Just setup new tank, looking for info..

[ScottyDaug]

Hi, I just finished setting up me new tank. I took cichild womans advice and bought a 20 gallon. It was a "Marineland" kit. It included a Penquin bio-wheel filter, heater & flourescent hood(all Marine land products). I am very curious about the Dwarf Cichlids, and any tips & advice on them would be of great help. How many of them would be comfortable in my tank? Also I am considering cycling with fish, would a couple of dwarf cichilds do o.k with that?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance, Scott

[val]

to Aquaria Central, Scotty (if you haven't been so welcomed already), home of the most 20g tanks on the internet:)

Anyway, if by dwarf cichlids you mean rams, I would not use them for your fish cycle; your tank should be fairly well established for them. What else were you going to keep with them? Corys are a little hardier and they might make a better choice...

Val

[OrionGirl]

There aren't any cichlids that are recommended for cycling. Nor are cories--they tend to be very sensitive to ammonia. If you can't cycle fishlessly, which I strongly urge you to do, then danios are usually a hardy choice for cycling. But, the problem with cycling with fish is the tank is then balanced for a very specific bio-load--ie, just those danios. As soon as you add more fish, the tank will cycle again. With fishless cycling, you can add all your fish at once, and not cause a cycle.

As for dwarf cichlids--there are tons of fish in this category. If you can pick a few you are interested in, people will be able to respond with more accuracy. Apistos, cuckoos, rams...Lots of choices.