So.... if I get a tank with fish OTHER than bettas

Get Ready! 🐠 It's time for the....
FishForums.net Fish of the Month
🏆 Click to enter! 🏆

The reason I kinda got into fish in the first place is cuz I was in the petstore getting bedding for my guinea piggies when I decided to cruise thru the fish section for nostalgia. my mom always kept fish when I was a kid. (i actually ended up getting a fish by rescuing Amos from WalMart, but that's a whole nother story)

So anyway - I spotted a tank with medium sized "something or others" in it. Some were yellow, some were light blue, some were orange, some were white.... And the coolest thing to me was that they had the same exact tanks side by side - it was the exact same fish, but in 3 different sizes. :rolleyes:

SO... I got back to the office and started doing some research to see if I could figure out what they were, cuz I never paid attention at the store. I found out they were cichlids! They're so cute!! I love em :)

I was thinking of getting some of them in a big tank if I got one set up.
How would they do in a 29 gallon tank? EDIT: the tank is a corner tank with rounded front, if that matters.
I'd like to get the ones that are a little bit smaller sized - not the gynormous ones.
 
LOL! so you want cichlids. i'm so used to you being a brilliant betta-fanatic, that the concept of mystery cichlids is quite amusing.

i hate to break it, but most of the mixed African cichlids that you saw at WM are going to get too big for a 29 (or so i believe i've heard). and cichlids breed as readily as they eat, so whatever you get will probably have all sorts of aggression unless you're careful to get two females. who will probably fight a bit as well... (things starting to sound familiar yet? :p )

cichlids are very entertaining and personable critters, tho'. in a 29, you could keep a breeding pair any of several varieties: apistogrammas (dwarfs), rams, kribs, jewels... buying a paired set of cichlids can be quite the investment (unless they're convicts). i know most of the LFS around me welcome kribensis fry as store credit and will outright buy jewels or dwarfs. rams can swing either way.

if you still like the idea, ask around on the cichlid forums about what could go in a 29. they could definitely tell you more than i can.
 
I love the yellow labs but unfortunately my water is to soft and pH too low for cichlids without doctoring the water so i just stick soft water/low pH fish. I'm no expert on cichlids but you could probably have a few of the smaller ones in a 29 gallon as long as you had plants for hiding.
 
oh no! i didn't mean to scare you off cichlids!

really, the smaller species are less aggressive than bettas. german rams are quite common in community set-ups. you would probably get a lot of enjoyment out of them.

you would actually benefit from your background in bettas because having 2 fish to a single tank wouldn't feel oppressive. a lot of people moving from small community tanks have trouble with the concept of territory and aggressiveness, and so don't like the idea of an "understocked" tank.

oh, and here's some info on Blood Red Jewel Cichlids. (my LFS has 'em and not a day goes by that i don't wish i had an extra tank.)
 
Holy baloney!
Those are the beautifulest most crisp colored fishes I've ever seen (besides bettas & saltwaters). OOoOoOooh... are they easy to keep alive?

I want some.
Now I really want that corner tank. Oooh.
And hmm.. I think if I had to sway one way or the other I'm pretty sure I'd tend to lean much more toward understocking than overstocking, you're right!

Wow, those guys are gorgeous.
I've never seen any like it around here.
I wonder if my specialty aquatic store could order me some.

How much would (or SHOULD) a couple of those cost??
 
well, i know my LFS had them as a $32 pair, but they had actually bred in the store first. but i also know that the guy that bought them sold the fry *back* to the store later on. it was like 15~20 fish he sold back, so even if it was just 2 bucks a pop, he recovered his initial investment already.
 
When you get em in a pair, is it recommended that you get a male and a female? Can you get 2 of the same sex? I'm petrified of breeding ANYthing...
 
I think a powerhead would circulate the water under those rocks.

Good luck with the tank if you decide to get it.
 
BettaMomma said:
When you get em in a pair, is it recommended that you get a male and a female? Can you get 2 of the same sex? I'm petrified of breeding ANYthing...
i know male-male is bad news; two females is dependent on species, i believe. i'd get a pair myself and not put any effort into breeding them. if it happens, it happens and you get to sell off the excess. that's my approach to my guppies and its remarkably stress-free. besides, most cichlids are dimorphic so to best enjoy their coloration, you'd want to go on ahead and aquire one of each sex.
 
:lol: Why are you petrified? C'mon... You know you'd love some ickle baby bettas :lol: Mini-me's of Harvey/Jasper/Jack/Archie. I've decided I want to breed cories and honey gouramis :)
 
Now I want a pair of those. If I can find them, I am almost certain I will get a 20 to 25 gallon for a pair. Would that be big enough for them? I have got to start searching.
 
If I had betta babies, i'd not be able to get rid of any of them.
I'd have jars all over my house.
I could get rid of ALL my decor and just have bettas EVERYWHERE...


oooh, that's actually a really good idea....

So, I went to oogle at my 29G tank setup last night and they had sold it off with no intent to restock :(
BUT... i did find one just about like it in 45 (or 54???) gallon. It was monstrous. I really liked the 29G one - it was the perfect size.

Hrmph.
I'm gonna stop by on the way home at the specialties store and see what I can find there. :wub:
 

Most reactions

Back
Top