Need Some Quick Answers On African Cichlids!

[KRamgren89]

so a girl i went to school with got ahold of me today and said she has 2 African Cichlids she needs to get rid of and if the pet store cant take them she doesnt know what she's gonna do. So me being the fish lover told her to let me know if the pet store she goes to doesnt want them, if they dont I'LL TAKE THEM....... yep you probably guessed it, i have no clue what im walking into with these cichlids if the pet store doesnt take them. the only tanks i have open that i could set up are 30 gallons and a 37 gallon tall but i only have 1 extra filter available and id have to go buy new media for that as i didnt plan on having another tank up and running but i couldnt bear to think that she might just kill them so i guess i need to know how big these suckers get and can 2 of them that are 2-3 inches long live in a 30 gallon aquarium. i can fill the new aquarium up with tank water from my 55 gallon or at least partially with that water and i can see if my LFS can help me out with media.

yes i know stupid of me to just jump in on fish ive never owned and know nothing about but on the off chance the pet store wont take them she said they are mine so i need any and all advice i can get...

 

[Steve H.]

Any idea what they are?

Shellies or some Tanganyikans you might be ok.

But, Oscars or Malawis might get too big for those tanks,

If it is 2 of the same species, and they're small enough, you might have a good start for African Biotope.

I am guessing the length of both tanks is the same?

 

[thereverendturtle]

Oscars aren't Africans. My guess is they are probably Malawians, would need pix to tell for sure. A 30 gallon would be a bare minimum for about 75% of the lake cichlids.
If you get them post a picture of them and we can give you more info.
There are some that could go in your communication tank, some of the dwarfs from west Africa would be good in there.

 

[KRamgren89]

only info i have on them is they are about 2-3 inches long one is solid yellow the other is yellow with black stripes. both tankes are the same length and width just the height is different and from what i gathered about a quick google search is that im better off putting them in the shorter tank as they are mostly bottom dwelling or something of that nature. if i get them i'll be sure to post pictures immediately. how hardy of fish are they? because as i said i dont have a tank up and running for them and i threw my old media away from my other filter as i didnt plan on running it anytime soon. so i'd have to start pretty much over for that tank, aside from the fact i can take a ton of water from my 55G and put it in my 30G but would they survive essentially a recycling process?

 

[MisterAtlantis]

Hi, maybe take a quick look at the cichlid section here, if you haven't already, lots of info on their specific needs including high ph etc

 

[thereverendturtle]

It sounds like a the fish might be electric yellow labs. No matter what they are the 37 would be preferable, as they like lots of rocks creating lots of caves, the higher the better if you have two tanks with the same footprint.

 

[Steve H.]

Can you use 1/3 the filter media from your 55gl to start your 37?