30g cichlid tank?

[LawDog101]

The 30g size seems to fit well in my office and now that my community tank is going well and has been very stable, I am thinking about a cichlid tank. Nothing fancy, just the basics. Couple of questions for you...

1. What cichlids would be best and how many. I was thinking that probably less than 6 of the smaller cichlids (<5" max length).

2. As far as filtration, I was thinking that an undergravel with a canister style filter would work best. Anything else I need to know think about?

3. I know that a sandy substrate and no unpotted live plants are the norm, what about structure. Clay pots seem to be good, what else?

Thanks

James

[vjvl51]

Hi James

My cichlid tank is almost like a community tank because I stay with cichlids that are less than 5 inches and are not too territorial.

Before I upgraded to my 50 gallon cichlid tank, I had a 25 gallon. I had about 3 inches of aquarium gravel on the bottom with a large pile of rocks (sometimes in the middle, and sometimes a pile on each end). I would have 3 or 4 Kribensis with a pair of Melanochromis johannii. For action at the top, I had 3 or 4 Australian rainbows and one African butterfly. This plus my clean-up crew of a raphel catfish, peacock eel (spiny eel). a couple otocinclus, butterfly placo and an apple snail; just about filled my tank. The back of the tank was planted with val and corkscrew val with some Java fern and moss attached to some of the rocks. I also had a couple of small pieces of driftwood.

I had the best luck mixing cichlids that live in different areas of the tank - the Kribensis on the bottom - the johannii in the middle. The 25 gallon won't give you enough territory for more than 2 kinds of cichlids at once. IMO

The cichlids that I had did not dig so plants were OK. Everyone had plenty of hiding spots with the Kribensis going in and out of the rocks all day long.

I would recommend a canister filter as opposed to a hand on like Aqua Clear. At that time I was running an Aqua Clear and found that I had to stay on top of the tank maintenance.

This is just a general comments of what worked for me. If you have any specific questions, please post again.

Vickie

[LawDog101]

I am pretty basic when it comes to fish names and I have not seen the ones that you mentioned. Is there a common name for these fish. My area is pretty limited and usually has quite a few cichlids in large chain stores, but not much else. I am really looking for a couple (4-6) larger cichlids. I think it is their personality that does it for me. Thanks.

James

[vjvl51]

Hi James

This is a common problem. What is commonly available here is not available there or goes by a different name. I recommend getting a good book and looking up the fish that are avialable in your area. You want a fish that will be happy in the length of aquarium that you have. If you get one that is intolerant, then you will probably be only able to keep one pair of that species in your tank. A good book will list the recommended aquarium length, the water requirements and temperment of the fish. I have a couple of books that I use frequently. One is Baensch's Aquarium Atlas Vol 1 (http://www.aquariumpros.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=APG&Product_Code=MC87049&Category_Code=BKfw) and the other is Richter's Complete Book of Dwarf Cichlids. Of the two, I recommend the Auqarium Atlas because the pictures are much better and it lists more fish, not just cichlids, that I can find locally than the second book. The second book has a better description of how and why cichlids interact the way they do.

The Melanochromis johannii are also known as Pseudotropheus johannii and "Pseudotropheus daviesi".

The Kribensis is also known as the purple cichlid and pelvicachromis pulcher.

Vickie

[fishfool]

hey i was googling and these guys (http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/f123/new-job-need-help-53102.html) were talking about it and mentioned that the main thing you need to be concerned with cichlids about is the Ph and water hardness. could you tell us the specifications of exactly what you're using in regards to those two water qualities? thanks a lot for any information you can give...

[fishfool]

oh man, i just noticed how old that thread was.. well hey, if you're still around, like I said, any information you can possibly give me would be appreciated