new chinchlid tank

[stan83]

Hey guys.

I just bought a ten gallon for my room.

I would like to have a dwarf chinchlid along with a few tetras and say 3 corys.
I think that would be nice layout. but im open to suggestions. (from what I read they should all be fine together.)

Firt things first - im new to chinchlids and Id like to know as much as possible before shelling out the cash. Are they very sensitive to temp/ph/hardness in water changes.

Im in the process of getting drift wood but untill I can get some ( I live in newfoundland and its not the cheapest place to buy fish stuff) im using fake wood from walmart. So I guess I wont get the softening effect. If that a bad thing.

Also what kind of setup would look nice? I dont know what to put in there.
Right now I have a sand colored gravel from the lfs and a few little rocks mixed in. I will see if I can hook up a picture.

But as for a setup that would look really nice and be within my price rage...
and the lfs in my area is horrible for prices. almost 40 dollars for a small piece of wood. So Is there any nice things I could find thats not ment for tanks but would look nice. say a smashed brick or something.
I dunno im totally out of ideas
Please someone help me figure out what to do with this tank to make it look good.
Ive seen so many amazing pics of tanks you guys make and I wish I could come up with something even half as nice.

Thanks so much guys.
And I have to say thank God for this forum. Its been a real help in the past few months.
steve

here is the url for the pics of the tank (just slammed it together in 30 seconds to show ya)
http/fools_paradise1.tripod.com/thetank/id4.html

 

[juanveldez]

stan I told you before... one, if you are going to keep tetras you are looking at
a south american cichlid because afracians need totally different water params....

second, a 10 gallon is just way to small to house any south american cichlid properly for any amount of time. they produce way to much waste and will end up killing themselves and the other fish in the tank.

I don't want to diswade you from getting cichlids, they are one of my fave groups of fish. but you are just going to need a bigger tank before you should think about getting some.

 

[stan83]

damm.
way to many mixed opnions. A bunch of people told me today that a Appistogramma and tetras would be fine in a 10

I dunno what to do anymore

 

[Sondan]

I know what you mean Stan....so here is what you do. You take eveyones OPINION and you decide. I know there are a lot of experienced people here but for every good experience there is a bad and for every I have seen it all there is a Wow look at that. I hope that helps.
Signed,
Sondan

 

[aernympha]

i would imagine some small cichlids would be ok oin a ten gallon tank say like rams they size would be good

 

[juanveldez]

okay maybe I need to be a bit more clear.

the reason that I say that a 10 gallon tank with cichlids is a bad idea is that due to the messy eating habits, and the amount of fecal matter that they produce the nitrates and ammonia are going to require at least twice weekly water changes of at least 25 to 30 percent, now I don't know about you stan but if there is a way for me to be lazy that is the route that I am going to go. and also tetras are pretty sensitive to ammoinia and nitrates and all of that good stuff.

 

[stan83]

What I was thinking about doing was have a planted tank so that would take care of some of the waste product.
With that and a waterchange every 5 days I was thinking it would be fine supposing that my water is at the right ph and I dont have to go buy botled or a R/O system. Plus its only one cichlid so I figured It would work. I guess there is only one real way to find out.

and sorry I posted this in the wrong forum. I meant to put it in south american and not african.

I think Im goign to solwly start planting and intrusing the tetras and eventually if all looks well and the conditions are right, try a apistogramma.

Thanks for the advise though. If it wasnt for this forum I probably would of never known what a cichlid was

 

[LesGerber]

Well I will be one that says having apistogrammas in a smaller tanks in small numbers like 3 or 4 will do fine with tetras like the black skirt. Granted as these dwarfs grow out you will need to think about going with a bigger tank.....A 30 would be sweet and plenty of room. I get the feeling you have beeeeen doing your homework and now about the fish that you want.

Backing up what Juan said......When ever dealing with a cichlid you are going to be faced with extra work. My recomendation would be to get another filter like the AquaClear 150 or 200 to offer additional filtration and you should be good to go

Good luck with your future fish keeping


Les

 

[NeilP]

Just to throw in my ha'penny....

I have a 8/9 UK Gallon tank with

6 Neon tetra
6 Pencil Fish
1 Male appisto Cacatuoides
1 Female appisto Cacatuoides
1 x Bristlenose Plec

According to Practical Fishkeeping Stocking Calc i can keep up to 16" of fish (Neons = 6" + Pencil = 6" (they are just over an inch but apparantly produce very little waste) + Male Appisto = 3.5" + Female Appiso = 2" + Plec = 5".

A Grand total of 22.5"

The plec is only about 1.5" at the moment, and i know i will have to move tanks when he gets bigger.

The tank has a Fluval plus 2 which is probably lightly bigger than needed.

It is quite heavily planted

Although the tank has only been running for a couple of months, the water params are fine and i do a 25% water change weekly.

So far so good....

Stan i would say go for it .......when the tank is properly cycled first - of course!

 

[Yaya]

Stan, I'm definitely not an expert here, in fact I'm a newbie here, but I'll share my experience with you. I have a ten gallon, and when I bought it a year ago, it was my very first fishkeeping attempt. Anyway, I bought 3 African cichlids, one a pseu. socofoli, pseu. acei, and the other possibly a may. call. (sp?-), all beautiful blue fish. They were fairly small, about 2" when I got them. Back then I knew nothing about cycling a tank, or new tank syndrome, etc. Anyway, the fish did great! They thrived, however, about six months later, they totally had outgrown their home. I know for a fact because I had a nice large piece of holey rock that they had been using, and they could no longer fit in the holes! There were no other fish with them, only a couple of snails. They did however manage to destroy my plants. About the only thing that would survive in their tank was anacharis. But oh how they loved to dig! So I would say, if you buy some small fish, the 10g will do just fine, but do plan to save your pennies for that bigger, more luxurious mansion they will inevitably demand later. However, it's true about Africans needing hard water and rocks, whereas the south american cichlids and tetras would do better in slightly acidic water and driftwood. I would definitely recommend trying the Africans, as they're absolutely beautiful when they get full size and get their adult coloration. IN the meantime, be on the lookout for a larger aquarium in garage sales, flea markets, etc. I was able to buy a nice 30gal with wooden stand and all accesories including filter for $95. I missed out on a better deal at the flea market on a 30 gal for $30, someone else had already bought it.
Good luck, it's all a learning experience.
Yaya