empty 55 gal -water question...

I have an empty 55 gal i want to set up as an african cichlid tank but i have some questions...

First, will 55gal be a sufficient size for these fish??

Second, our well water is very high in hardness and alkalinity but here is the problem... it is also high in nitrates. Now we have an r/o system we can use but i hate the idea of taking all the minerals out to put them back in again, so is there anything i can do to treat the water just for the nitrates?? or is the r/o my best bet?

thanks!
Anna

nitrates are at around 10ppm.

I was thinking Tanganyican(sp) species, but i wasn't sure really i love all the colors and don't know where to start!!!

I'm so glad to hear about the water, It'll be so much easier to run it straight from the tap!! (it'll keep me doing my water changes regularly! lol)

I would like a pretty dense community so i suppose no seriously aggresive cichlids, I have a book all on the different species, i need to go consult it and come up with a more concrete plan! I was waiting till i found out about our water.

Also, in this tank i can use all that limestone rock i have lying around can't I?

Oh, and is it ok to set the tank in the path of more sunlight than usual to encourage algae growth for the fish?

Thanks again for all the info!

ok i see! thanks I was just wanting to create for them a more natural habitat. Can i substitute for that by feeding those spirulina(sp) flakes then??

I'm getting too excited, i think this tank is going up in the next two weeks! lol

thanks that helps alot! i hadn't opened that thread yet, glad you suggested it. It gives me some good ideas