I Downsized My Cichlid Tank

[GoinNuts]

Against popular ideals and advice, I moved my cichlids from my 55 gal to my 20 gal.

They are SOOOOOOO much happier now! They are mega more active, their colors are brighter and they just appear to believe they are in heaven. Appetites have picked up tenfold, as well.

They simply were not happy in the large tank. Mostly due to the fact, I believe, that 'overstocking' wasn't achievable at this time for me. LFS lack of selection was the main reason for that, alongside with $ cost of the little beasts.

While I would have LOVED to have had a huge stock of them in my big tank, it just wasn't going to happen. I fretted for weeks over making the move, but within an hour of doing so, I knew I'd made the right decision.

Now, it's all new and if they continue to do well, I will move them up to bigger tanks as needed. I just wanted to post this because I think it can sometimes work against a newbie to start out too BIG. Every thread I've read on here advises to go BIG, but I guess I'll be the lone voice and say that if you are new to this, it might be better to start out on a smaller scale. Keeping in mind that you will go larger down the road, but smaller while you learn isn't a bad way to go.

Lisa

 

[Ferris]

What cichlids do you have and are they adults or juveniles?

 

[GoinNuts]

What cichlids do you have and are they adults or juveniles?

I have 5 juvies:

2 Electric Yelllows
1 Female Kenyi
1 Albino Red Zebra
1 Johanni

Lisa

 

[Ferris]

Thats what worried me a little, yes they are fine now but what about when they are adults?........don't get rid of that 55 gal just yet.

 

[GoinNuts]

Oh, no worries about that! I won't be getting rid of my 55. I moved my 2 fancies to it for now and I figure in about 4 months or so, the cichlids will be big enough to move back. Really, they were so stressed in that big tank. I lost 2 last week and that just caused the 5 left to become even MORE stressed. Putting them in the smaller tank for now has made a drastic improvement in them.

Lisa

 

[Ferris]

OK, sounds like a good plan then.

 

[Bloopie]

I think the "minimum requirements" for keeping cichlids, according to internet forums, are a bit harsh...

I've had:

A pseudotropheus zebra, a maylandia callainos, an acei, a jewel cichlid and a Synodontis Eupterus together in a 25 gal for a year now and they look very happy and very healthy. Whenever I walk past the tank they just gather around on top and beg for food.

From what I've experienced, as long as you make sure to have lots of rocks for everyone to dig under and set up their own space, aggressions will considerably diminish.

The maylandia callainos, pseudotropheus zebra, jewel and the catfish are all very friendly towards eachother, they just swim all over the tank without ever picking fights. Only the acei will sometimes chase the zebra around for a couple of minutes but 95% of the time it's quiet and I'm even considering taking the acei out so those 4 could be even happier.

My tank:
http/img396.imageshack.us/img396/681/tank1hw2.jpg
http/img342.imageshack.us/img342/9479/tank2ue6.jpg

My beautiful Maylandia Callainos
http/img486.imageshack.us/img486/6629/callainosjk5.jpg