Best Cichlid For The 10g Community

[hcgirl80]

It Can Be Up To 2" Long, Here Are The Ones I'd Like 2 Choose From: Blue Cichlid, Betta, Or Maybe Even A Small Angel.

They Need To Get Along With:
4 Neon Tetras
2 Dwarf Cory Cats

[valerie]

Well a betta isn't a cichlid and a angelfish will not work as they get way to big and aggresive for a 10g. I'm not sure what a blue cichlid is.

I would recommend a ram. They do well in small community tanks, aren't very aggresive and stay small.

[hcgirl80]

In The Profiles On This Site, Would You Look For 'Ram Cichlid'?

I Have A Pic Of A Blue Cichlid

[peifc]

That's african cichlid you posted. Even then...that cichlid isn't suitable for such small tank. And they do better in group.

You best bet will be either shell dwellers, Apistogramma species, and other dwarf cichlids.

[hcgirl80]

Ugggghhhh... You Can't Trust Google Anymore...

[rick458]

I have noticed all the cichlids use scientific names instead of common names, like the catfish L#s it can get pretty confusing for a nube like me

[peifc]

Actually L# isn't pleco's scientific name but reference # kind of thing.

The reason scientific name is used often is because easier to do searching if you do have question on a fish. Some times there's one common name for a few fishes. Now...won't that be confusing? I've seen LFS create their own common name on some fishes. Also, common names aren't used world wild.

IMO, it is best to know scientific name over common names.

[hcgirl80]

I Like The Dwarf Cichlid, But It Might Be Substituted For A Betta, Even Though That's Not a Cichlid.

[peifc]

How very often you will see fish that small protecting their fry?

[snakeskinner]

a ram might be a good choice for the setup except it might have a problem with the cories. the betta might be your best bet. Kyle

[Harry Tolen]

If you are relatively new at this, I would not recommend any cichlids in your setup at all. A 10g tank is pretty small, and any cichlids that would fit in it are definitely too sensitive to survive long in the extremely variable water conditions of such a confined environment. You could add a small algae eater or two if the tank has been established for more than a couple of months (Otocinclus or Chaetostoma species), along with a couple of additional neons or pencilfish or guppies, and that would be about it.

What kind of filtration are you using, what are your water parameters, how often and how much water do you change, etc.? That will help us provide additional recommendations.

[hcgirl80]

Water Change: 1 gallon/week
Filtration: Whisper 5-15

Water Qualities:
Normal pH: 7.2(I Keep Increasers And Decreasers on Hand)
Hardness: soft(I Don't Test, I Soften Once A Week)

[valerie]

Are those th parameters of the tap water? or what they are after you add stuff to it?

ALso i would up water changes to atleast 3 gals each week. can never have to many water changes in a small tank.

[hcgirl80]

3 g Is my New Schedule Then:) I Change Water On Sundays If I Can, And If I Can't I Do Them A Little Later In The Week.

UPDATED Community Plan:
4 Noen Tetras
1 Male Betta
2 Dwarf Corys

[hcgirl80]

The Water Quality Is After I Put The Stuff In, Treated The pH, And Let A Few Days Past To Let Everything Settle.

[valerie]

What are the parameters right from teh tap? why are you changing them, is there something wrong?

[hcgirl80]

The Tap pH, About 7.6+, With Chlorines, And I Do Not KNow What Else.

[rick458]

Cichlids prefer a high PH so the 7.6 + is good, they tend to prefer around an 8 PH.
My dechrolinator raises PH so it works well for my water which also runs at 7.6.
If you were doing South American Fish you would need to lower the PH, some of them prefer lower than a 7.0 (neutral) Think rain Forest Run off and High tanin levels.
The reason the Rift lake species like it higher is because of the byproducts of the Volcanic activity that formed the rift [many CO2 compounds, and sulfur compounds] so their home waters run Caustic.

[Harry Tolen]

Your updated plan will produce a very sustainable community. You might want to slightly increase your water changes, however, not in terms of frequency but rather in terms of volume (say to 2.5 gallons).

The one set of water parameters that you have not yet checked which would be worth testing is the hardness, both GH and KH. There are inexpensive tests available for this, and this will tell you how difficult it will be for you to adjust your pH long term.

[hcgirl80]

I add softener to my water regularly. The fish I have picked out like soft water, right?

Sustainable.. Good or bad? I believe it means good but I'd worry if I didn't make sure.

[Harry Tolen]

Sustainable is good, yes.

However, I think from your comments that you are confusing softness with a lower pH. They are two different things.

Hardness/softness is a measure of the buffering ability of the water. Soft water is easier to make acidic, while hard water has a tendency to return to a higher pH.

If you are using a product like pH down you are adding acid to the water to lower its pH. But if your hardness is high enough, the water will bounce back to a higher reading almost immediately.

The fact that your water comes out of the tap with a pH of 7.6 and has a pH of 7.2 in your tank may have nothing to do with the chemicals you are adding. I would suggest that you draw some water from the tap and let it stand for a day and then read the pH, to see what that reading might be. Also do the hardness tests I suggested. This will give us a better idea of what your water is like and what, if anything, you need to be adding to it on a regular basis.

[hcgirl80]

Sure, fine, I'll go buy the hardness test. By the way, the first few days I had a tank, were without fish. the pH was 8.2 (I have High range tester:D) And i Hadn't put in chemicals.

Ammonia: 0 ppm!
Nitrite: 2.0
pH: 7.2

[valerie]

Your tank had nitrite in it without any fish? Does your tap water contain nitrites? The atp wate ris PH 7.6 but the tanks water measured 8.2? do you have anythign in the tank that would raise the ph? When you measured the tap water did you let it airate for a bit then test it or did you test it straight from the tap? Its best to airate it a bit before testing.

So if you ph is really only 7.6(and you water isnt' too hard) then i woudlnt' bother messing aroudn with it. Most fish will do fine in it. I have a ph of 7.8 Gh 11 kh 10 and i keep rams,angels, cardinals without any problems. I would stick with your taps water and not mess with it as changing it around can end up causing more problems unless you are contantly testing it.

[hcgirl80]

No, The paremeters were right now, In my tank, with my 2 tiger barbs(1 Male and 1 Female).

And when I said 7.6+, I meant the tap was usually higher than 7.6, before I treated it.
The actual tap peremeters:
pH: 7.8-8.2
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 0.0
Ammonia: 0.0(duh)

[aquariumfishguy]

Your tank has only been setup for about 2 weeks now... it isn't cycled. You posted here when you first came to the forums talking about setting up a 10-gallon "community" tank. Therefore, nitrites are to be expected by about the second to third week.

Do not add any more fish to this aquarium until the tank is cycled. Ammonia will be zero, as will be the case with the nitrites. All you will see is nitrates when the tank is finished cycling. The nitrates should be under 20-30 ppm.

[hcgirl80]

Your wrong about 1 thing: I did have fish when I came. I just have to start over because the fish I had did NOT get along at all. My 2 tiger barbs are what's left. the ammonia has gone to 0, the nitrite just hasn't dropped yet. I'm trying to make these 2 fish last long enough to finish the cycle, and hopefully longer than that.

[aquariumfishguy]

I never said you didn't have other fish before, but I did say your tank is still cycling. That is probably the reason your previous fish died before you came to AC for help.

[hcgirl80]

Sorry. I hate when people get into confusions like this. Especially over the net.