Complete Cichlid newbie. Help!

[NewObsession]

long story short- My 12 yo wanted a cichlid tank. I found a local guy selling a complete 55 gallon set up c/w 6 fish for $150 so I bought it. Picked it up at his place Friday night (was there as he drained it) and setit back up at our place the same night.

He knows nothing about the fish but I found out I had
1 Strawberry Peacock (~4")
2 Red Zebras (~4")
1 Yellow Lab ( ~4")
2 demasoni ( ~ 2")
and 1 chinese algae eater ( ~4")
Sunday morning we lost 1 demasoni and the algae eater.

Checked parameters last night and there was a hint of ammonia so I did ~ a 15-20 gallon water change.

I got a call this morning that we lost the Strawberry and the Lab and the remaining fish were gasping at the surface.
Told her to do another waterchange and they are now back at the bottom of the tank.

Here are my questions:

1) as dumb as this may sound, are strawberry peacocks common if I want to replace it even though I know it won't be as large

2) What temp should the tank be at? I think the heater that came with it is fubared as the temp crept up to 82 so I unplugged it but I'm wondering if it became an issue of O2 content in the warmer water being the issue and should I put in an air pump?

3) any suggestion what the issue would be since the flter was fully cycled? Could it be that turning over the substrate and removing a couple of the plastic ornaments has cut down the ben. bacteria colony and hence the amomonia spikes?

4) and lastly, before I get my hopes up, if the fish were gasping at the surface should I be prepared to lose them too or can they go through a crash like that and still come out of it?

Any help is greatly appreciated!

[shaynablizard]

If they're gasping at the surface it's probably a lack of oxygen or water quality issue. Upping the amount of oxygen in the water would definitely help. So add another bubbler on there if you can. Also, just lowering the level of the water an inch or two will help the filter push more air in the water if you have a HOB filter.
Sounds like your tank is probably cycling since it was completely dismantled and put back together. If you can get a bacteria supplement from your LFS that may be helpful as well as continuing to do frequent small water changes. You may want to take your water in to the LFS to have it tested just to be sure where everything is at. Good luck!

[NewObsession]

If they're gasping at the surface it's probably a lack of oxygen or water quality issue. Upping the amount of oxygen in the water would definitely help. So add another bubbler on there if you can. Also, just lowering the level of the water an inch or two will help the filter push more air in the water if you have a HOB filter.
Sounds like your tank is probably cycling since it was completely dismantled and put back together. If you can get a bacteria supplement from your LFS that may be helpful as well as continuing to do frequent small water changes. You may want to take your water in to the LFS to have it tested just to be sure where everything is at. Good luck!


Thanks. I'll get the water lowered below the spraybar until I can get home tonight and put an air pump in.
I can see a mini cycle maybe based on mixing up the substrate but wouldn't expect anything this extreme considering it has an Eheim canister filter that was unhooked for maybe an hour and a half.
I'll keep up with water changes. I have a test kit at home so I'll keep an eye on parameters as well.

Anyone know how difficult a strawberry peacock is to replace? ( I skim always skim through the cichlids at Big Al's if I even look at all so they could have 5 tanks of them for all I know, just thought I would ask)

[Lab_Rat]

They're pretty common around here, but I wouldn't add peacocks to a tank with a demasoni and red zebras. The labs don't tend to be as aggressive for mbuna, but most mbuna will tear peacocks up. Once your tank cycles you'll probably want more fish to disperse aggression. That few mbuna, especially with rearranging everything and moving, is asking for a lot of aggression troubles.

[rockhoe14er]

I would add an air stone to the tank ASAP. The higher the water temp the less oxygen that is in the water. Make sure you also have a lot of surface agitation. This will also increase the amount of oxygen in the water. Having your tank at 82 is fine IMO. I think i also agree with lab rat. I would keep mbuna together and not put with peacock's. You can get more yellow labs if you like them or get ride of the demasoni's those guys can be pretty nasty to one another unless you have a ton of em (group of 12+)

Also i don't think you will have a minicycle at all or a very small one especially if the tank was set up earlier that day.

