60 Gallon Question

[jtnova13]

Hey all, I currently have a 60 gallon tank up and running. I have a couple new world cichlids in it, but once they outgrow the tank, i was thinking of switching to africans.

first, how big do african cichlids get? How many full grown cichlids can i put in a 60 gallong 4' tank? (i don't want to overbuy for the size of the tank) Is it better to buy them young (1" instead of 3" etc). can i feed them the same floating pellets i have for my new world cichlids? Is there any difference besides KH and PH that i need to know about?

 

[Ginge]

Hey all, I currently have a 60 gallon tank up and running. I have a couple new world cichlids in it, but once they outgrow the tank, i was thinking of switching to africans.

first, how big do african cichlids get? How many full grown cichlids can i put in a 60 gallong 4' tank? (i don't want to overbuy for the size of the tank) Is it better to buy them young (1" instead of 3" etc). can i feed them the same floating pellets i have for my new world cichlids? Is there any difference besides KH and PH that i need to know about?

You could probably ahve about 20max in a 60g thats mbuna cichlids. They mostly reach the 6" mark but its different for each species. Id say best to buy young. It depends what pellets you are feeding now. The ph needs to be about 7-8.5 for africans.

 

[mamafish68]

cichlid-forum has an amazing profiles section, browse around and see what strikes your fancy.

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=2

7-8.5 ph.. 7.0 is what you meant Ginge? Perhaps a typo?

It's way too low, 7.0 is neutral tropical fish are comfy in a neutral tank but malawi and tanganyikans like it much higher. Now victorians do like a range of 7.2-8.6 but malawi are more middle of the road types with 7.4-8.6 and tanganyikans like it nice and HIGH with a range of 7.8-9.0 (liquid rock )

Always keep an eye on ADULT size and aggression when researching africans.

also, whats your PH out of the tap?

 

[Ginge]

No i meant 7 - 8.5 whats worng with that. Its fine no typo there.

 

[Ferris]

The pellets you feed your NW cichlids will almost certainly not be appropriate for Mbuna as they need a Spirinula (veggie) based flake/pellet/stick as their main diet. Most NW's require a high protein diet and meaty foods, which the Mbuna digestive system cannot process and can prove fatal to them.

Have a look at the pinned article at the top of this forum for some good pointers on Mbuna care.

With regard to the Ph issue, it all depends on whether your Mbuna are tank bred or not. Ideally the tank should have a Ph between 7.5 and 8.5 but if the fish you stock have never lived in the wild, anything between 7-8 is normally fine as they will have almost certainly grown up in tanks with a Ph in this range. Mine has always been 7.6 and i have never had a problem, even had a couple of wild-caught Tropheus in there at one time and they were also fine.

 

[jtnova13]

thanks for your help guys, i erally wanna get africans because it sucks only having 2 fish in a 60 gallon tank. The pH out of my tap is about 7.2, my current pH is about 7.4 for the NW cichs. I don't see it being that hard to raise up to 7.6 or so.

 

[mamafish68]

nice and easy!

imho, look at substrates that help buffer instead of chemicals or additives, makes it much more stress free for you and more importantly the fish.

 

[Ferris]

Yep good tip that one, go for rocks and coral sand or similar and forget about chemicals. It is almost impossible to keep a tank well balanced using the over-priced products that claim to be easy to use.

 

[Ginge]

Ocean rock is always good and looks good to in a cichlid tank.

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

Ocean rock is always good and looks good to in a cichlid tank.

The only problem with ocean rock is that fish can get stuck in the holes,
but it does buffer the water very well.

 

[bobf]

Ocean rock is always good and looks good to in a cichlid tank.

The only problem with ocean rock is that fish can get stuck in the holes,
but it does buffer the water very well.

Tufa rock works really well - buffers the ph, not 'holey' like ocean rock but relatively light weight and cheap too!

Easy to build up a good rock wall/reef without the worry of the massive weight other types of rock would add.


Tufa rock

 

[jtnova13]

where can i get tufa from? I guess i will have to redo my tank and then re-cycle it after i get rid of the big fish. cuz i gotta change the substrate, do all the rocks, then i can get new fish!

 

[mamafish68]

the only problem I see with tufa is compared to a cheese grater,.... their the same to a fish that is scratching, escaping a preditor, or doing that normal cichlid thing if acting bizerk sometimes LOL but I've seen some amazing cave work with tufa and it can be stacked all the way to the top!

 

[bobf]

the only problem I see with tufa is compared to a cheese grater,.... their the same to a fish that is scratching, escaping a preditor, or doing that normal cichlid thing if acting bizerk sometimes LOL but I've seen some amazing cave work with tufa and it can be stacked all the way to the top!

The tufa I have doesn't seem any more coarse than the ocean rock and such like you see around. Seems more natural too as I don't think too many lakes have enough water movement to round off the rocks like the pebbles some folks use.

I think the big advantages are that (as you say) you can stack it really high and create plenty of hidy holes given the low density plus it buffers the ph. This suits me as our tap water is very soft.

 

[Ginge]

Exactly the same with ocean rock and it isnt sharp at all.