Cichlid Newbie - Info

[Nick16]

hi, first off, i have a 120L tank and i want to keep some sort of cichlid/s. i thought about turning my 4x2x2 into a cichlid tank when i get it but i cant pull myself away from an iwugumi scape .

so, my questions are, can a 120L be home to any cichlids, even if its a tank with say 1 species. Anyone name any fish, preferably not too aggressive, but i dont mind a little
i like the bright coloured ones and i love Aarons tank HERE, however, apart from basic fishkeeping skills what else am i going to need?
perhaps a special substrate? - i have lots of ocean rock and can easily nab some slate.

any info on cichlids in general would be good. i cant distinguish between old and new world ones so i posted here.

 

[dthoffsett]

At about 31 US gal, you are looking at Lake Tanganikya species for Africans. They aren't as colorful as mbuna, but have very interesting personalities.

If you are wanting more colorful cichlids, you might check into apistogrammas in the New World section.

Here are a couple of cookie cutter set ups (note they are for 20 & 29 gal so you could add a few more fish)

[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_20g.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_20g.php[/URL]
[URL="http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_29g.php"]http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_29g.php[/URL]

If you decide to go with Lake Tangs, you'll want to find a way to raise and buffer your PH (unless your PH is already over 8.0). You can acheive this by adding aragonite sand as substrate, limestone rocks as part of your decor, or adding crushed coral to your filter. You can also dose with commerical or homemade buffers, but remember they need to be added at every water change.

 

[Nick16]

right cheers for that, of course i will be reading up, rather than jumpin in and finding i cant swim so to speak.

with regard to the various substrates, can you recommend me anything?

 

[dthoffsett]

with regard to the various substrates, can you recommend me anything?

If you go with africans, I'd recommend aragonite sand (found in the marine section at most LFS) it's great for buffering and is a nice light color. If you'd like something darker (and you can source it) you could try the sand version of Eco Complete cichlid substrate.

 

[Nick16]

i do like the look of this one HERE , when it says its agressive is it actually that bad? as some of them are classified as highly agressive etc.

 

[dthoffsett]

i do like the look of this one HERE , when it says its agressive is it actually that bad? as some of them are classified as highly agressive etc.

It's only aggressive towards conspecifics (specifically other males) so it should be fine as long as you only keep one male. You'll notice most if not all africans are labeled as aggressive.