I bought this tank was to upgrade my 10 gallon, I really don't want to upgrade my upgrade. :headshake2:

So my question is what is the best way to go about getting rid of these fish? If I can I would like to sell them rather than giving them away (sometimes that ensures an owner that will provide a more appropriate home). Sell them to my LFS, the classifides...? Craigslist is out as I know the fish have been on there well over 2 months with no interest.
:help:

PS-I'm located in Findlay Ohio

[ChunkyMonkey]

LFS might give you a trade in value, but probably best to sell either on CS or Ebay. Even the classified ads here. I may be interested in the 4 3-4" Africans and the "baby fish" depending on their breed. Post some pics. I got dibs, lol. I may even be interested in the JD. Let me know!!! I have a 100 and a 55 running right now and I'll have a new 125 this week. Plenty of space and I love cichlids.

[MIKE D]

I might take the baby fish and chunkymonkey I'll rock paper scissors you for the JD. :grinyes:

Naw JK. can post pics of the fish plz?

[ChunkyMonkey]

haha. I'm a R-P-S professional! Self proclaimed of course, lol. You take JD and I'll take Africans? That'll work...

[railNtrailcowgr]

I'm not getting the tank until Monday so as soon as the fish are in my possesion I will def post some pics! Just curious but how much are cichlids this size worth?

[ChunkyMonkey]

Soon as we know the Cichlid, it'll be easier. Keep us updated!

[Coler]

Your problem with these fish is that they can't stay in that tank. Firstly, although folk will continue to try it, and some will succeed, its not great practice to mix Africans with other cichlids. Secondly, the tank is hugely over stocked. To be honest, the Africans alone need a larger tank so as to accomodate the correct stocking levels to manage aggression.

Out of interest how much is the 29G ?

So, bear in mind that if you take the tank and fish you will need at least one more large tank to keep the fish.

I don't know what the value of the fish is in your area but you might find someone who is willing to pay; to be honest if I was in the position of having to rehome I would not charge somebody who could put them in the appropriate tank.

[MIKE D]

haha. I'm a R-P-S professional! Self proclaimed of course, lol. You take JD and I'll take Africans? That'll work...
lol. I have 2 already. Im interested in the fry. If the JD is a female then maybe. You can take the africans.:grinyes: I dont have a african tank set up yet. But one day......:eek:

railNtrailcowgr PM me when you have the fish and we can talk.

[railNtrailcowgr]

lol. I have 2 already. Im interested in the fry. If the JD is a female then maybe. You can take the africans.:grinyes: I dont have a african tank set up yet. But one day......:eek:

railNtrailcowgr PM me when you have the fish and we can talk.

No problem I will as soon as I get them and I can ID what they are.

Coler-

I'm getting the tank, stand, decent looking hood, filters, heater, and all the contents of the tank delivered to me (about 40 min drive) for $60. He can't remember brand names of anything but I'm hoping that it is all stuff that I can work with and not spend a ton of money upgrading those simple things.

Another thing that concerns me about these fish is that they have been living in this way for atleast 3 yrs with him! Possibly longer because he mentioned one of the fish came from Columbus when he bought the tank.

The plecos are going to the LFS as soon as I get possesion of the tank, I'm not sure what large to him is but I know a large plec can't live in a 29g let alone TWO! I'm trying to remember the pics I saw on Craigs I would say they are about 6 in. I also remember seeing blue and yellow africans.

He said the filtration on the tank keeps the water pretty clear, and with that bioload I would *guess* that it has decent flow. So for what I'm doing with the tank (neon tetras, dwarf rainbows, a shrimp, snail, and RN pleco) it *should* be OK, I hope. It's kinda like waiting for Christmas, I'm excited to see what I'm getting.

[Coler]

Good stuff - him delivering etc. Your idea for the set up sounds great - good luck with taking care of the current inhabitants :)

[ChunkyMonkey]

Can't wait to see your arrangement(I like shrimp), be sure to snap PLENTY of pics when you set it up. A setup thread would be cool so we could see you put it all together. I enjoy those progression threads. I'm hoping to do that with my 125. I really want to incorporate some shrimp in one of my tanks and was thinking of doing it after see the different kinds here(MsJinkzd):

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1458863&postcount=1

Maybe I'll place transfer my other cichlids in my 55 to my 100 and make the 55 planted just so I can have some shrimp, lol.

Best of luck, keep us posted!

[grannylvsfish]

Ok so I found an amazing deal on a 29 gallon tank from craigslist, stand, hood, filter, ect... The catch is it comes with the inhabitants. 4 3-4" africans, a jack dempsey, 2 fire mouths, 2 "large plecos" and some "baby fish." I'm not 100% positive to what I'm getting into but my plan is to get rid of them before I get attached. I have no room for a large tank (which these fish will be growing into quickly). And I'm unsure of how appropriate it is to house those fish together. The whole reason I bought this tank was to upgrade my 10 gallon, I really don't want to upgrade my upgrade. :headshake2:

So my question is what is the best way to go about getting rid of these fish? If I can I would like to sell them rather than giving them away (sometimes that ensures an owner that will provide a more appropriate home). Sell them to my LFS, the classifides...? Craigslist is out as I know the fish have been on there well over 2 months with no interest.
:help:

PS-I'm located in Findlay Ohio


I need a male fire mouth. so if your willing to let me have him, I would give him a great home. look at my posts and tanks. I have wonderful tanks!! I will pay shipping :)

[railNtrailcowgr]

I'll try and keep everyone posted as soon as I get an update! I am sick so I've been sitting in bed all day thinking about all these darn fish and what I'm going to do with them. If it's at all possible I would like to get them gone by Monday or Tuesday to I can switch the tank over to my liking and such. I think right now it has aweful blue gravel. I want to go with black back, black gravel, and a "planted" (I use the word loosely b/c I'm going plastic for now, lol) driftwood feel.

