Information Needed

[demonmagus]

hi I may soon start a cichlid aqarium and would like to know what fish would live happily with each other and what size tank I need. The biggest tank I can afford is around 40-50 U.S. gallons. )

do cichlids need sandy substrates?

 

[sylvia]

Get the biggest tank you can afford. You won't regret it. As for which cichlids to put in, that depends on your own prefferences. I assume you want some kind o Africans as you posted in this section but there are still several gorups to choose from. I would suggest going for mbuna cichlids as they are easy to get hold of, generaly hardy and not picky over-all. Just keep in mind that you can't necessarily mix all the mbuna species together and that these are all quite aggressive fish. You'll want to research each of the availble species that you are interested in. A search of this forum (and there's a pinned topic on mbuna as well) should help you. To start you off on species to look out for, these are my favourites: Yellow labs (labidochromis caeruleus), pseudotropheus acei, iodotropheus sprengerae, pseudotropheus socolofi and pseudotropheus saulosi. The first 3 are some of the more peaceful species with the latter two being average as far as aggression goes. They would all get along quite well though as long as you keep them in the right sort of ratios and conditions. Avoid purchasing 'assorted cichlids' from your LFS. There is no way of predicting these fish' requirements or potential size and aggression as many are hybrids or mis-identified.

 

[demonmagus]

could anyone tell me how many cichlids and which sex? I know that some you have to have 2-3 females to 1 male, but if I buy just females will they be fine?

 

[BrookeLea]

I'm no expert, and I don't even have cichlids yet, but I've been researching and I have a 55 gallon. Go here to see my stocking list that has been okayed and see what you think.

 

[Ethos]

If I were you, and you went african, I'd suggest you have a rocky substrait.
Adult mbuna cichlids love to move rocks around with their mouths. They dig holes all the time in my tank, reaching all the way to the glass bottom of my tank.

PS: One thing to keep in mind, make sure the rocks are big. Like I said, they will move alot of it around with their mouths, and you dont want them to swallow it...

 

[freddyk]

do cichlids need sandy substrates

Sand is most natural for their digging habits, but any gravel will work, even large stones as Ethos has found.

could anyone tell me how many cichlids and which sex? I know that some you have to have 2-3 females to 1 male, but if I buy just females will they be fine?

Yes, females will be fine, but you won't be able to sex most of them anyway when you by them - they're to young, and in some cases it's tough even when they get older. The idea of having the harems is to bring out all their behavior - of which breeding constitutes a lot. The idea is to get a couple of extra of each species to ensure you can remove males you don't want.

How many depends on what type you want. I'd suggest reading up a bit. Learn the difference between Haplichromines and Mbuna and Aulonocara and decide which sounds better for you. From there you can start planning the tank, what species you want, and how many. The important thing is not to impulse shop for these tank, too many types just won't work well together in an aquarium.