Cichlid frustration

[Alien Anna]

Hi Everyone,
a little while ago, I had a dream of having an African cichlid tank. My local water is alkaline and hard (pH 8.6 - 9.0 out of the tap, KH and GH >21) and although I was limited for space, I knew there were smaller, dwarf varieties about that could live happily in the 33 gallon tank I acquired.

I have assembled all the equipment except the rocks (which I intend to get in the next couple of weeks) and have read books and books on the species of fish I'd like to get. I checked out cichlid recipe sites and started to think about what I wanted in my tank: colour, variety, personality and suitability for my water.

I thought: rainbow fish, a couple of Neolamprologus sp. (tretocephalus and leleupi) and a bristle-nosed plec. I was informed that the rainbows would be too big and nip the fins of the others and the cichlids were far too aggressive and impossible to sex (and to therefore expect casualties).

So then I did some research and discovered yellow labs. Gentle cichlids, I was told, easy to keep in small groups. So, I suggested rainbow fish, yellow labs, blue labs and a bristle-nosed plec.

Rainbow fish were an even worse idea with this combination I was told, and labs aren't anywhere near as gentle as you've been lead to believe, especially in such a small tank, and much bigger than you think - a few horror stories later, I was convinced.

So today I took a trip to a shop which has an excellent reputation, especially for cichlids and had a long chat with the owner. He confirmed all the horror stories I'd been told but suggested some species that would be much better for my tank (he said). Incidently, he didn't like the bristlenose in this combination either - he said they hated the hard, high pH water and he pursuaded me that cheap and cheerful danios would be much better than expensive and difficult rainbows.

The recipe suggested was:
6 Brachydanio rerio (Zebra danios)
Small school of Neolamprologus brichardi (Lyretail cichlids)
Trio of shelldwellers (m + 2f, species according to availability)
Synodontis notatus occellatus (one-spot catfish)

The brichardi, he told me, were schooling fish and he'd never had a problem with aggression, provided they had plenty of caves and were kept in a small school. Then I posted this suggestion on a fish group.

It took an hour before I received my first horror story email. Brichardis are apparently known for their psychopathic ways. No one had heard of the catfish and I've heard nothing about shelldwellers, but genrally the opinion wasn't good. But everybody liked the danios


Meanwhile, I'm going totally off cichlids. Given the stories of mayhem and violence I've heard about them recently, I'm amazed anyone wants to keep them (except for loveble old angelfish). But, when I was into horses, I was always the person that got to ride the horse with the persistant rearing problem; and when I was into hamsters, I was the person that people took the vicious, un-tamable biters and spent hours persuading them not to eat human flesh. My mother can remember me at 6 years old, coming into the house with a weasle attached to one finger saying "Mummy, what kind of animal is this? Can you fetch my book so I can look it up before it escapes?"

So, I'm not the sort of person to shy away because an animal is difficult or demanding but I don't want to make stupid mistakes that I'm going to kick myself for later. If you have small, African cichlids, please tell me what you have that works. Thanks.

 

[semper fi]

first of all i think your big mistake is to rely so much on others opinions. i think it is a good idea to keep others opinions in mind, but everyone's experiences are going to be different.

second of all there are ways to calm down aggression in cichlids. the africans, imo are the easiest to calm down. if you get them as juvies and raise them together is the first key. lower temps will calm some of them down also. the lower the temp, the less they eat, are not as active and will not go into breeding frenzies. also groups of them, not just individuals will help to cal them down.

third if you do get a nightmare, most fish stores will take the fish back on trade. this is a very important question to ask. if you get a fish that is wrecking havoc in your tank, trade him for something else.

if you are looking at the catfish for a bottom feeder, maybe try clown loaches instead. you will need to get about five of them but they are able to hold their own against africans. steer away from the mbunas. they are highly aggressive.

don't be afraid to try things out. everyone's experiences are different. when i got my first tank i picked out fish cause they were pretty. i mixed mbunas, tangs and south americans. had a chippokae that was a total monster in the tank. to teach her a lesson, i gave her a time out with my larger red devil. they got along great! put convicts in with the red devil and he ate them all! creep ate anything i put in there except fofr that dumb chippokae. put her back in with the other africans and she continued to beat on everyone. got a male and two more females and she hid from everyone in a little cave she made. when i put my hand in my devils tank one tries to bite me and the other one rubs against it like a cat. loves to be pet. i got a dovi that broke his tank. had to take him to my in-laws. everytime that my mother in law walks past the tank he rams the glass, tries to lift the hood anything to get at her. anyone else and he wriggles in front of the tank.

i guess i am trying to say fish have different personalities. it does help if they are raised together. but if you can buy from a lfs that will take trade ins, try different combinations. if they do not work, trade them in. then you will know from your own experiences what works for you.

remember, opinions are like a_ _ _ _ _ _ _, everybody has one.....

and this is just my opinion.

maggie

 

[cichlidmaster]

Good advice Semper...(sounds like something I would say)

I only have one disagreement with it....the clown loaches would not be a good choice: Reason...

The tank is not large enough. A 33 gallon tank is a tad to small for 5 clowns and I don't believe keeping 1 or 2 is in their best interest as they prefer to be in groups.

 

[semper fi]

yes, i did not even notice that she was speaking about a particular size tank. thoug that she was first choosing the fish and then would get an appropriate sized tank. my bad!

senility thing.

what can i say, i was taight by the best

maggie