Beginner - Got Questions!

[Alex1110]

Hello everyone.

I am Alex, im from Australia and I want fish! Orginally i was looking at a community tank, but i was in a fish store today and i think the african cichlids look really awesome. The fish guy told me i could, as a beginner, have a tank with these fish. I understand i am restricted to african cichlids and they are very teritorial and require different water conditions. I have read about the nitrogen cycle. Anyway, question time!

1. Is it okay for a beginner to start off with an afcrican cichlid aquarium?

2. Is a tank 3 foot, by 14 inches wide, by 18 inches tall big enough for these fish? i know they are teritorial.

3. What would be a good setup in terms of types and numbers of fish for my sized tank?

4. Do you need to use sand, or is coloured gravel okay?

5. Can i have snails and/or catfish in my tank as well?

6. How do i cycle this tank? i know with a community tank i can use a cheap, hardy fish, but what do i do with african cichlids? fishless cycling? The fish guy said electric yellows can be used.

7. Do african cichlids require more attension than your community tanks?

Thanks!

 

[BiffMalawi]

1. Is it okay for a beginner to start off with an afcrican cichlid aquarium?

Yes, but do lots of research. You have made an excellent first move by posting here there are many people with great advice. Read the library and pinned topics in the begginners section, the hospital and here in africans, then read through the posts here on the fish you want or general topics. This will give you the info you need to make good decisions. Then ask any specific questions here. You will need at least a month to cycle your tank so you have lots of time to research.

2. Is a tank 3 foot, by 14 inches wide, by 18 inches tall big enough for these fish? i know they are teritorial.

Your tank is about 40 us gallons and that is a little small for some of the larger africans. You will need to overfilter it and add lots of rocks for caves and hiding spots. They prefer a Ph of 8 so if your water is low then some argonite substrate or calcium carbonate rocks would help buffer the water to 8. However if your water is close to 8, say over 7, they should be ok as consistency is more important than the actual level. I do not suggest that you use Ph adjusting chemicals.

3. What would be a good setup in terms of types and numbers of fish for my sized tank?

You could have a group of yellow labs maybe 1 male and 4 females, or even 1m 3f and then some peacocks at 1m 3f. These africans are harem breeders and need more females.

4. Do you need to use sand, or is coloured gravel okay?

Coloured gravel is fine.

5. Can i have snails and/or catfish in my tank as well?

A couple of siamese algea eaters, or a bristlenose pleco. Labs eat snails.

6. How do i cycle this tank? i know with a community tank i can use a cheap, hardy fish, but what do i do with african cichlids? fishless cycling? The fish guy said electric yellows can be used.

Fishless cycling is always preferable as using any fish is not very humane and will cause stress or death. Yellows maybe hardy but I think you'll kill a few.

7. Do african cichlids require more attension than your community tanks?

Once your tank is up and running I don't think they are more work. I perform 40% water changes with gravel vacuuming weekly. I rearrange the decor and rocks monthly as it lowers aggression.

 

[skiltrip]

here's my take on it all.


1. Is it okay for a beginner to start off with an afcrican cichlid aquarium?
yes, but even though your LFS said it's ok to cycle with yellow labs, don't do it. you'll end up regretting it and you'll probably lose some. they are too pricey of a fish to do that with. even if you do have survivors, they will probably be damaged from growing up in an ammonia rich environment. fishless cycling is choice #1 of course. if you must cycle with fish, some zebra danios work for a lot of people. they are pretty tough, though no fish is 100% cycle-proof.

2. Is a tank 3 foot, by 14 inches wide, by 18 inches tall big enough for these fish? i know they are teritorial.
i think that's a pretty good start, especially for something like yellow labs. my advice is start with yellow labs. they are awesome fish, fun to watch, lots of personality. there is reason they are so widely available and so popular.

3. What would be a good setup in terms of types and numbers of fish for my sized tank?
again, yellow labs are a little smaller than most africans, and you can probably have 5-6 in there with lots of rockwork with no problems. this also depends on how many males you get in your batch, which you won't really be able to tell till maybe they get older and watch their behavior.

