I have a 100gal freshwater tank, it's been up for two years now, and I've enjoyed much success maintaining water quality, other than a recent bout with a PH swing, I'm doing alright. Thing is, I want to get into the Cichlids and dont know anything about them other than they are more colorfull than most fw fish. Could someone explane the water parameters that Cichlids need and give me some stocking ideas. Currently I have two pangasius(sp) catfish, and two dinasaur eel's in the tank. Cant get rid of any of these guies, wife already named them and actually talks to them.(they dont talk back as I understand it?). Will Cichlids survive at a PH of @7.0 or will I need to raise it, other params, ammo, nitrate, nitrite ect. should be the same I believe for the bio filter operation. Is there anything special I need to know before stockin Cichlids?
Want to start keeping Cichlids
- Thread starter rliverett
- Start date
Water parameters are indeed as per any healthy tank where ammonia, nitrite, nitrate are concerned (0, 0, some).
Ph can be a factor for e.g. Discus, Tanganyikans (low, high, respectively) but I don't think you'll be keeping those in that tank. Anywhere around 7 will be fine. Don't sweat Kh or Gh unless you have liquid concrete or incredibly soft acidic water.
Have extensive mechanical filtration - think at least twice what the filters are rated for - as cichlids are all mess buggers.
African Rift Lake Cichlids are a whole different story to South America/Central America. I think you are probably thinking about SA/CA in which case you might consider a couple of Oscars and I don't know a Jack Dempsey or something like that - to be honest I don't know a whole lot about these stock mixes so you should start a thread in the specific forum dealing with those.
Your main issue I think is the pangasius catfish. If these are irredescent sharks then they have an adult size of 3 feet so you already have a whole heap of fish in there to start with. Not sure what a good tank mate for them would be.
Ph can be a factor for e.g. Discus, Tanganyikans (low, high, respectively) but I don't think you'll be keeping those in that tank. Anywhere around 7 will be fine. Don't sweat Kh or Gh unless you have liquid concrete or incredibly soft acidic water.
Have extensive mechanical filtration - think at least twice what the filters are rated for - as cichlids are all mess buggers.
African Rift Lake Cichlids are a whole different story to South America/Central America. I think you are probably thinking about SA/CA in which case you might consider a couple of Oscars and I don't know a Jack Dempsey or something like that - to be honest I don't know a whole lot about these stock mixes so you should start a thread in the specific forum dealing with those.
Your main issue I think is the pangasius catfish. If these are irredescent sharks then they have an adult size of 3 feet so you already have a whole heap of fish in there to start with. Not sure what a good tank mate for them would be.
mostlycichlids
Cichlid Specialist
A netural PH is good for most cichlids. Strong filtration is a must and lots of it. The best advise I would give you is find out what type of Cichlids you like. There are thousands of cichlid species from Angels to Discus to Mbuna and so on. There are also South and Central American Cichlids and African Cichlids. Secondly I would see what Cichlids are available to you.
Once you figure this out it will be easier to narrow "Cichlids" down. You have a fairly large tank so you have a lot of options. Lastly don't be afraid to ask anything about them to help.
A good place to start would be www.cichlid-forum.com and start with looking through profiles.
Once you figure this out it will be easier to narrow "Cichlids" down. You have a fairly large tank so you have a lot of options. Lastly don't be afraid to ask anything about them to help.
A good place to start would be www.cichlid-forum.com and start with looking through profiles.
Like I said, the cats cant go, their named by my wife-Larry and MO, curley died last year. The eel's are Nessy and Cecil, they too must stay. I'm looking for some color and activity. Perhaps some schooling fish. Also like the strange looking fish too. I read the article sent about Cichlids, very interesting. Any suggestions on types? I am running two 400gal/hour filters w/biowheels, tank temp is @ 82*(78-82 throughout the year).