Sort of like this tank form aquahobby...
http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/img/511surge1.jpg

I think the dark colors will really make my glolites and my dwarf rainbows pop! I recently went to a black tank with my betta and I'm loving it. I will have to get some pics up in the photos section as soon as my darn drift wood sinks and my moss ball gets here.

[grannylvsfish]

I'll try and keep everyone posted as soon as I get an update! I am sick so I've been sitting in bed all day thinking about all these darn fish and what I'm going to do with them. If it's at all possible I would like to get them gone by Monday or Tuesday to I can switch the tank over to my liking and such. I think right now it has aweful blue gravel. I want to go with black back, black gravel, and a "planted" (I use the word loosely b/c I'm going plastic for now, lol) driftwood feel.

Sort of like this tank form aquahobby...
http://www.aquahobby.com/tanks/img/511surge1.jpg

I think the dark colors will really make my glolites and my dwarf rainbows pop! I recently went to a black tank with my betta and I'm loving it. I will have to get some pics up in the photos section as soon as my darn drift wood sinks and my moss ball gets here.
send fire mouth to me, you can send him out tomorrow :grinyes: see no worries, he will be out of your hair !! ( want 100 guppies for trade?? I am over run :wall:

[railNtrailcowgr]

send fire mouth to me, you can send him out tomorrow :grinyes: see no worries, he will be out of your hair !! ( want 100 guppies for trade?? I am over run :wall:

I am really considering it. I won't get this fish until Monday. I want the fish to have good homes but I also want them out of my hair.

No thanks on the guppies, that is the very reason I will not have guppies, mollies, swardtails, platys, ect...I

'm horrible at culling and I do not want all those fry. Although that is a good idea, maybe trading someone some fish for somthing useful...hmmmm...any offers lol?

[Rbishop]

Sounds like a good deal on the tank. I would re-home what you don't want/can't provide a proper sized tank for, and for no cost.

[railNtrailcowgr]

Ok, well I went and picked up the tank yesterday. It was pretty bad! They poor fish, this guy had 1 5" JD, 2 4" Firemouths, 1 5" African, 1 4" African, 1 3" African, 3 2" Africans, and 3 1" Africans. The last two were growing babies from who knows what that spawned. Add a 4" BN Pleco, and a 5# Chocolate Pleco and the tank is WAY overloaded (14 cichlids and 2 medium plecos in a 29 gallon tank!) and not getting along well at all! He had some people in line second for the SA Cichlids so I let them go ahead and have 'em. And the rest I am going to take to the LFS later this morning. They are not getting along well, and with my work schedual I just don't have the time to get shipped. Sorry guys, I didn't realise it was going to be quite this bad when I picked them up.

Got there and the guy had started draining water from the tank, and proceded to tell me "ohhh...the water has been really dirty, black, it's been 6 months since I've cleaned it" (What the #$%$#) "but this filter keeps the water really clear." (Ok, great, but what about all the rotting fish poop...grrrr!)

Any how so we continued to load up the fish and all the equiptment. I get home and begin the daunting task of cleaning every thing. Which I know I should not have done quite as vigerous job but I'm not sure whats worse a mini-cycle or all the accumulated fish waste.

Got home transfered the fish into some better water with airstones and a heater. I left the tank sitting in my truck and rinsed the gravel really well, it was just filled with fish poop and black sediment. Next was the filter, I do not think I have ever seen so much fish poop in my life! I don't think the guy EVER did maintenance. the intake tube was filled with yuck, I'm not sure how the impeller was even spinning any more, the filter sponge was so clogged with yuck and nasties I couldn't even get it rinsed out and then the carbon and I think ammonia lock back were also covered in poop. I had to scrub a good 20 minutes to get the nasty caked on poop off of every thing. It was just gross!!!

Ok time for the goodies...
1 - 29 gallon tank
1 - ugly black stand (nothing a little spray paint and a new handle won't fix)
1 - yucked up AC 300 (working beautiful now that it's clean)
1 - yucked up flourecent hood (a little water and vinigar and it will be good as new)
1 - cheap heater (to be replaces ASAP)
20 lbs - ugly green gravel (soon to be a driveway beautification project)
9 - red rocks (not sure what to do with them yet)

Ok, well I'm off to the LFS, I'm hoping they give me a little "trade-in" value so I can buy this beautiful new piece of driftwood I've been eyeing.

Keep a look-out for my build log in the general section, this tank is going from drab to fab, lol!

[Coler]

Bleagh. I don't envy you that job. Hopefully you can rehome those fish; good karma.

[MIKE D]

Wow 14 cichlids and 2 med plecos! poor fish. I hope you found a good home for them!