choose my fish for me

T

tire

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Feb 17, 2004
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i want some chichlids and i am new to aquariums. i am going today to put in some mollies just to get the tank going. in a month i will buy some more fish, so suggest away.

i have a 45 gal hex tank and i will be putting a rock tower or a pile of rocks in the middle for the little fish.

i want at least 3 or 4 small fish, 3 or 4 medium (tiger barb size) and maybe a couple bigger chichilds.

i'd like some variation but to have at least two of each of the small and medium sized fish but the bigger ones can be of their own species.

thanks!

austin
 
Tanganyika is a lake in Africa that it home rift cichlid species. A Lake Tanganyika setup would mimic the natural habitat in Lake Tanganyika.
 
hex tanks are actually quite bad for most cichlids. because of the territory issue.

cichlids are bottom dwellers and so they all try and make a home on the bottom of the tank and hex tanks have very little area on the bottom that can lead to more conflict than in a regular tank.

having said that

I would suggest looking into getting some Rams or some apistogrammas and then filling the top of the tank with tetras of somekind.

Angels also do ok in Hex tanks because of the hit so a couple of them might be a good idea.

i advice against putting a larger cichlid in a hex tank for the reasons ive already stated, they just would not be happy unable to get a decent sized territory.

HTH
 
thanks for your imput.

i like the firemouth cichlid, would it still be ok to get one of them in my tank?

how does this sound:

1 cichlid
1 female swordtail
2 platys
1 male betta
some tiger barbs, or smallish pack fish??

where can i get a firemouth chichlid that is young, in good health, and not expensive?

what are rams or some apistogrammas?
 
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That site should tell you if you can keep more than one firemouth cilchids. With the sword tail and platys i would advise against it. I would stick to an all cilchid tank mate. I would suggest against the betta and go with a bottom feeder or two.
 
What about some kribensis? :D

This Page details the kribensis and german blue ram, both of which would be good choices for cichlids for a community tank.

You can get a pair of one or the other.... and have a top-dwelling schooling fish (tetras/barbs/rasboras/danios, etc), some bottom schooling fish (such a cories), and maybe a couple others.

Have it well planted and it will be a wonderful tank.

:)
 
thank you, i looked at your link.

my girlfriend (and me to an extent) would be sad to get rid of our current fish. if we got a cichlid it wouldn't get along with them i guess? i don't want to have a kiddie looking aquarium, i want a cool ecosystem not just a bunch of platys. should i just get rid of the current fish then? :( how do you get rid of them, sell them back? i'm not going to kill them fyi.
 
What sort of fish are you getting rid of? You might be able to put an add in the paper to find them a good home. Rams are a type of cichlid that are reasonably popular and are generally peaceful if you keep a pair of them (male / female pair). Demon surfer mentioned maybe keeping an angel and that might be a good idea. They are fairly nice fish if you have the room, but I think a single angelfish in the tank would suffice rather than a pair. Corys generally make good bottom feeder type fish, but I don't think they'd really enjoy the depth of your tank since they periodically make trips to the top. Also you want to make sure whatever schooling type fish you get they won't be food for your other fish. I've heard of a 5 striped barb that looks similar to tigers, but without the fin nipping attitude that might be worth looking into if a LFS carries them in your area. None do in mine or I would have checked into them better.
 
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