Also one more thing. Make sure there are lots of rocks in the tank to disperse aggression. Make many territories in the tank using rocks.

[NewObsession]

thanks for all theadvice.
Which are the Mbuna? (I know, stupid question but as I said, totally new to cichlids)
The lab and peacock are gone but as of this morning still had the small demasoni and the red zebras. He (the 12yo) keeps pointing out others that he wants but I need to resaearch before I go throwing them all in there together.
This is the tank as it is set up, at least for the momnet. I know they like territories and caves so I put in all the different rock decorations that we got with the tank

[Lab_Rat]

The demasoni and red zebras are both mbuna. Since that is what you have left, would be best to do a mbuna tank if you want to keep those guys.

[rockhoe14er]

yeah. you can get some yellow labs too. Those look great in almost any tank.

[rufioman]

Demasoni, labs, and acei make a great first tank imo. A good pair of filters for a 55g Mbuna would be something like Penguin 350 and Magnum 350. They like some current too, at least mine do, so I put a powerhead made for a 40g in my 80g and they love it. Plus it gets oxygen in my tank because I have it hooked to my air pump. Just my $0.02.

[NewObsession]

I just looked up acei and they look very cool, now I just have to find where to get them.

Also, went to LFS this weekend and had the 12 point out what he likes.
This is his list ( in no particular order)

Green Terror
Auratus
Ice Blue Zebra
Pheno Tanzania
Frontosa

Which of these if any could/would work with either labs and acei and/or the current tanks mates of 2 4" zebras and 1 2" demasoni?

[rockhoe14er]

umm i don't think any of that list will work. The frontosa need to be in a huge huge colony and they are really expensive fish you might need to get a 120 gallon tank with 12-15 of these guys.


The green terror is an south american cichlid. They get pretty large and the 55 gallon tank would be good for just one or two green terrors and not much else.

The auratus might work but i hear they can be pretty agressive.

The ps ice blue might work but a word of caution is that since this fish has slight stripes the demasoni might go after this fish. (the demisoni's will try and attack any fish that look similar because they see them as a food threat.)

the hap aka pheno tanzania i don't think i would add because they get rather large and since you only have a 55 gallon it's hard to have a lot of other fish with this guy.

[NewObsession]

umm i don't think any of that list will work. The frontosa need to be in a huge huge colony and they are really expensive fish you might need to get a 120 gallon tank with 12-15 of these guys.


The green terror is an south american cichlid. They get pretty large and the 55 gallon tank would be good for just one or two green terrors and not much else.

The auratus might work but i hear they can be pretty agressive.

The ps ice blue might work but a word of caution is that since this fish has slight stripes the demasoni might go after this fish. (the demisoni's will try and attack any fish that look similar because they see them as a food threat.)

the hap aka pheno tanzania i don't think i would add because they get rather large and since you only have a 55 gallon it's hard to have a lot of other fish with this guy.


sooooo back to Labs and acei I guess?

[rockhoe14er]

ususally you don't really want to have many different species in a mbuna tank. Around 3 different ones is a pretty good starting point.

soclofi would also work too.

I have 6 albino soclolfi in with my colony of demasoni and yellow labs. They look great.

[NewObsession]

Thanks.
I picked up 6 Acei last night. I'm hoping the don't get beaten up by the Zebras. I think I might try and talk my 12 yo into giving up the zebras and demasoni and start from scratch with the Aceis. Also found out what Big Al's charges for Strawberry Peacock's last night. $40 ish for a 2-3". OMG I feel twice as bad now about the 5" one we lost!

[Haydn24]

Welcome to cichlids. lol. With your tank setup, I might suggest that you replace the driftwood with rockwork. Like caves and all. Also, if you can, add some limestone to raise the pH and raise the hardness of the water if your water source isnt desirable. They also like a sand substrate. And if the filter was out of action for an hour and a half, some bacteria may have died because it lost its moisture :) Anyway, research and keep it up.