New to cichlids

[Tyler777]

My wife n I want to start a cichlids tank tomorrow. The tank is a 46 gallons n is cycled already. I have a pleco n a siamese algae eater in there. Don't ask nout why having a pleco it will get too big. I know I have to find someone with a bigger tank to take it in.
Anyhow, we r planning to go get some cichlids tomorrow, my question is ... do normal water parameters for a fresh water community tank be ok for cichlids ?, do cichlids be ok n get along with the pleco n the siamese algae eater ?
Can I add a red tailed black shark in it with the cichlids ?

I would appreciate any advice n answers. Thank you

 

[GaryE]

Ditch the word Cichlids.

It's a huge group and there are no rules for it, other than to decide which Cichlid or Cichlids appeal, and learn about them on a case by case basis. How you keep a South American rainforest species would kill an east African Lake Cichlid, and vice versa. You set tanks up in different ways for different species.

It's a bit like saying you want to know how to keep birds. If you are thinking geese, and I am thinking canaries, my advice is going to be harmful.

One rule that doesn't change is no competition. Almost all Cichlids are territorial about the bottom of the tank. Red tailed sharks are territorial about the bottom too. They should not be put together, or you have created a fighting zone rather than a community tank. That's one of the basic mistakes people make, and one that has ruined the enjoyment of many set ups.

 

[Tyler777]

Ditch the word Cichlids.

It's a huge group and there are no rules for it, other than to decide which Cichlid or Cichlids appeal, and learn about them on a case by case basis. How you keep a South American rainforest species would kill an east African Lake Cichlid, and vice versa. You set tanks up in different ways for different species.

It's a bit like saying you want to know how to keep birds. If you are thinking geese, and I am thinking canaries, my advice is going to be harmful.

One rule that doesn't change is no competition. Almost all Cichlids are territorial about the bottom of the tank. Red tailed sharks are territorial about the bottom too. They should not be put together, or you have created a fighting zone rather than a community tank. That's one of the basic mistakes people make, and one that has ruined the enjoyment of many set ups.

Ok ammonia in the tank is 0
Nitrites is 0
Ph is 7.6

Can I add cichlids in the tank ? ( not African cichlids ) the other ones

 

[CassCats]

Again, you need to know your GH as well.

This gets important with the cichlid groups, because certain ones need a sky-high GH, while some need near 0.

What specific cichlids are you asking about? Even among Africans there are soft water ones, and then there are many kinds of south american, and many kinds of central American all with different water needs.


Even among south american ones there's a wide range. Some species need near 0 GH, such as checkerboards, while some others come from areas with a wide range, such as apistogramma borelli which can go up to 268ppm GH. It's a really wide range of parameters and jumping into it not knowing what you're dealing with is going to risk failure.

 

[anewbie]

If your tank is established it is likely hard water - also you can't keep a group of different species of new world cichild in a 46 (which is a rather small aquarium). For a peaceful group like keyhole you could keep a group of 4 or 5. And no the red tail shark isn't gonna work. You keep drifting to large fishes in a small aquarium. Keyhole are flexible on water hardness but if your water is very hard it won't work. Luckily central america has fishes that work well in harder water like rainbow cichild - it even has cichild in it's common name which might make your wife happy.