Moving towards a Cichlid tank

J

jmattingly

AC Members
Jan 22, 2006
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Aurora, CO
I recently picked up a 125 gallon tank, that came with fish. Now that the tank has cycled completely and is looking good, I'm starting to consider what direction I want to head with the tank. I'm also getting tired of having my pleco strip every live plant I put into the tank. He's fed well, but can't resist destroying every plant.

I currently have:

1 VERY large pleco (currently trying to sell/trade him)
1 Large Silver Scat (currently trying to sell/trade, as he is a brackish fish in a fresh tank)
2 Pink Gouramis
2 catfish
1 small, unknown fish (I should really post a picture and figure out what the heck he is)

I'm using:
1 Aqua Clear 300
1 HOT Magnum (hooked to an undergravel filter)
1 power head (hooked to UG filter)
1 Emperor 400 biowheel

What I'd like to do is have more live plants in the tank. Hense, I'm trying to offload the Pleco. He is simply too large, and either eats everything in sight or thrashes around so much that everything is knocked all to heck.

Are there Cichlids that will work in this tank, assuming the Pleco & Scat are gone and the other fish remain? Should I consider going to a brackish tank, and removing all the fish except the Scat?

I'd like to do a cichlid tank, as I have read enough to know they would be colorful and playful. Right now, the tank just doesn't have enough "life" in it, and watching the pleco eat and poop has gotten boring.

What direction should I head???

Joe
 
If you want a lively colorful tank go with the malawi cichlids. You'll love them. I'm not sure how they are with plants, they are vegetarian so I'm assuming they wouldn't be too good with plants. I do have some java fern in my tank and no one touches it, but that is the only plant I've tried to put in there.
 
I was thinking of using java moss/ferns in the tank. My pleco simply strips everything else down to a stalk. Makes it useless to try and create a natural environment.

Is there any compatibility issues with the malawi cichlids and the fish I'm planning on keeping?

Thanks!

Joe
 
Actually the natural environment for malawis is amoungst rocks not plants. If you could think of big groups of large boulders and other rock, that is were they live in the wild. You can still make a good looking tank without plants, I think anyways. You can take a look at both of my tanks through the link in my sig. MY comunity tank is the one with the plants (pictures are a little old, have more plants now), and the 85 gallon is the one with just rockwork and has malawis in it now.
I'm not too sure about compatibility with your other fish, someone else will have to help you with that.
 
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