From Sharks to Cichlids - My First Cichlid Tank - PICS!

[hondaman]

Hey guys i finally caved in, well more like an unfortunate set of events took place which wiped out 2 of my sharks plus my catfish leaving my tank with only one shark and my pleco. So therefore, I decided to forgo getting new sharks and went to the cichlid side.

Now i have been contemplating this move for awhile and have reading up alot on the subject. I even was lucky enough, during my vacation to Atlanta, to visit the Georgia Aquarium and their beautiful Cichlid display. So I knew too many plants was a bad idea and rocks were good.

This is what my tank looked like when i had just the sharks....

http://www.myautoiq.com/carlos/tank/cichlid/before.jpg

So next step was lets add some rocks! What did I do, there is a stream about 200 yards from my apartment which feeds into a river from which people fish and eat out of. I went treking through the bushes found a spot which had fish swiming around them (i figured they would be ok) and started plucking out some rocks.

So I took them home, put them in the bath tub, and then...

1. soaked them in hot water for about 2 hours
2. scrubbed every rock with a brush scrubber
3. rinsed and scrubbed
4. soaked again in hot water with bleach for 1 hour
5. rinsed and scrubbed
6. soaked again in hot water with bleach for another hour
7. rinsed and scrubbed
8. PUT THEM IN THE DISHWASHER FOR 4 HEAVY CYCLES WITH HOT DRY! Woohoo!

http://www.myautoiq.com/carlos/tank/cichlid/dishwasher.jpg

Now of course by now i figured hell, if there was anything remotely alive on these rocks, they are long dead by now... but just in case they were not.

9. I didnt have a pot big enough (or one my better half would allow me to use) to boil the rocks, so I baked them at 500 deg for an hour.

So, after all was said and done (2 days of my life on this), I went to the fish store and picked up 2 small beautiful Cichlids from the "Assorted" tank. Please Identify if you can the names, pics below.

So I took my remaining shark and pleco out of the tank and went to town. This is what I have created. I just hope its good enough for my new friends.

http://www.myautoiq.com/carlos/tank/cichlid/after.jpg '
What do you think?

http://www.myautoiq.com/carlos/tank/cichlid/ciclids_1.jpg

http://www.myautoiq.com/carlos/tank/cichlid/ciclids_2.jpg

Can you identify these?

BTW you know what I love the most about this project.... other than paying for the 2 new fish. I spent $0 on the new setup!!!!

So anyway as I said before this is my first attempt at this, so any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

[corykid]

Well they Malawian Cichlids but i do not wanna say anymore b/c of fears that i will be totally wrong lol

[corykid]

OOOOO all right i will guess electric blue and electric yellow lol hope i not too wrong

[number1sixerfan]

OOOOO all right i will guess electric blue and electric yellow lol hope i not too wrong


I would agree with you.

I like how you have stacked your rocks. How many cichlids do you plan on adding from here?

[corykid]

ooo what score !!

ya so how many more r ya goin to add......p.s. do some reading on purposly "overstocking" cichlid tanks

[liv2padl]

the pics of the fish are far too small to help with identification. that's the nicest piece of 'driftwood' i've ever seen.

[DeRo316]

From that view looks like you have a cobalt blue and a yellow lab.
Cobalt Blue: Profile Link (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=787)
Yellow Lab: Profile Info (http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1669)

Like the rocks and "driftwood"(have the same in my 30!). If you're up for the maintenance you could do 12-15 total. I would stick with all males or do 1m/3f of same species.

[wobble]

I agree on the Labidochromis caeruleus (yellow lab), but the blue one looks to me like it might be a Pseudotropheus socolofi.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=919

Hard to tell though without a close up side view.

[JulieC]

I also agree that the yellow is probably a yellow lab.

I think that the blue is either a socolofi or a johanni (as a lot of the juvies that I've seen are that color).

Just my guess! :p:

[kay-bee]

Great set up!

The blue one is definately a pseudotropheus socolofi (a.k.a. 'powder blue') and among my favorites.

I've got a few dozen of them of that size (the black markings on the fins identifyable in the last pic are a dead giveaway).

[hondaman]

Thanks guys, in reading your responses it is definitely a power blue and yellow lab.

So now considering that they are currently about 2" long, should i go as far as 12-15??

My other question is how do you sex them?

[skiboarder72]

nice looking setup!!