I am currently cycling a 37 gallon tank. I have never kept fish before and am trying to decide between a few cichilds or community. I talked to the guys at my lfs and he said with the size tank I have I could keep 5 or 6 "african cichilds", or several schooling fish. I have no idea what type of cichilds these are, they are just generic labeled as "african" and he said they would grow to around 4". Does this sound right? They are colorful - yellow ones, orange ones, some with stripes and are blue or yellow. I am leaning towards doing the cichilds because a few larger fish are more pleasing to me than alot of busy small ones. I do not know anything about their behavior other than aggressive and I cannot put anything with them. Do they have any special needs - hiding places, gravel? Can I feed pellets or do I have to give live?Any info would be appreciated, my main objective with this post is just to make an educated decision, Thanks.
How many cichilds in my size tank?
- Thread starter CAgargoyle
- Start date
It very much depends on the cichlid. I currently have a 30g tank with probably too many fish right now, but will upgrade once they get bigger. I currently have 6 cichlids, all different and 2 plecos. Of the 6 cichlids, 3 are african, and 3 south american. The african ones are the more aggressive toward each other, and in a new tank, unless you get at least 5 I would expect to loose some as they will more often pick on the others (the more you have, the less chance of just one being picked on). The Africans do get to about 4-6", although all of mine are still smaller than that. Lake Malawi are generally the more aggressive and very territorial, so a crowded tank (lots of "stuff") helps a little, and gives the smaller ones a break also.
I ran into the problem of keeping the pH at a happy medium. Generally the africans prefer high pH, and the South Americans low (I think thats the way it is), but keeping both means that I keep the water around 7.5. Used a crushed coral substrate for that.
My cichlids are difficult to feed also, as some do not like the pellets. South American cichlids in my mind are more fun, as they get larger (Oscar's get to over a foot), and some eat live food which is always fun. The Oscar is up to about 5 inches and eating small goldfish feeders with some rosy reds thrown in...the Green Terror eats the Rosy Reds only, but is about 3" itself.
One thing to note, is that if you are to have a cichlid only tank, make sure you get all of the fish at once, as its very difficult to introduce new cichlids into a populated tank (I just added a Pleco to clean up and its being left alone now after 3 days). Also, Parrot cichlids may seem good, but it depends how they have been brought up...if they are with other fish at the lfs, it is likely they will be too timid to survive the cichlid tanks.
Hope this helps (sorry its a little disjointed, but its late here).
I ran into the problem of keeping the pH at a happy medium. Generally the africans prefer high pH, and the South Americans low (I think thats the way it is), but keeping both means that I keep the water around 7.5. Used a crushed coral substrate for that.
My cichlids are difficult to feed also, as some do not like the pellets. South American cichlids in my mind are more fun, as they get larger (Oscar's get to over a foot), and some eat live food which is always fun. The Oscar is up to about 5 inches and eating small goldfish feeders with some rosy reds thrown in...the Green Terror eats the Rosy Reds only, but is about 3" itself.
One thing to note, is that if you are to have a cichlid only tank, make sure you get all of the fish at once, as its very difficult to introduce new cichlids into a populated tank (I just added a Pleco to clean up and its being left alone now after 3 days). Also, Parrot cichlids may seem good, but it depends how they have been brought up...if they are with other fish at the lfs, it is likely they will be too timid to survive the cichlid tanks.
Hope this helps (sorry its a little disjointed, but its late here).
A 37 is really too small for all but the smallest of african cichlids. It's too small to effectively overcrowd to reduce aggression, and there really isn't enough room for them to establish territories and exhibit normal behavior. You might be able to get some to live in a 30, but you're just as likely to end up with one live, dominant fish and several dead ones.
Some species of Lake Malawi fish that can do OK in a 30, in a trio or quartet (max): Labidochromis caeruleus (yellow labs), Ps. saulosi, maybe Ps. demasoni (but probably not). Shelldwellers from Lake Tanganika are good candidates, too. Avoid any large cats (e.g., plecos) as they are poop factories and will be too much for a smaller tank, esp. with cichlids.
HTH,
JIm
Some species of Lake Malawi fish that can do OK in a 30, in a trio or quartet (max): Labidochromis caeruleus (yellow labs), Ps. saulosi, maybe Ps. demasoni (but probably not). Shelldwellers from Lake Tanganika are good candidates, too. Avoid any large cats (e.g., plecos) as they are poop factories and will be too much for a smaller tank, esp. with cichlids.
HTH,
JIm