Live Plants & Cichlids?

[Wolf]

So I'm just cycling a 39 gallon tank which I will most likely be putting African cichlids in.. I've know that they dig. and tear apart plants. So is it even possible to have live plants in a cichlid tank? If it is, which plants have the best chance of surviving?

Here's the tank they will be going in:

 

[Lateral Line]

The usual approach to planting in tanks where there are fish that move the substrate around is to plant in pots.

I presume you'll be going for high pH hard water, so choice of plant is going to be reduced. There are plants in the rift valley lakes, I have a picture of some I took underwater at Cape Maclear in Lake Malawi. This is Potamogeton schweinfurthii, the cichlids you can just about see are Fossorochromis rostratus.

 

[tropheusfreak]

The best plants for africans would be java ferns, anubias, onion plants, hygros, and vals. I have had lots of luck with these. I've had them in tanks with mbuna, haps and peacocks, and even tropheus.

David

 

[tsr770]

I would watch the hygro plants though.... my lil kribs think of them as he perfect veggie snack and keep them trimmed back, almost looking like a bonsai tree of sorts.... Yep my kribs have a hobby, bonsai!