New To The World Of Cichlids

[Superfly]

I've been running a community tank for about 2 years and decided it would be interesting to take my hobby up a notch. Then I noticed these pretty little African Cichlids in the local pet store and thought I would do some research on them. I've set my mind on getting this tank set up but i'm just not sure i'm doing some of these things right. I'll start out with my first question. Has anyone else ever run an African Cichlid tank with Actinic lighting? I bought an Actinic light from the store because it said it was ideal for African Cichlids but i'm not sure I like the whole thing with the light being blue. Do the fish still look as good in actinic lighting as they do in a normal white light?

 

[fishlover500]

Then I noticed these pretty little African Cichlids in the local pet store and thought I would do some research on them.

Ya "these pretty little african cichlids" are aggressive and require a 4 ft long tank to house them. (assuming malawi)

What are the dimensions of your tank? I don't know much about the lighting but I wouldn't have to many wpg as I have heard cichlids don't like this.

Another options are lake tangs.

Are there any specific species you are interested in?

 

[darrel69]

Obviousley, lighting is going to affect the colour of your fishes. I dont think id say Actinic light is 'ideal' for African's, but it wouldnt cause any problems. If you want to see your fishes natural colouring best, i think 'daylight' tubes work better.

 

[kj23502]

Well, this is a picture of "king" w/actinic:

w/out:

I have 2 strips of lights. Actinic and full spectrum white. It's 96 watts over a 125 gallon tank. I'll use less wattage when I move them to the 75 gallon tank.

Actinic can sure bring out some colors.

What kind/breed of fish are you trying to accomodate? scientific names preferably! We can help you a lot better when we know what you want

 

[Superfly]

Guess it's a good thing I consulted this forum first. To tell you the truth my local pet store doesn't have the Africans seperated. They're all just in 1 tank labeled "Assorted African Cichlids" so I have no idea which specific ones i'm looking at. I also have another bulb for my aquarium so i'm not just stuck with this one. I'm working with a 29 gallon tank with dimensions of 76cm long, 30cm wide, and 45cm high. Guessing it's too small?

P.S. Thanks for the quick, helpful reply.

Edit: I know for a fact that the store has Yellow Labs. Those are very distinctive and I remember seeing them specifically. There are also some pure orange ones. Sorry for not having a very good description.

 

[kj23502]

29 gallons will not work for mbuna. They would live a life stressed and be constantly harrassed and chased by dominant fish. They would die an early death

Great Job on doing the research before you buy the fish. So many people buy the fish and then find out they can't accomodate them and are stuck w/them sometimes.

 

[fishlover500]

You could possibly have a tanagikan tank.

 

[kim03333]

you could get some dwarf cichlids for that tank. all the personality and beautiful colours of the other cichlids, just smaller.

i have 2 lfs i go to regularly and both have cichlids in a tank labelled 'assorted malawi cichlids'. it s a pain becausei have no idea what i'm looking at. more worryingly, i don't think the staff do either.

 

[Superfly]

After doing some research on Dwarf Cichlids I started looking at Kribensis. I think there might be a few of those at my lfs. Would those work for my size aquarium? and do they manage pretty much the same as non-dwarf cichlids?

 

[kj23502]

Yep, they'd be fine. And you could put more fish in w/them:

Cookie cutter from cichlid forum as an example for you.
• Pelvichromis pulcher - 1 pair
• Synodontis nigriventris "Upside-down Cat" - 4
• Nann. unitaeniatus "1-lined African Tetra" - 6

You want to keep kribs in 1 pair.


Water Requirements:
Another important difference between some African cichlids is their differing water requirements. This is much simpler to address and categorize than any other difference. Cichlids from the Rift Lakes should not be mixed with fishes coming from the rivers and deltas surrounding these lakes, such as Pelvicachromis pulcher (a.k.a. Kribensis). These cichlids are known as the riverine cichlids. They inhabit freshwater streams with a very neutral pH of 7.0, whereas the water in Lake Malawi and Lake Victoria have a pH between 7.4 and 8.6. Also, the Lake Tanganyika cichlids typically should not mixed with those from either Lake Malawi, Lake Victoria, or the rivers surrounding these lakes as it has a pH between 7.8 and 9.0. Tanganyikans will survive and can do quite well, but you will need to keep the pH towards their lower end of tolearability.

