American Cichlid set up - advice needed please!

[Lauren1984]

Hi! I’m so excited to be setting up my new tank, and would loooove to get some advice from all you experienced fish lovers out there. I’ve currently got a smaller tank with a lovely family of bristlenose plecos, and am hoping to create a larger American cichlid tank for them to move in to, and to have some new buddies. Any ideas and advice on setting this up? (Which sand substrate is best? Best way to get the correct PH level? Bristlenose like driftwood but I read that lowers PH and Americans need it slightly higher?) Also who would be kind tank buddies to my plecos? I did want Oscars, but they’ll grow to big for my tank (168l), could I get severums do you think? All advice and tips welcome, many thanks! Lauren x

 

[malfunction]

American cichlids can be a pleasure to keep, and probably my favourite group of fish. You didn’t mention the dimensions of your tank, but I’m assuming 168l is 3ft? It’d also be good to know your water parameters (pH, GH & KH) as different species have different tolerances. Once you know those, you can start narrowing down compatible species. I would avoid oscars - partly because I think they’d outgrow your tank, and partly because their temperament can be challenging for a new fishkeeper. It might be worth choosing a smaller and more beginner friendly cichlid. Severums are a good beginner cichlid, but might be cramped if your tank is 3ft - it might work with rotkeils as they’re generally smaller.

Have you thought about dwarf cichlids? Assuming you have soft water and acidic pH, they could be a good option for you. That saves you having to try adjust the pH. Are you thinking about adding schooling fish too for the middle and top of the tank? And how many bristlenoses do you currently have?

In terms of sand, I normally use pool filter sand, but have recently started using Limpopo black sand. It’s more grey than black, and I think makes my fish look much more colourful. Bear in mind that some sands will affect your water parameters, so go for something that’ll be inert (e.g. pool filter sand, play sand, other silica based sands etc)

 

[GaryE]

Which American? South, Central or North? I'm hoping South, to go with the bristlenoses.

Sand on an international site is a vast question. I get pool filter sand from the west side of my city, because the options out at the east end are not the colours I want. So it's a very local question impossible to answer.

I would avoid the big fish trap. They are usually cheaper when sold small because they breed easily on the farms, but they create all sorts of issues in a tank as small as a 168L. Once you move into mid-range to large Cichlids, what you see as a large tank becomes very small very fast.

Think keyholes, Guianacara, Apistogramma, Mikrogeophagus and Cichlids of that size. If you stick to the ones of about 12cm max, you'll be good. After 30 years of Cichlid keeping, I've started using the formula of looking at the maximum size of the species I want, then multiplying that by 10 to see how much front glass I need for the fish. Cichlids aren't water volume fish - they are territorial fish that need space (except for the boring, endlessly fighting Malawi mbunas).
In a tank that size, you'd do best with one pair, or a pair of cave spawners and a pair of open spawners, so they compete less for resources.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

Hello and have much joy with some beautiful cichlids with personality!

 

[anewbie]

Typically england has hardwater with a lot of nitrate (which is bad for cichlid); while your water might differ it is important to test before starting as well as considering an RO unit if your water is both hard and has a high nitrate content.

 

[Essjay]

Typically england has hardwater with a lot of nitrate

It depends which part of England.
I'm in the north east and I have soft water and nitrate below 5 ppm.
In the north west where I was born, it's soft water and nitrate around 5 ppm.
The south east is on chalk, so they do have hard water.

Scotland has mainly very soft water, though there is the odd place with harder water.


The OP is in Cornwall which has mainly soft water with low nitrate. The exact numbers can be found by entering the postcode here

Water quality postcode search

Our region is divided into a number of supply zones. A Water Supply zone is defined in order to enable the mandatory sampling programme to be undertaken at the correct frequency per populous. Each zone is a geographical area containing no more than 100,000 permanent residents. The results will...

www.southwestwater.co.uk

[For example, Truro has hardness 3 dH and average nitrate 5.54 ppm as measured on the same scale as our test kits]

 

[Essjay]

If the water is soft, south American cichlids which need soft water would be a better option than central American cichlids.

 

[FishHobby99]

I use playground sand from Lowe’s, $5 for 50 pds in my cichlid/catfish tank. They are excavators and move it around. They have created some awesome gullies & slopes that look like a windswept beach.

 

[anewbie]

I use playground sand from Lowe’s, $5 for 50 pds in my cichlid/catfish tank. They are excavators and move it around. They have created some awesome gullies & slopes that look like a windswept beach.

Don't believe Lowe's is found in england.

 

[FishHobby99]

Surely there are equivalent home improvement or Big Box Building Supply stores everywhere?

 

[FishNturt808]

New world cichlids (north, central, south american) tend to be soft water fish (as far as I know).

They also need space and territory. So the bigger the tank the better. They also like hides. Nooks and crannies and caves to tuck away in.

I’ve found darker substrates make the fishes colors darken and stand out a bit more.

As far as keeping them with bristlenose, it all depends on the fish. I have bristlenose in with most my new worlds. The others have a sailfin and clown plecos (different tanks). The only one that has any issue between them is my firemouth doesn’t seem to like my super red bristlenose. My guess it’s the color. Reminds the firemouth of other male firemouth color (the ‘firemouth’ part). Other than that the cichlids tend to leave the non-cichlids alone. But I think that’s also a fish by fish basis.

 

[Essjay]

The recommended brand of play sand in the UK is Argos play sand.

 

[anewbie]

New world cichlids (north, central, south american) tend to be soft water fish (as far as I know).

They also need space and territory. So the bigger the tank the better. They also like hides. Nooks and crannies and caves to tuck away in.

I’ve found darker substrates make the fishes colors darken and stand out a bit more.

As far as keeping them with bristlenose, it all depends on the fish. I have bristlenose in with most my new worlds. The others have a sailfin and clown plecos (different tanks). The only one that has any issue between them is my firemouth doesn’t seem to like my super red bristlenose. My guess it’s the color. Reminds the firemouth of other male firemouth color (the ‘firemouth’ part). Other than that the cichlids tend to leave the non-cichlids alone. But I think that’s also a fish by fish basis.

There are quite a few medium hard water central american cichlid - example include: convict, firemouth, rainbow, salvini (very pretty), jack dempsy, ...

 

[emeraldking]

Welcome to TFF and post those pics of those American cichlids when you've got your cichlid tank running...