Some questions about stocking..

[jazzx101]

Hey everybody, been a while since I posted. I'm not really a beginner, I have kept smaller fish in various tanks (small plecos, danios, gouramis, etc) but I recently discovered an old 30 gal tank in our basement that is still in good working order. I'm cleaning it up and going through the process of cycling before I buy anything, but I'm still wondering what would be some interesting fish that get slightly larger or maybe some of the smaller cichlids. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[glolite]

Hi. If you want to keep cichlids an obvious choice would be the dwarf varieties like rams or apistos. I have a rainbow cichlid which is NW and has a sweet temperament. Reading up on them, apparently they are underestimated and make fantastic parents. Otherwise, how about electric yellow labs although I'm not sure if 30g is big enough. I'm sure others will advise. Have fun!!

 

[IovaykInD]

A good start would be a community tank. After you are done cycling, look up on neon tetras, guppies, etc. They make great community aquariums, along with some ghost shrimp. With a 30 gallon tank, you could do so much. It is all about how creative you are, and how much money you have of course

Isaac

 

[jazzx101]

The yellow labs do sound interesting, I'll have to read up more about them. How easy are they compared to other cichlids to keep?

 

[freddyk]

Yellow labs are about the easiest cichlid you can keep, and are very nice fish, but be forewarned, you'll be very limited on what you can put with them. Community fish are a no-go, and most other mbuna (what yellow labs are) are too aggressive for a 30 gallon tank, considered small for these types of fish.

Yellow labs get to about 4-5" long and you can fit about 8 into that tank if you do a species setup. There are a couple of types of Africans you can keep with them in this case including Aulonocara, Rustys, and Acei. Whatever you do, don't randomly choose Africans from the fish store or I can gurantee disaster.

They like some rockwork, but if you use too much you may never see them. Regardless of what you put them with they're best kept in groups. Unlike many other mbuna they are not herviorous so you don't need to worry about diet, just avoid worms.