New to the site

[imw]

|Hi,

Joined as the fish keeping bug has bitten me again.

In the past I kept a reef tank (4 or 5 over the years) and used to be on the "help" team on a well known Marine site, so I know a little bit.

I have been thing of setting up a Cichlid tank, but I must admit I know next to nothing about them.

Is there a specific section on the site that covers this (found the section), and before I start to do some fact finding, I have limited space - so was thing of a tank 100cm long, - 50cm wide, height not an issue, am I setting my myself up for failure on a tank this size ?

Thanks in advance.

Tets.

​

 

[Fishmanic]

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[Essjay]

Is there a specific section on the site that covers this (found the section)

Just to make sure you've found the right one - we actually have 2 cichlid sections, one for American (New World) and one for African (Old World).

 

[Sunnyspots]

Hello and good luck with your new tank!

 

[The603]

Welcome, you will certainly find what you're looking for on this forum, it's helped me immensely.

 

[ThatFishGirl6231]

welcome. i’m sure you’ll find a lot of help.

 

[Colin_T]

Hi and welcome to the forum

There are small cichlids and big cichlids and a whole bunch in between. An aquarium that is 1 meter long (100cm) is fine for smaller cichlids but too small for the big ones.

If you know what the pH, GH and KH of your water supply is, that can help us point you in the direction of either South American cichlids that like soft water and a low pH, Central American cichlids that like a neutral pH and moderate hardness, or African Rift Lake cichlids that come from hard water with a high pH. You can also modify your water supply to suit the needs of the fish if you like but a lot of people can't be bothered.

If you visit a pet shop or look online, and make a list of cichlids and other fishes you like, you can post it here and we can make suggestions on what will go together.

If you want soft water (GH under 100ppm) cichlids there are Apistogrammas from South America, and Nanochromis and Pelvicachromis species from Africa and they get along well with tetras, small catfish, rasboras and various other peaceful fishes.

If you have hard water (GH above 300ppm) and a high pH, then there are small species of cichlids from Lake Tanganyika in Africa. Things like Cyprichromis leptosoma, Paracyprichromis nigripinnis, Julidochromis sp, Aulonocara sp, Lamprologus and Neolamprologus sp, and various other fish.

Most cichlids are highly territorial and it is general practice to only keep one species per tank unless it is a big tank or you just have a group of males.

Most cichlids are very easy to breed and if they are kept in a clean tank and fed well, they will breed. Some cichlids are easy to sell and others do not sell, so this should be taken into consideration because some fish can produce 500+ eggs per batch, and will produce a batch of fry every month or so.

 

[ClownLurch]

Welcome to the forum.
Ask away, they’re by far the friendliest freshwater bunch on the internet this lot. I myself know next to nothing but chip in by directing people to seriouslyfish.com which is owned by fish and water scientist types and will tell you what parameters your fish of choice require. It’s science backed and not just the ignorant ramblings of some wannabe YouTube idiot.
Best of luck.