is gravel a must

[sylvia]

Not that hard to find but they have certain water requirements as they are african tang shell-dwelling cichlids so need harder water with a higher pH, a fine sand substrate and several shells. They are, however, perfect for a small tank and will breed readily.

 

[mandi]

Not sure what kind of project you're working on (actually -- sounds interesting, I'd love to hear about it!) but I know in the biology department at PSU (where I just graduated from) they frequenly use white cloud minnows or zebra danios ... the biology wing was full of 10 & 20 gallon bare bottom tanks with tons of them in there. Not sure what you're working on though, so maybe the cichlids are a requirement. Just thought I'd put in my 2-cents because minnows/danios would be a lot cheaper (and probably more hardy) than the cichlids would be, depending on what your experiment involves.

 

[Chunandler]

actually it's doesn't matter really matter what fish I use, I just love the look of cichlids

i'll be keeping the fish after its over so I want to make the aquarium good looking and i want to get some fish in there that look good..

one could barely call it an experiment.. basically i'll be trying to prove fish have memory..and I know they do so it should be fairly easy

 

[pnyklr3]

The dwarfs I have are South American (Cockatoo Dwarf Cichlids). The females would, however, need "caves" (upturned pots are eastiest). At least 1 cave per female as they do have territories, but only get nippy if they are spawning.

 

[Chunandler]

i think ill probably have to rule them out..i dont have sand or and shells



thinking about some tiger barbs though??