Spare tank..... big enough for cichlids?

[themikestro]

Hey!

I recently upgraded my tank and so my old one is going spare, I was going to stick a pair of goldfish in it, but I thought I'd consider my options.

It isn't particularly big at around 60cmx25x30 so I was thinking about a pair or small group of cichlids......

I've owned Kribensis before and my current tank has Angels and Keyholes in, so I was keen to try something else.

Obviously whatever goes in there couldn't be too big but I want something a bit showy..... Firemouths or a couple of Mbuna Malawi's, Red Zebra's or the like but would this be a big mistake? Maybe Rams? My other question is would an algae eater of some kind be safe with this lot or is it a species only option?

I hear that it is best to have 2 females to one male with the red Zebras etc.. Would it be ok just to have the 3 fish?

Put me straight and suggest anything that might work.

Without alteration the water compostion veers slightly towards acid and is pretty hard. Is there are a reliable way to up the alkalinity of the water?

Thanks!

 

[Cheese Specialist]

Errr...that tank is only a little over 10US gallons and so I would certainly not recommend goldfish (who need 20galls for the first fish and 10 for each after that) and not the cichlids you mentioned. Actually, other than some shell dwellers, I can't see any ciclid in a tank that size. I kept a lone female krib in one for a while but that was temporary.

 

[fish_r_great]

Maybe some rams or shell dwellers

HTH

 

[aberdeen aquarist]

maybe some apistogramma would work in there?

or i can really recommend shell dwellers for their character.

 

[Nina7777]

If i had a spare 10 gallon laying around I would get a few dwarf puffers.

10 gallons is definately not enough for mbuna cichlids.

 

[gixer]

or a couple of Mbuna Malawi's, Red Zebra's or the like but would this be a big mistake?

in a word....YES.