electric yellow
Fish Addict
Hey Guys 
I have up and running a cichlid tank. Im a bit confused as to which section to post it in as there are both african and south americans in the tank. Most people cringe when i say that coz apparently they cant live together...well mine are. They've been together since i got them from the lfs over a yr ago. They were all bought as babies so have been growing together now and i think that helps with the lowering of aggression. Ther eis hardly any. They are chasey chasey at some stages but generally they just keep tothemselves..
I just have a few questions in relation to cichlids tanks in general that I need answers too...
Tank Details:
Decor: white sand, large ship wreck with hiding holes, real plants (that they have munched), fake plants, rocks and tunnels for the to hide in, purple fluro light, normal white fluro light, air stone.
Filtration: internal aqua one sponge filter with air stone, external aqua one 700 filter.
Water Stats: weekly 25% change, ph 7.8 - 8.0, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 0ppm, ammonia 0ppm, heating 26-28deg celcius
Dimensions: 1mtr length by 50cm width by 75cm height
Stock (apologies for not knowing the prper terms for these fish):
2x convicts (2F black and grey stripped)
3x electric yellow labs (2F 1M) 1F is 12cm other 2 are 4cm
2x electric blue labs (1F 1M paired when we go them)
2x mangiano's (1F 1M)
2x hongi's (1F 1M pair when we bought them)
2x blue/purple with yellow fins (2F 10cm big cant remember the name of these...)
plus feeder fish that they didnt eat so are now swimming happyly with them...
I dont think we will be getting anymore for the tank as these folks all seem to be getting along quite well so i dont want to upset the balance. They are all about 2 to 3 inches in size
One of the question i had was that i was told by a person on another forum that i need to rake my sand in the bottom of the tank to avoid a 'toxic gas build up' underneath. Is tis true? If it is the case then how often do i need to do it and can the fish cope with having the sand kicked up while i do this?
What is a proper cichlid diet? Because ive south americans in with africans is there any diff in feeding? They seem to be adequate in their food and eating habits but im wondering if there is anything im missing. Right now they get a mixture of flake, pellets and a food my aquarium gave me that has all sorts of krill, brine and lots of nutrition for colour and growth.
Is there anything that I can do to add more hiding holes? I cant put slate or rock piles in because ive a large ship wreck in their so that takes up a lot of room. The bigger fish love hiding in it and most of the cave ive made out of river rocks and immitation wood seem to give them all a place to call home...but im wondering if i need more?
Also...should I be flattening out the sand they keep 'renovating'? They love to dig and im constantly worried someone is going to get squashed if they dig to much and things move around.
I apologise for the bad quality photos...you can see how much they like to dig 
While it doesnt look like there is a lot of coverage there is plenty because the ship takes up alot of the ground. It naturally has a high range ph so i only check the water ph every two weeks and ive never had to adjust the ph once in the 8mths or so its been running.
We bought the Aqua One tank, cabinet, filter for $1000aus which was a bargin because we got them down from $2000aus. They even threw in the sand which had never been used. The aquarium we go is very good to us
I have up and running a cichlid tank. Im a bit confused as to which section to post it in as there are both african and south americans in the tank. Most people cringe when i say that coz apparently they cant live together...well mine are. They've been together since i got them from the lfs over a yr ago. They were all bought as babies so have been growing together now and i think that helps with the lowering of aggression. Ther eis hardly any. They are chasey chasey at some stages but generally they just keep tothemselves..
I just have a few questions in relation to cichlids tanks in general that I need answers too...
Tank Details:
Decor: white sand, large ship wreck with hiding holes, real plants (that they have munched), fake plants, rocks and tunnels for the to hide in, purple fluro light, normal white fluro light, air stone.
Filtration: internal aqua one sponge filter with air stone, external aqua one 700 filter.
Water Stats: weekly 25% change, ph 7.8 - 8.0, nitrite 0ppm, nitrate 0ppm, ammonia 0ppm, heating 26-28deg celcius
Dimensions: 1mtr length by 50cm width by 75cm height
Stock (apologies for not knowing the prper terms for these fish):
2x convicts (2F black and grey stripped)
3x electric yellow labs (2F 1M) 1F is 12cm other 2 are 4cm
2x electric blue labs (1F 1M paired when we go them)
2x mangiano's (1F 1M)
2x hongi's (1F 1M pair when we bought them)
2x blue/purple with yellow fins (2F 10cm big cant remember the name of these...)
plus feeder fish that they didnt eat so are now swimming happyly with them...
I dont think we will be getting anymore for the tank as these folks all seem to be getting along quite well so i dont want to upset the balance. They are all about 2 to 3 inches in size
One of the question i had was that i was told by a person on another forum that i need to rake my sand in the bottom of the tank to avoid a 'toxic gas build up' underneath. Is tis true? If it is the case then how often do i need to do it and can the fish cope with having the sand kicked up while i do this?
What is a proper cichlid diet? Because ive south americans in with africans is there any diff in feeding? They seem to be adequate in their food and eating habits but im wondering if there is anything im missing. Right now they get a mixture of flake, pellets and a food my aquarium gave me that has all sorts of krill, brine and lots of nutrition for colour and growth.
Is there anything that I can do to add more hiding holes? I cant put slate or rock piles in because ive a large ship wreck in their so that takes up a lot of room. The bigger fish love hiding in it and most of the cave ive made out of river rocks and immitation wood seem to give them all a place to call home...but im wondering if i need more?
Also...should I be flattening out the sand they keep 'renovating'? They love to dig and im constantly worried someone is going to get squashed if they dig to much and things move around.
I apologise for the bad quality photos...you can see how much they like to dig
While it doesnt look like there is a lot of coverage there is plenty because the ship takes up alot of the ground. It naturally has a high range ph so i only check the water ph every two weeks and ive never had to adjust the ph once in the 8mths or so its been running.
We bought the Aqua One tank, cabinet, filter for $1000aus which was a bargin because we got them down from $2000aus. They even threw in the sand which had never been used. The aquarium we go is very good to us
/www.fishforums.net/content/African-.../Feeding-Mbuna/
