My New 30gal

[the420buzz]

EDIT: Identification not needed, unless you'd like to figure it out. The cichlids have been brought to my LFS.

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Well, today was the day I went to pick up my new 30gal tank from an old friend that wanted rid of it. Beforehand, why they wanted rid of it hand't crossed my mind - but boy was I in for a surprise. When I got there, she had already had the tank half empty, but what was left was the most discusting water I have ever seen, especially in a fishtank. It was so dark and grimey to the point where you couldn't even see the fish inside (which was my next surprise). Not only was the water rancid (I'm surprised the fish were able to live in that condition, honestly), there we're some of the most random things in the bottom of the tank. Tacks, beer caps, toothpicks, broken glass, you name it and it was probably in there. Absolutely disgusting. I feel so bad for the 3 poor cichlid and the poor pleco that had to live in there for as long as they have, who knows what could be wrong with them. The glass had stains all over it, nevermind caked on residue all over the top glass (in the lid, where the light sits), the lid itself, the filter - oh god the filter, that thing was probably the worst, besides the water. It was all a complete right-off. But, thankfully, after a long, long day of cleaning and scrubbing, and hard work, I finally had the thing looking (nearly) brand new again. I am heavily debating on rinsing what gravel and stones they did have in the bottom, but I'm leaning more towards throwing them out instead because of how filthy they are, and I don't like the looks of what I'd have to pick through to figure out what really is gravel/stones. So, because of that, the bottom is bare (besides a few certain rocks I picked out and washed well) along with the whole tank pretty much, as I'm also hesitant of using the plants they gave me. Anyways, now that that is out of the way, here is a couple shots of the tank that I just took.

Tank Shot

Tank & Stand (blue bucket on 2nd shelf full of their 'gravel'; white bucket is waterchange/filling bucket, with the plants I'm reluctant to use)

Side Shot

And now, when you walk into my room, this is what you'll be seeing.

30gal, 15gal, and 5gal
(Left)(Upper Right)(Lower Right)

This leads me to the fish that (somehow, someway) were surviving in there. I still can't believe they were living in that. I was told that there were 3 cichlids, and 1 pleco. The size of them, however, I wasn't informed of. I'm pretty sure one of the 3 cichlids is a Convict, however the other two I am completely unsure of. I'm sorry that I've put them in so soon, but it was either that or leave them in the bags I transported them in, or cram them into my 5 gallon. It just seemed like the right choice to put them in, and they seem to be doing pretty well. If they're too big for the tank, or if its overstocked right now, I'm sorry as well, but the conditions they were living in before I got through with it were absolutely brutal. I wish I took some pictures before I cleaned it, to compare. I'd love it if someone could identify these cichlids for me though, so I can read up some more on them, and for curiositys sake. Even through what they were kept in, they are still very beautiful fish. Very eye catching, especially the 2 I'm unsure of. Sorry if the quality of these pic's isn't the greatest, I'm sure it's my camera's fault and the pics don't do the fish justice. Anyways, here's the pictures I've snapped of them.

Unknown Cichlid 1 (Could anyone please help identify this species? I'll edit it in once I find out)

Very nice colors in person, though a bit light (perhaps still getting used to the tank). Light purple-ish body. Black, white, yellow on fins.

Unknown Cichlid 2 (Help identifying this species as well please, although it may be the same as #1)

Smaller than 'unknown cichlid 1', but I believe may be the same species? They both have mostly the same color pattern and fins, except this one (#2) seems more reddish.

Convict? Cichlid (Pretty sure it's a convict, any confirmation?)

Smallest of the 3 cichlids. He seems to get along well with the biggest (#1), while the other tends to give chase to him. #1 quickly steps up and chases #2 off, however, so it seems to work itself out. He seems to be swimming at an angle a slight bit though, is this normal? Other than that, he seems fine.

[Gold Spot Pleco (99% confirmed, any disagree'rs?)

Nice sized pleco, cool little guy. Not much more to say besides I'm not sure what species he is. Any help would be greatly appreciated.


And that is my new 30gal for now, after a long days work at cleaning and setting it up. Well worth it though in my opinion, as I now have a free 30gal and I've got three gorgeous fish (and the pleco ). Thank you very much to anyone who can help identify these fish for me, I'd be no doubt guessing by pictures without the help. I'm planning to add to and change the set-up of it very soon, as this is only day 1. Sorry for the long stories but I hope you enjoyed the read and viewing my tank. Thanks for checking out my post as well and I look forward to reading some responses.

 

[typhoon]

id say that plec is a common, and unsure of the species of cichlid but all require a bigger tank i think 55gal + ( bigger for plec#) i read what u put about tank size etc jst sayin =]

 

[Curiosity101]

The two brightly coloured cichlids are lake malawi cichlids I think. I would've thought they will become increasingly aggressive over the next few days as they settle in. And need a much bigger tank that a 30gal.

The convict however can stay if you like it (and if it isn't a convict), really could do with a pic though...

The plec looks like a common to me aswell.
If it's a gold spot pleco it should grow to 30cm ish 12"
If it's a common pleco it should grow to 50cm ish 20"

I say 'should' because in that tank it'll have stunted growth and so wont grow to it's maximum size. Instead it'll end up prematurely dying.

I would suggest re-homing all of the fish and starting again.
But if you like the convict then you could plan a tank around it.