The take-home message is that it's best not to mix cichlids from different lakes with the exception of those from Lakes Malawi and Victoria.

 

[Superfly]

Thank you again for being so helpful. Only problem I see with those other fish is that i've never seen any of those in the 4-5 lfs around my house. Will barbs and cory cats work well? I've heard about problems with pleco's eating Krib eggs. Does that mean I would need to get Oto's?

 

[Ace Of Spades]

You could get 2 Kribs, 8 Corys (Peppered, Panda), 12 Smaller Barbs or if they are the larger variety only 6 of them...

 

[Superfly]

Alright so i'm starting to look at Tanganyikans and saw this one called a Cyphotilapia Frontosa. It looks pretty cool but from the website i'm looking at it says they grow to be like 30cm. The rest of the other Tangs grow to be about 15cm. Are these not too big for my aquarium?

 

[kj23502]

There are other Tang. varieties that are smaller than that.

Here's a cookie cutter for you for a Lake Tang. tank:

Shell dweller community:

• 'Lamprologus' brevis - 1 pair
• 'Lamprologus' stappersii - trio
• Ancistrus temminckii "Bristlenose Pleco" - 1

OR

• 'Lamprologus' multifasciatus - 5
• Brachydanio rerio "Zebra Danio" - 3
• Ancistrus temminckii "Bristlenose Pleco" - 1

OR

• Alto. sp. "Compressiceps Shell"- 1 pair
• 'Lamprologus' caudopunctatus - 1 pair
• 'Lamprologus' similis - 1 trio

Tang mini community:

• Julidochromis regani - 1 pair
• Neolamprologus leleupi - 1 pair
• 'Lamprologus' occelatus - 1 trio

OR

• Telmatocrhomis vittatus - 1 pair
• Lepidiolamprologus hecqui - 1 pair
• Synodontis petricola - 3

OR

You could aim to have two pairs of fish. Your choice: (Works for 29gal also)
• Julidochromis regani - 1 pair
• Neolamprologus leleupi - 1 pair
• 'Lamprologus occelatus- 1 trio

-OR-

• Altolamprologus calvus or compressiceps pair
and one of:
• 'Lamprologus' (Shellies) brevis, multifasciatus, meleagris, ornatipinnis, ocellatus, speciosus, similis or Neolamprologus signatus
Normally one would get six young individuals of these fish, and remove the balance of the fish once they have a pair. If you wanted three pairs (groups) of fish.

If you wanted three pairs (groups) of fish:
• 'Lamprologus' (Shellies) brevis, multifasciatus, meleagris, ornatipinnis, ocellatus, speciosus, similis, Neolamprologus signatus, Altolamprologus sp. "Compressiceps Shell"
• Neolamprologus caudopunctatus (non-Shellies)
• Julidiochromis ornatus or transcriptus
• Telmatochromis bifrenatus, brichardi or vittatus
• Paracyprichromis nigripinnis,
• Xenotilapia flavipinnis

 

[Superfly]

Alright. Thank you so much for all that you folks have done for me. Especially the post above. It looks like your spent a lot of time and effort on it. I'll do my best research on the fish in my aquarium range and then try and see what I can get from my lfs. I heard I can pick up custom orders from one of the shops which is good because there are 0 Tangs in any of my lfs. Thanks again everyone!

EDIT: My lfs gave me the website of their supplier. I went to the website and found a list of all the Tangs they supply. After looking at the max lengths of the fish, i'm leaning towards picking 2 of these 3 types. The types are as follows: Lamprologus Brichardi, Lamprologus Leleupi, Limnochromis auritus. Please leave your comments on what would best fit my aquarium. Sorry for being such a pest about all this. I just really want to get this all done right the first time.