New Tank

[day1892]

Hi
 
I posted yesterday as a newbie joining this forumn for advice on fish to keep with angel fish.
I have not yet set my tank up or cycled it as i have not picked it up yet.
 
However i would like to get the tank set up for the fish that will be in there and a few people mentioned some cichlids may work well with angels.
 
for info the tank will be a Juwel 200 Lido
 
I have done a bit of googling and have came across blue acara, Bolivian Ram and Firemouths which all look brilliant.
 
So i was just wondering peoples opinions here on what cichlids would mix best? How many? And how best to set the tank up for them? Plants etc
 
Thanks for any advice and sorry if this is a reptitive question you get asked all the time
 
 

 

[ZoddyZod]

the rams and firemouths should work well. They both prefer the bottom third of the tank, whilst the angels primarily inhabit the top half.

 

[day1892]

Thanks very much ZozzyZod

 

[ZoddyZod]

are you drunk?

 

[day1892]

Apologies. Got overly keen on the Z's!

 

[simplyfish]

In terms of set up, I'd think a sand substrate would be a good idea. Firemouths like to sift it through their gills.
 
A couple of distinct 'territories' eg. Caves, or Driftwood Roots for the lower areas to break line of sight and allow the cichlids to establish themselves. The firemouth will probably be the more dominant and want to chase the rams. They will need somewhere to hide when he does this.
 
Angels like to have tall growing plants to hide in. Things like Amazon Swords can be easy to grow to suit this. They also might use these leaves to spawn on.

 

[day1892]

Thanks very much.
 
Was leaning towards sand substrate after doing a fair bit of reading today.
Will get some Amazon swords as well, been looking into plants, this was one along with Java Fern and Water Wisteria that i had noted. So thanks again for confirming that.
 
Will the live plants be ok without any CO2 in there? Everything in the tanks is going to be the stock stuff from Juwel. Lights, filter, heater etc..
 
Thanks again for the advice

 

[simplyfish]

I don't have CO2 and my Amazons do well. My set up is very similar in size and fish. 
 
I'd go for a darker sand, mine is currently a pale colour but I have 2 bags of dark sand ready to go in. You will probably pay a little more, but everything looks better against a dark background.

 

[day1892]

Brilliant thanks a lot this has really helped.i can start getting all this together now for when i pick the tank up in a few weeks. Hopefully have everything i need to decorate the tank and cycle it

 

[Wills]

I would go for Bolivian Rams and Firemouths rather than Blue Rams as the Bolivians and the FMs have similar water requirements
 
Wills

 

[day1892]

Brilliant thanks Wills. Will do. Cant wait to get cracking on it now

 

[Jesse]

Just to throw this out there...as firemouths get older, they are pretty aggressive and territorial. Be careful with those beautiful fish!