Help! I need Cichlid advice please!

[NewCichlidLover]

Hello! I am soooo excited. I have been interested in Chichlids since I accidentally stumbled upon a Black Belt Cichlid about 6 years ago. I had just bought a tank and bought a bunch of different fish. (I didnt realize thier aggressiveness or size or anything about them really...just green to the whole fish thing in general) I bought a Convict, an Oscar (not sure what kind) and a Jack Dempsy. They were all the same size...Anyway...My Black Belt killed off all the others and anything else I decided to try to put in...no matter the size. He would not tolerate anything in his tank..not even a plecko (sp). He was ok with a giant one that I bought later but other than that...forget it. I had him for 3 years or so and he got really big...the kids got a kick out of him eating little goldfish. He must of eaten a bad fish once because he got sick all of a sudden and was dead within 3 days. I was soooo upset. I didnt think it was possible to get attached to a fish but I did.

Anyway...I put my tank away and hadnt looked back until about 3 months ago...I saw Jewel Cichlids and had to have them. My tank is only a 20 gallon but I bought 3 just in case. 2 weeks later I bought 2 Ruby Crowns and a Plecko (advised they would be ok by the fish guy at the pet store) and my Jewels killed them off within the first 2 days. Anyway...I went back today (after about a month or so) and talked to someone else. I fell in love...he showed me the most awesome Oscar (which he said will hold his own)...I have no Idea what he is...but I bought him and another, bigger, plecko. Things are going ok so far but we'll see. I will upgrade my tank when they start to get bigger. Anyway...I wonder if someone will help me out. I can take a digital pic of him but I dont know how to post it. I would like to know what kind of Oscar he (or she) is. I would also looooove to hear some great Cichlid stories from other lovers.

 

[Inchworm]

Hi NewCichlidLover

Welcome to the forum.

I think you will enjoy yourself here. There are lots of friendly cichlid keepers here who would be happy to talk to you about them.

I will move your thread right to the New World Cichlid forum so you can get started.

 

[cichlidmaster]

Let's see................

You have an oscar, 3 jewels and a large pleco in a 20 gallon tank???

It may be time to upgrade now depending on the size of the fish!!

As you already found out, the jewels can be nasty and IME if they are close to the same size as the oscar could very well do it in!!

Pleco's being the poo machines that they are (along with oscars) may overtax your filtration very quickly.

Please post the type of filtration you have, the size of the fish, your water change schedule and feeding schedule.

With this info we should be able to give you a better idea on whether it is time now to upgrade or if not, how long you have until it is!!


CM

 

[Dwarfs]

The Oscar may eat the jewels, when he gets big. Jewels are killing machines. I had a pair that attempted to kill everything in the tank, after we moved the fish they died of infection from wounds and the jewels went on raising their babies. Oh well

 

[Vip]

I think we found the problem, a 20gal tank is waaaaaaaaaaaaaay to small for a blackbelt, they need 55g min, and feeding him goldfish would of also killed him pretty fast to, dont do that goldfish carry paristies that kill other fish..
If the jewls are only a little bit smaller than the oscar then they will gang and kill him, if they dont then the oscar will eat them soon..
DO NOT LISTEN TO YOUR LFS!!! he wants you to buy more off him, the fish you have come from two differnt parts of the world therefor need two differnt water types. Take back that oscar, it will get close to as big as the tank you have and as tall, they also grow at a rate of 1" per month. A pleco is to big for the tank as well, they dont grow as fast but they get just as big..

 

[cichlidtank]

If you kept your black belt cichlid, your first oscar, and ect. in that 20 gallon tank that would explain the reason why the black belt killed all your other fish.

As you asked for, I will relate a story, but it is concerning over crowding:
When my girl friend began to get interested in fish and bought her first tank (a 5 gallon) from a mall pet shop, she couldnt resist getting the most colorful and active fish in the store. She got a small pleco (2 in), a neon tetra, two mollies, a guppy, an angel fish, a tiger barb, and a small bright yellow fish which she had fallen in love with. As you could have guessed, the small bright yellow fish was the aggressive one. It was a yellow electric mbuna, and the tank was obviously crowded. So of course the yellow electric (named Soda) saw to fixing the problem of overstocking. He killed everyone, as well as some new additions. Some he ate, some he just killed, and some he completely dismembered. My girl learned alot from her first fish tank (no thanks to the salesperson at the pet shop). The 5 gallon is now used to house a fresh water flounder, and she has developed a new 30 gallon tank which has a yellow electric, along with other mbunas this time, and the yellow electric is now the least dominant of the tank.

I am sorry to say it, but you need a larger tank, especially when the cichlids grow up. Maybe a 75 gallon would be a good choice. Remember oscars can grow to 14 inches long in the span of a few years (7 or 8).