Not sure whether this is better in this cichlid forum or the other one. I have been keeping fish for a number of years but ones which like acid conditions, especially plecs and corydoras. As I have just purchased a very large tank to move these into in the near future I shall have a 4ft tank in need of occupants and wonder whether it might be appropriate for cichlids. The tank is a Jewel Rio 240. Any advice on suitable cichlids and stocking density (the reading I have done suggests this needs to be lower than usual due to them being terratorial) would be welcome. Also, do I need to add oxygenation - again reading I have done suggests this is needed in addition to the usual filters.

Many thanks,

Elaine

Mbuna always a good choice i get an air pump for oxengation.

Mbuna and/or Peacock cichlids from lake Malawi would fit into your tank nicely. They're nicely coloured, very active but also very aggressive. But with any African, you'd have to adjust your water stats. You could have at least 12/15+ depending on what species you choose and wether you'd like to overstock or not (some people overstock to spread the aggression out) .. And with any fish, plenty of oxygen is needed yes. Extra filtration too is you plant to overstock..

Some articles you may be interested in ...

Setting Up
African Cichlids
Peacock Corner

Mbuna
Peacocks

Good Luck

American cichlids would thrive in those conditions, you could look into firemouths, convicts, Blue Acara, nicaraguence, rainbow cichlids etc,

I'd go for malawi cichlids. You could stock a tank of that size with around 20 different malawi cichlids such as Kenyi, Zebra cichlids, Livingstonie and elecric blues cichlids. Your local pet shop should have a wide variety of malawi cichlids!

While I agree Malawis would be a nice addition, fish are friends, I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with your stocking suggestions.

Kenyi (metriaclima lombardoi) would be too aggressive; electric blues could be any of 6 species but usually sciaenochromis ahli which is too large, aggressive, and haps are difficult to mix with mbuna. Nimbochromis livingstonii would also be too large and aggressive.

Elaine, if you don't want to mess with the hardness and pH of your water I'd go with New World cichlids, but if you don't mind adding buffers, mbuna are very rewarding to keep. Take a look at the links darrel posted, and ask us any other questions you might have.

Soft water wise you could keep geophagus sp. with a low stocking density or some small earth eaters with some midwater fish
OR african rivines sp with maybe some synos, congo tetras and other nice oddballs a normal stocking density
Hardwater mbuna high stocking density
OR Tangs low stocking density
OR small haps and peacoks low stocking density
OR CA cichlids a pair or maybe a small less aggressive species with something like swordtails

This post has been edited by Matt_northants: May 16 2008, 10:45 PM

Thanks for the replies - very much in the thinking and reading stages at present so will have a look at the suggested links. Re. altering the hardness and pH that's not too much of a problem - well, the pH isn't! The pH of my tap water is about 8.2 so for my acid-loving fish I lower it with plenty of bogwood. Setting up an alkaline environment is not an issue. The hardness may be trickier as it is generally not much above 4.

Thanks for the replies - very much in the thinking and reading stages at present so will have a look at the suggested links. Re. altering the hardness and pH that's not too much of a problem - well, the pH isn't! The pH of my tap water is about 8.2 so for my acid-loving fish I lower it with plenty of bogwood. Setting up an alkaline environment is not an issue. The hardness may be trickier as it is generally not much above 4.

An 8.2ph would be perfect for Malawi's (aslong as its stable) ... And with the hardness, shouldnt be a problem at all. Its alot easier to make soft water hard than to make hard water soft. To make your water hard, just add a buffer.. You can either buy them at your lfs or make your own. Cichlid-forum have a great recipe HERE.. you could also use mineral rock like limestone/ocean rock ect and/or coral/aragonite ect sand in your tank to help.

I have the same water that you do Elaine, high ph low gh & kh. Instead of adding buffers, you could always use aragonite sand for your substrate (found in the saltwater section), it keeps the hardness high and will continue to do so for a couple of years. I've stopped adding anything to my tank since switching to it, it's a big more expensive than play sand, but worth it IMO.

Ive been thinking about switching from buffers to using aragonite sand.. but what ive thought is, when you do a waterchange, wont that temporarily lower the hardness levels untill the aragonite has chance to make it hard ? ... Also, how hard does aragonite acutally make your water ?

I haven't noticed my hardness drop much at all, even with weekly 50% water changes. Last time I checked it I think it took 10 drops to change color (api test kit, can't remember what that is in ppm), out of the tap it's 4. So it raised it pretty well, aragonite is also supposed to keep your nitrates low, mine are rarely over 10ppm, so I haven't noticed much of a difference there.

Oh ok thanks... i shall look into getting some soon then.

Many thanks again for the information. It will be a few months yet before I get chance to set things up as I have to set up and move the current residents to their new, large home. Gives me time to do a lot more reading and looking at fish though!