African Cichlid recommendations

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awfireman

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Hello Everyone,

I have a few questions that maybe someone can help me with.

I have a 45 gallon tank (36Lx12.5x29H) and I want to stock it with African Cichlids. Here are my question

1) Is it best to avoid male Cichlids and just have females ( I have no intent of breeding)

2) How many African Cichlids would be reasonable for this tank? I would like smaller Cichlids so the tank doesn't get too small once they get full-grown

3) The tank is rather tall at 29.5" so I want the tank to have fish at all levels. I know a lot of Africans like the bottom third so looking for recommendations to have fish at all levels of the tank.

4) There is a small painter turtle in the tank now...He/She is about 1.5" long and will be raising the turtle until it is big enough to release in my pond. My Daughters convinced me (against my better judgement) to keep the turtle and let it go once it has a better chance of survival...maybe another 6 month. I was told Africans would be a good choice to pair with the turtle as they are aggressive, fast and are aware of there surroundings. Are there any other species of fish I could put with Africans and this turtle?

Thanks for any help you can give me. I just want to make sure I am making good decisions when it comes to stocking,etc.
 
Hello Everyone,

I have a few questions that maybe someone can help me with.

I have a 45 gallon tank (36Lx12.5x29H) and I want to stock it with African Cichlids. Here are my question

1) Is it best to avoid male Cichlids and just have females ( I have no intent of breeding)

2) How many African Cichlids would be reasonable for this tank? I would like smaller Cichlids so the tank doesn't get too small once they get full-grown

3) The tank is rather tall at 29.5" so I want the tank to have fish at all levels. I know a lot of Africans like the bottom third so looking for recommendations to have fish at all levels of the tank.

4) There is a small painter turtle in the tank now...He/She is about 1.5" long and will be raising the turtle until it is big enough to release in my pond. My Daughters convinced me (against my better judgement) to keep the turtle and let it go once it has a better chance of survival...maybe another 6 month. I was told Africans would be a good choice to pair with the turtle as they are aggressive, fast and are aware of there surroundings. Are there any other species of fish I could put with Africans and this turtle?

Thanks for any help you can give me. I just want to make sure I am making good decisions when it comes to stocking,etc.
no i dont think the turtle with chiclds is good idea.
just wait for it to grow and relase it is my opinion
 
i would never keep a turtle with the intention of releasing them later on. it won't help the turtle, it'll only make them reliant on people. since you've taken the turtle in, they now have a significantly lower chance of survival.
among the most important, painted turtles require uvb lighting and a dry basking area with a heat lamp. do you provide those? the turtle will try to eat any fish, too. for those reasons, turtles aren't good with fish, at least without a sufficiently large aquarium (i would say 200g+ based on experience, preferably something like an indoor stock pond), and even then you'd be limited to a very, very small number of tankmates. they are also definitely not low maintenance when at a larger size, so, never take in a baby turtle because you "feel bad for it" or you "don't think it will survive."
if you've kept the turtle for a while and they are already somewhat adapting to captivity, i recommend taking them to a local rescue or rehoming to someone with adequate housing unless you're prepared for long-term care.
 
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My wife raises Diamondback Terrapins every year (she has a Masters degree in Biology) and releases them into them into the wild after they reach a decent size. She is a biology teacher and has a permit and all turtles are tagged and tracked for the 1st year. Success rate on these baby turtles is 85% for the first year in pretty a formidable salt-water environment. According to her, Turtles are very instinctual animals and they will adapt just fine once of a decent size and given a fighting chance. Size is the determining factor for survival in the wild. Turtles are not like baby bears, owls or cats that are "shown" how to hunt and survive in the wild...turtles are abandoned by their mother from the very start and must survive on their own based on instinct and instinct alone. It is very deeply rooted in their DNA and just doesn't "disappear" because it kept in a tank and fed for 6 months or even a year. I know the subject is probably controversial on here but my wife has 10 years of data and experience to back up this claim, at least in regards to turtles.
 
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯
i'm not going to argue over the ethics of releasing a turtle into the wild, but if you think you can do this, go ahead, i can't stop you. it doesn't take a biologist, though, to understand that turtles are opportunistic omnivores and that one day, the fish will become food, especially in such a small tank.
if someone else wants to encourage putting fish on death row and suggesting a species, you can because i'm not going to.
 
Hey :)
In cm it is : 91 x 31 x 73 beeing 165 litre.
Turtle and cichlid :unsure::(
Your taste for African cichlids (from which lake) leads to which species ? Some are small, others are big, even females can be bad tempered.
 
I'd say it's too small a tank for cichlids, coupled with fact you will have a turtle in there hell bent on trying to feed on them.
 

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