Getting Started

[deliverance]

i wanted to start a new tank in my room. right now i have a 30 gallon tank with tropical fish in it. the other tank which is in my room that i plan on using is a 55 gallon tank. my friend gave it to me and he also gave me a rena filstar xp3 canister filter, a coralife light with 2 65watt 50/50 bulbs, a 250 watt heater and a couple power heads. i was looking around on the web and i found that i like electric blue dempsey's and midnight demasoni's.

My Questions
-are these hard fish to keep for my first cichlid tank?
-what are good starters?
-the lights in the unit now have one flouresent side and the other a blue side to them for coral. can i use those or do i need to buy flouresent bulbs?

 

[j.c]

i wanted to start a new tank in my room. right now i have a 30 gallon tank with tropical fish in it. the other tank which is in my room that i plan on using is a 55 gallon tank. my friend gave it to me and he also gave me a rena filstar xp3 canister filter, a coralife light with 2 65watt 50/50 bulbs, a 250 watt heater and a couple power heads. i was looking around on the web and i found that i like electric blue dempsey's and midnight demasoni's.

My Questions
-are these hard fish to keep for my first cichlid tank?
-what are good starters?
-the lights in the unit now have one flouresent side and the other a blue side to them for coral. can i use those or do i need to buy flouresent bulbs?

some good starters are some electric yellow and some other peaceful fish but remember if you want to keep them to spread out the aggression have 1 male and 2+females.goodluck on it am about to setup a lake malawi tank in a few days

 

[freddyk]

i was looking around on the web and i found that i like electric blue dempsey's and midnight demasoni's.

Jack Dempseys and Demasoni's are two very different fish with different needs and grow to extremely different sizes. The first is s new world cichlid and the second an African mbuna and they're not really compatible. Both can be good first cichlids and offer different things. Demasoni are great fish, but extremely aggressive and need to be kept either singly or in large groups. Were you thinking of doing a species tank or a mix?

 

[deliverance]

i would like to do a tank with alot of color in it.

 

[freddyk]

Start off by reading the pinned mbuna artical, it's lengthy but covers all of the basics on keeping these fish. Then the best thing to do is head to the fish store and find out what types of these fish you can get your hands on, unless you were planning to order them online. From there we can help you sort out a colorful tank that will work out.