4. Do you need to use sand, or is coloured gravel okay?
you don't NEED to use sand, but if i were you, i'd take a look at african cichlid tanks with sand and without sand. see which you like better. cause it can be a little bit of work, and a little stressful on the fish if you decided to change it later. you'll definitely see some cool behaviors with sand that you won't with gravel. such as digging, picking up and spitting it back out. and most think sand looks much nicer. bad points of having sand? maintenance isn't necessarily HARDER, but there's more to look out for. Like not getting sand in your powerfilters, cause it can damage the impeller. cleaning can be tedious, but once you get the hang of it, it's no big deal. you also need to be careful when you are scrubbing your glass to get rid of algae, etc. if some little sand grains get caught between your cleaning sponge/device and the glass, it could scratch the glass. that's probably the worst part that's i've found so far. i still like the sand, but you gotta watch out for the down side. gravel is definitely simpler to do and deal with for the most part.

5. Can i have snails and/or catfish in my tank as well?
i have a synodontis catfish in with my africans. they are a good match. watch out for plecos, as they create a lot of poop, and can eat algae that your africans (especially labs) would probably like to graze on. the problem i find is i feed my yellow labs and africans very little bits at a time, so there's not much leftover food if any, so my pleco used to go hungry most of the time (i moved him into a 10g hospital tank to get him eating again).

6. How do i cycle this tank? i know with a community tank i can use a cheap, hardy fish, but what do i do with african cichlids? fishless cycling? The fish guy said electric yellows can be used.
see #1 about the cycling. choice#1: fishless. choice#2: zebra danios. that's about it, don't use your africans to cycle.

7. Do african cichlids require more attension than your community tanks?
like biffMalawi says, once you're up and running, tank maintenance isn't much different than a community tank. you may need a little extra filtration, so you may end up maintaining two filters instead of one, but other than that, it's the same deal.

good luck, and you have found an excellent resource here. this forum has helped me countless times and still does 4-5 yrs into the hobby. let us know how you make out.

 

[mrjames]

Hello everyone.

hi.

1. Is it okay for a beginner to start off with an afcrican cichlid aquarium?

yes but do lots of research and try to start off small with some easy malawis like yellow labs ect.

2. Is a tank 3 foot, by 14 inches wide, by 18 inches tall big enough for these fish? i know they are teritorial.

yes should be fine but if you buy some very teritorial malawis they try to take on about ten times there own body length as there own.

3. What would be a good setup in terms of types and numbers of fish for my sized tank?

id start with 5 small ones

4. Do you need to use sand, or is coloured gravel okay?

coloured gravel would be ok and so would sand but remember thats sand doesnt breath as well as gravel and when air gets trapped it turns the sand black. a nice light gravel would be perfect.

5. Can i have snails and/or catfish in my tank as well?

catfish should be ok. snails would be eaten.

6. How do i cycle this tank? i know with a community tank i can use a cheap, hardy fish, but what do i do with african cichlids? fishless cycling? The fish guy said electric yellows can be used.

id try a fishless cycle, does take a bit longer but works better in my exsperience

7. Do african cichlids require more attension than your community tanks?

yes! some community fish are very hardy and can withstand alot, but malawis have to be just perfect. whilst your deciding on what malawis to buy take regular tests on ur water in your tank. the PH levels ect will need to be different for different species so that will need to be monitered. all in all you won regret buying malawis, just please keep a big eye on them and watch there behavior inside the tankas much as you can. you will find them amazing and also you can see for yourself how they all get on by there behavior and colour changes.

good luck!!

james B)

Thanks! lol thats ok!

 

[Ferris]

1. Yes, not a problem with the right research, tankmate compatibility being the main think to look for
2. Too small for most species but a small group of yellow labs or Pseudotropheus Saulosi should work
3. See no. 2
4. Sand is what these fish are used to in the wild and makes for a more natural look but at the end of the day its down to personal choice
5. Most Synodontis catfish work well with Mbuna as do Bristlenose Plecs. Snails are likely to be eaten or at the very least constantly harrassed
6. Mbuna are generally hardy fish but i would reccommend a fishless cycle
7. Not really, you just need to keep an eye out for excessive aggression