30 Gallon Cichlid Tank? Stocking Help ?

[thezodiac]

so i have an established 30 gallon tank
measures 12 x 19 x 30
had an aquaclear 70 on it (which is for 70 gallon tanks so its over filtered)
heated and gravel bottom.
as well as a good amount of live plants

completely cool with doing a cichlid only species tank

anyways its been cycled for over a year and im looking to change up the entire stocking of this tank.


ive come up with a list of fish i like and would love if someone could help out with a stocking list


lfs has assorted mixed african cichlids (about 1 inch max currently)
possibly like 9ish of them ? (which is what they recommended, overall they seemed knowledgeable)
that or maybe a few of some large type of cichlid?

firemouth cichlid
jacobfreibergi peacock
bumblebee cichlid
brichardi cichlid

what options do i have ?

thanks in advance!

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

An African oddball tank, with a couple of species that will grow quite big for this size tank, but are fine because of their very sedate nature (plus some biotope correct dithers that are suitable for a 3-foot)?

3x African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi)
4x Leopard Bushfish (Ctenopoma acutirostre)
8-10x Yellow Tailed Congo Tetra (Alestopetersius caudalis)

 

[thezodiac]

An African oddball tank, with a couple of species that will grow quite big for this size tank, but are fine because of their very sedate nature (plus some biotope correct dithers that are suitable for a 3-foot)?

3x African Butterfly Fish (Pantodon buchholzi)
4x Leopard Bushfish (Ctenopoma acutirostre)
8-10x Yellow Tailed Congo Tetra (Alestopetersius caudalis)

thanks for the suggestions! only problem is i haven't heard of any of the 3 and dont think i could find any of them locally.

(changed op to reflect this). sorry for not thinking to add that to the op.

i must say African Butterfly Fish are pretty awesome looking though !

 

[thezodiac]

bump. need ideas

 

[nmonks]

Do consider going brackish. There are two obvious options if you do. One is the Figure-8 pufferfish, and you could keep 2-3 specimens in this tank without any problems, plus a few Bumblebee Gobies if you can get food down to them.

The other choice will take a bit of effort to track down, and that's the Butterfly-Goby Waspfish, Neovespicula depressifrons. This chap is an absolute star, really fun to watch, but difficult to feed, so read up on its needs. Live foods will be needed initially, and since store-bought feeder fish aren't an option, that means gut-loaded live shrimp. Once settled they should take other foods. Obviously these are fish for advanced aquarists; if you aren't such, then probably best left alone.

There are some "freshwater" toadfish in the trade like Allenbatrachus grunniens. They're brackish water fish of course, despite the name, but barely move, so your tank would be adequate for a young specimen for at least a year or two. They are very difficult to feed, and will need weaning from live food onto frozen, but if you're an advanced and experienced aquarist, you should be able to manage.

Cheers, Neale

 

[thezodiac]

Do consider going brackish. There are two obvious options if you do. One is the Figure-8 pufferfish, and you could keep 2-3 specimens in this tank without any problems, plus a few Bumblebee Gobies if you can get food down to them.

The other choice will take a bit of effort to track down, and that's the Butterfly-Goby Waspfish, Neovespicula depressifrons. This chap is an absolute star, really fun to watch, but difficult to feed, so read up on its needs. Live foods will be needed initially, and since store-bought feeder fish aren't an option, that means gut-loaded live shrimp. Once settled they should take other foods. Obviously these are fish for advanced aquarists; if you aren't such, then probably best left alone.

There are some "freshwater" toadfish in the trade like Allenbatrachus grunniens. They're brackish water fish of course, despite the name, but barely move, so your tank would be adequate for a young specimen for at least a year or two. They are very difficult to feed, and will need weaning from live food onto frozen, but if you're an advanced and experienced aquarist, you should be able to manage.

Cheers, Neale

very interesting recommendations as well. ive never tried brackish before but will have to consider it

 

[thezodiac]

updated op because ive decided that i'd like to go with cichlids most likely

help based of the list i posted would be great, although always open to any suggestions

 

[thezodiac]

thinking ill get a single firemouth cichlid

and maybe some smaller fish


any recommendations on what to keep with it?

 

[Moby-Krib]

Hi,
The 3 African species will not work in the 30 gal at all. jacobfreibergi peacock, bumblebee , brichardi all need a bigger tank, 55 gal and up.

Now I expect to be corrected on the following statements.But here goes.

The Firemouth is a SA cichlid and could be kept as a pair in a 30 gal, kinda close quarters but doable I would think.

I would think suitable tank mates would include, in general,
Plecos, Loaches, SA Cichlids of similar size and temperament, and larger Barbs. NOT tiger barbs though as they can by quite nippy.

I couldn't even begin to recommend numbers as I'm not up to speed on any of these fish in detail.