Fish Suggestions

[BobbyBray]

I'm sure everyone here is sick of people asking about what to stock their fish tank with, so I apologize for yet another post, but I could use some advice. I was originally planning on stocking my tank, a 29 gallon (30x18x12) with old world cichlids, but since my LFS seems to have a miserable selection, I don't for-see that happening anymore. They do however seem to have a decent selection of some beautiful new worlds, but I'm not quite as well versed in these fish. Most of the research I've found talks about only having a single pair of a particular species per tank due to aggression during mating. But what about having only 1 fish of a few different species? Or do most new world cichlids prefer/require being in pairs and groups?

Here's a list of the cichlids that I believe will be small enough to make it in my tank:

Jewel Cichlid
Firemouth Cichlid - Cichlasoma meeki
Rainbow Cichlid
Convict - Cichlasoma nigrofasciatam
Kribensis Ocellated - Pelvicachromis subcellatus

So again would you think it possible to get say, one of each of those fish (or at least as many as possible) and mix them all together, or is this just asking for trouble? The other setup I've considered, if I can't get more than say two cichlids in a tank, is to fill it with some barbs or serpae tetras so the tank isn't too boring. For example, would a firemouth + rainbow plus maybe 6 tiger barbs be ok? Unfortunately it seems like I need a 55+ gallon to house most of the fish that my LFS has, and have caught my eye.

In case it makes a difference, my tank is decorated with sand and tuffa rock. Since I thought I was going to get africans I choose to use rock rather than wood and plants. If possible, I'd like to leave the rocks in the tank, both because I think they look really nice, and because I'd rather not spend another $50+ to redecorate it. I do think however, I will put some more rock in the tank to create even more hiding places, unless any of you would actually advise against that. I'm pretty sure I've got more than enough filtration to cover a 30 gallon, so I'm not worried about that.

Thanks for any advice anyone can offer!

 

[BobbyBray]

Anybody have any input what-so-ever?

 

[Faythee]

I would start with a pair of Kribs. They would look great with that black sand. Then decide on a nice centerpiece fish.

I tried a Firemouth in a 75 gallon tank and it harassed every fish in the tank. Mean little bugger. Other people keep them successfully though.

Not sure on the Convict.

edit to add: No to the Convict

 

[Davo86]

Hi, what effect is the rock having on the ph and hardness of the water?

IMO given the tank size the only combination of two fish that might work would be a kribensis (which is african btw) and a Rainbow cichlid and then some dithers,

Other than those it would have to be 1 Cichlid and Dithers

 

[BobbyBray]

ph is rather high, last time I checked it was 8.4, but I'll need to check a few more times to get an average. No idea on the hardness, I don't have a test kit for that.

 

[BobbyBray]

With a little more research I think I might have a combination that will work.
Pelvichromis pulcher x 2
Synodontis nigriventris "Upside-down Cat" x 4
Nann. unitaeniatus "1-lined African Tetra" x 6, but since the LFS doesn't have those, I may have to substitute with a similar fish

But I'm worried that the ph will be too high for all of those fish. Aside from pulling the rocks out is there another safe / easy way to lower ph if i have to? The rocks looks really nice on the black sand, and practically glow when the light in the tank is off, so I'd really like to leave them in if at all possible.