Is everything looking alright to you all?

[Goosteady]

Okay, I have kept planted community tanks my whole life but this is my first attempt at a cichlid tank. I have a 17 gallon tank and am wanting to house some jewel cichlids. I have several questions. The first being how many can I house in my tank, the second is what kind of scavenger fish can I keep with these nasty guys, and the third is are my tap water test results alright for this type of fish, they are as follows:

pH: 7.5
NH3/NH4+: 0mg/l
GH/KH: 14/9
NO2: <.03

One more thing, I have decided to go with some medium grade conrete sand made by quikrete for my substrate, but as the following picture shows, this sand does't seem to want to fall. This picture was taken almost 12 hours after I introduced the water to the sand. Is this normal?

 

[peifc]

Usually need 24 hours to 48 hours for the sand to settle. Turn off your filter for now and let the water slowly settle down.

 

[JSchmidt]

If you're using a filter that's colonized with beneficial bacteria (i.e., from a cycled tank or that was used during fishless cycling) you don't want to turn it off, or you'll kill all the bacteria. If it's a brand new filter with new media, turning it off will be OK.

Jim

 

[NatakuTseng]

Jewels will get too large for the tank, as well as being too active for it. You would be much better off looking in the direction of a dwarf cichlid for a tank that size.

 

[Goosteady]

Well here it is, day two. Yesterday I set up the tank with playsand and added water. Today I woke up and it was clear enough so I put an old filter, heater, and the slate in. About an hour ago I got these 4 dalmation mollies off a friend to help jumpstart this cycle. The tank is 17 gallons and I had several people tell me this wasn't large enough to keep a few jewels in, but I've had others tell me it is fine, so in lew of buying a new tank I am just going to run with it. I am quite pleased with the way the playsand/slate look has turned out (I've always had planted community tanks before). Do you all feel that 4 of these mollies are enough to get this cycle moving, or should I add a few more?

 

[NatakuTseng]

Look, Jewels will get around 8" and are extremely active, aggressive and breed just as easily as convicts. Convicts over all are a bit smaller, and I would not reccomend them, nor anyone who knows anything about the fish in a tank smaller than a 33 long. A 17 gal is hardly being enough for even two pairs of Dwarf cichlids, let alone fish like Jewels. Just "running" with this is not a smart thing to be doing, and not in the best interest of the fish.

 

[redparrotbubble]

Agreed the tank may be too small for jewels. they grow larger than most people think and for a tank that small they may not be a good choice. some dwarf cichlids would be a better choice.
-Mike

 

[PumaWard]

Jewels are like the african version of convicts. I would consider treating them almost identical to convicts. 20g min for ONE jewel, 29g min for a m/f pair.

Personally, I really think you should consider fishless cycling. I also don't consider mollies hardy enough to take cycling well... if you must cycle with fish, 4-6 zebra danios would be a better option.

 

[El Barto]

have you thought of kribs?its perfect size tank for 1 pair and they can raise a brood in there.you might get away with tankmates like snails, shrimp,ottos,more of a clenup crew relly . look into it. i absolutely adore my pair

 

[somefinnfishy]

Look, Jewels will get around 8" and are extremely active, aggressive and breed just as easily as convicts. Convicts over all are a bit smaller, and I would not reccomend them, nor anyone who knows anything about the fish in a tank smaller than a 33 long. A 17 gal is hardly being enough for even two pairs of Dwarf cichlids, let alone fish like Jewels. Just "running" with this is not a smart thing to be doing, and not in the best interest of the fish.

I,ve worked one of the biggest LFS in the midwest for years.
I have only seen one BIG jewel and it was only around 4.5"
i'm assuming 8" is 5 years down the road.
Also keep in mind they have been altering jewels for years (for color not size) I doubt most of the hundreds of morphed species going around could ever reach 8"