Is It Possible To Change My Tank To Ciclids

[jeffnae]

Hi there Everyone..

I was currently looking through a few sites on the internet and came across some Cichlids i like..
My dilemma i have is what fish i can put with them... Or should i say what of my current fish do i need to Rehome in order to have them...

Currently Have 3 Synodontis euruptus,1 Pictus catfish, 1 Clown pleco, 1 Sailfin pleco, 2 Clown loach, 2 Yoyo's loach, 2 Bgk, 2 Silver dollars, 1 Black Shark, 2 Bala Sharks, 1 Upside down catfish, 3 Gouramis.. The fish i have not mentioned are going to be rehomed anyway...

If any one could help me with this topic will be greatly appreciated... Thanks

If i could i would just put another tank.. But its not possible in my house no room....

 

[angelfishguy]

what size is the tank?

 

[jeffnae]

Sorry forgot to include that.

I did just reply so if it comes up twice sorry..
Its a 5 ft Tank

Aquarium dimensions: 150 W x 68 H x 46 D cm
Aquarium capacity: 370L
Aquarium lighting: 6 x 30 inch 25W

 

[Assaye]

What cichlids were you thinking of keeping?

Many will be too aggressive and/or too big to put into your tank. However, some of the dwarf cichlids should be fine.

There are a few problems with your current stock, though, so it would be worth sorting those out before changing your stock around too much or adding new fish.

5 foot is a big tank but there are still limits to what fish you can have.

Bala sharks exceed 12" and need groups of 3 at least (ideally 5 or 6). They need a lot of room when adult - far more than you can give them. For a tank with a few smaller fish and just the bala sharks you would be looking at 6-7 x 3 foot tank. Add more fish and you're further increasing the size of tank you need.

Same story for the clown loaches, really.

The salfin plec could reach 24" so would also need a 6-7 foot tank.

Silver dollars need groups. They may be big, but they are shoaling fish just like tetras and rasboras so should really be in groups of 6 as a minimum. Due to their size they are also a candidate for the 6-7 foot tank.

BGK is another 12-24" fish and another fish needing those very large tanks.

Pictus cats need small groups of around 3.

A guide we tend to use here is that fish need at least 6 x their on body length to swim and 3 x their body length to turn around. Those are minimums and there are some exceptions (like relatively inactive species of plec).

You have two choices, as far as the fish are concerned - rehome some of your stock or upgrade your tank.

If you wanted to go for some of the larger cichlid species (from malawis to oscars/severums etc) then start your tank over with just them and maybe some of the catfish. As I said, let us know how much space you have for a tank and what cichlids you like.