New to Cichlids - 60 Gal Tank Setup

[Chenell]

A freind of mine gave me a 60 gallon tank dimensions of 25" tall x 36" wide x 12 deep... it was his old discus tank. I have no filter or heater yet.

He is also going to give us some electric yellow and blue cichlids, his had babies galore. I am just wondering what type of filtration you would recommend and how many cichlids could we put in it? Also what would you recommend as tankmates? I know loaches are good, but what else?

I'm thinking about starting the tank with fishless cycling. Any pros/cons to this? I know you have to add ammonia every day or so. Anyone got a link to some good information about it?

Thanks

[DeRo316]

Ok, start off with a good heater rated for your size tank. Same with the filter, on my 55 I have a canister rated at 300gallons per hour. I would like to add a hang on filter sometime soon for even more filtration. Basically the more filtration the better. I can personally recommend a Rena Filstar xp3 from experience.

Fishless cycling is good, instead of adding ammonia you can just feed your tank like there are fish in it, the decomposing food will give you all the ammonia you need. Once the tank is cycled(0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, small nitrates) you can add your fish.

Sounds like you're getting some malawi cichlids. Make sure you have plenty of hiding places and caves, never too many. The electric blue hap is more aggressive than the yellow lab so keep an eye on them. What kind of babies are you getting? If you want to add more fish I would try to stay with malawis, you could fit 15 or so in your tank.

[mostlycichlids]

I agree with dero very good advise all around if you want bottom feeders you could do featherfin synondontis catfish. Just a suggestion for a clean up crew. Over filteration is better with these guys I turn my water over 13 1/2 times an hour in my malawi tank.

[DeRo316]

Yea I forgot to say those loaches get huge so if you want a bottom feeder I would go with a synondontis like akapaul said.

[Chenell]

I am pretty sure he has male and female babies of each variety. Right now they are all together in a 130 (or so) tank setup.

We should always have more female then males, correct? What ratio female to male should we have? 3 females for every 1 male? If you recommend we can stick to one color variation if you think we'd have problems keeping both in a 60 gal tank.

Also, I've looked into the Synodontis catfish. Would you just recommend the Feather-Fin, or would other variations like the Cuckoo or Njassa be compatible?

[mostlycichlids]

yes 3f to 1 m is good you could keep both in the sixty gallon it would curb agression to overstock I dont think all the same color variations would do any better just mix it up. really with the synondontis just make sure you get one that will stay smaller some species can get a foot or more I like to stay with synondontis that get 4-8 inches in that size tank

[mostlycichlids]

look at my personal page to see what I have in my mbuma tank.

[Chenell]

How many of these cat fish should I have in a 60 gal?

They say the feather-fin will get up to 8 inches, the cuckoo will get 5 inches, and the njassa gets up to 8 inches. How easy are these to find? I guess it all comes down to being able to find them locally. I really want to avoid ordering fish on-line... especially since i's getting cold here rather quickly.

Thanks for all the help!

[mostlycichlids]

I live in georgetown colorado most petsmarts carry the feather finned synondontis that is where I got mine I have 5 in my 55 gallon along with 9 mbuma personally I have to feed a lot at once to make sure they get some. It depends how many mbuma you are keeping But 3-5 would be good in my opinion they will probabally only to out at 6 inches most likley.

[Chenell]

Thanks for the info. If PetsMart has them I am sure some of the other fish stores in Denver will have them. I think we are going to go against getting the Electric Blue Haps.. everything I've read recommends a 90 gal plus tank and I do not want them getting into fights with the Electric Yellow guys. Personally, I like the fact that the female electric yellows are somewhat colorful in contrast to the Electric blue females.

So 3-5 of the Synodontis cats and maybe 2 male Electric yellows and 6 females?

Would that be too many fish? I just hope they don't have too many babies.. I dunno what I'd do with them all!

Also, with fishless cycling, do I need to put bacteria starter in the tank? Or will the bacteria form on their own?

What about driftwood? I hear it is no good because it lowers the ph. I use proper ph7 for my community tank.. these guys need around an 8ph I hear. would it be too hard to maintain the ph with driftwood in the tank?

Please advise.

[mostlycichlids]

you should start a couple new threads for the new questions you will get a better response. :) There is some great info on this site as well I here are some stocking ideas

http://www.malawimayhem.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2659

If you keep crushed coral in your filter it should be enough to maintain ph above7.4 as far as a fishless cycle it will form on its own If you want to cycle with fish you can use biospira this will have you cycled very quick start another thread though it will benefit you more.