 

[Azeron]

My girlfriend got a tank over the internet and he removed half of the water, you couldn't even see the fish either, and the heater was broken, let just say the fish are not alive today ;l

 

[the420buzz]

Thanks for the input guys. I posted a thread in the cichlid section to see if I could get them identified as well. I'm really starting to think they're in the 'Pseudotropheus elongatus' family (which would make you right in thinking they're from Lake Malawi). They fin shapes, body shape, and colors are almost identical (bar a few color differences on the tips of fins).

I'll try to get better pictures, but for now, compare the pic's I've uploaded to a couple of the Pseudotropheus elongatus', and let me know what you think.

 

[Sean W.]

i think it needs a background

 

[the420buzz]

i think it needs a background

Very soon. This was day 1.

 

[Keithoms]

Oh, and be careful. I can see the tank breaking and spilling because of the overhang on the right and left. You might want to get a wider stand.

 

[shahrezsyed]

id say.......needs a substrate and some decoration like bogwood or plats or even better...bogwood+plants!
do you have a before pic just curious on how the tank was before.btw great job on cleaning it!
shahrez

 

[typhoon]

if your to keep the mbuna fish and the plec you WILL need a bigger tank, and not only substarate but something that is going to bring the PH up to around 8.2, these arent ordianry tropical fish, and if you add plants they will be ripped apart. i would sugest taking to your lfs and swapping them for some tetras or something.

 

[the420buzz]

Oh, and be careful. I can see the tank breaking and spilling because of the overhang on the right and left. You might want to get a wider stand.

Thanks for the warning, I'll definitely keep that in mind. My friend said thats the stand they've always used for it and it's held up, also the left and ride sides curve outwards, so its a bit wider than it looks at the front. I'll see what I can do about finding something wider, though I appreciate the concern

id say.......needs a substrate and some decoration like bogwood or plats or even better...bogwood+plants!
do you have a before pic just curious on how the tank was before.btw great job on cleaning it!
shahrez

I wish I had a before pic (even though I'd never want to see that again). I must of been dead-set on getting the thing clean as taking a picture of it hadn't crossed my mind. Let's just say I wasn't exaggerating in the slightest in my story. Substrate and decoration coming very soon, aswell.

if your to keep the mbuna fish and the plec you WILL need a bigger tank, and not only substarate but something that is going to bring the PH up to around 8.2, these arent ordianry tropical fish, and if you add plants they will be ripped apart. i would sugest taking to your lfs and swapping them for some tetras or something.

Thank's for the suggestions. I was already under the impression that I can't be their forever home, but at the moment I'm just glad to have them out of the black water they were living in. I haven't called my LFS to see if they'd do a swap or anything yet, but I plan too very soon. I'd like to figure out exactly which species they are first though, so I wouldn't be phoning and/or walking in there saying 'yeah, I've got some cichlids and I was wondering if I'd be able to bring them in and swap them. Oh, what kind are they? Uhh..'

 

[typhoon]

well theres deffo mbuna from lake malawi, shud be kept alone a species tank with only there own kind, with substrates like crushed coral or holy rock to higher the PH any lfs will no this if there decent

 

[the420buzz]

I'll be phoning the store tomorrow as they close early today, and see if they're able to take them. To be honest, I wanted to stock my 30 gallon myself but once I seen what these guys were living in, I had to hold off on that for a bit. I'll update once I get word if I can bring them in.

 

[the420buzz]

UPDATE:

Well, my LFS was great about bringing them in. I got a $10 store credit for the two cichlids, and he said the Convict wasn't worth anything to him, but he could take it off my hands for me. I agreed. (I decided to keep the Pleco)

I started looking around the store for some fish to go in along with my Green Terror babies (who I can't really say are babies anymore, they're growing quick), but didn't have much time to look because I had got there less than an hour before closing. I ended up deciding on the following;

- 4x Tiger Barbs
- 2x 24k Gold Barbs (I'm thinking they just tagged the '24k' onto their name)
- 1x Zipper Loach

I've put the Zipper Loach into my 15gal for the time being until I get some sand for my 30gal as the bottoms bare (and he likes to dig). He gets along great with the corydoras, shoals with them it seems. He loves his flake food (goes wild when he notices a piece)

In the 30gal, I've got the x3 GT (still small), x4 Tiger Barbs and x2 '24k' Gold Barbs. Now that I've got them home, I'm starting to wish I had got more Tiger Barbs in place of the Gold Barbs. I was hoping they'd school together, but they pay no attention to each other. The Gold Barbs just seem to lounge together around the bottom, and haven't noticed food at the top yet. The tiger barbs are great (still small however), and I plan to get more soon. I'll put some pictures up once I get sand and set that up, but just wanted to update on the cichlid situation.

 

[Curiosity101]

Just to check...you are aware of Green Terrors personalities as they grow? And that you wouldn't even be able to keep one of those fish much past the juvie stage as they need much bigger tanks.

The pleco will grow far too big for your tank. Or rather 'should' grow too big for your tank. But you are keeping it which I can guarantee will lead to stunted growth.

Gold barbs grow to 8cm and should be kept in a group of at least 5 as they are a shoaling species (they actually shoal very tightly with their own species which is great to watch in a large tank ). The fact that you only have two would explain why they keep to the bottom of the tank.
In my opinion they aren't too big for a 30gal tank, but they really limit other stocking options due to how big they grow.

Tiger Barbs - Should really be in a bigger group, it's not vital but it's just that they can get pretty nippy with tankmates if there aren't enough barbs to spread the agression out.

Zipper Loach - Looks like a nice little loach, not one I've seen around very often. A good choice.