Stocking Tank

[Julianmiles123]

I just got a 45G bow front an I have a few cichlids I have in mind I'm jus wondering if they will be fine in a tank together I was lookin too get some electric yellow an electric blue cichlids, a few convicts an some kribensis cichlids basically looking for some hardy kind for a beginner with this spieces I'm using tap water an the ph level is 6.8 would I have to raise the ph to have these specific cichlids in a tank together??

 

[CSnyder00]

Don't mess with the pH. Cichlids will do fine once they've acclimated. 6.8 is good. The list you have would be a disater I'm afraid. You want to keep a tank species specific. I would suggest either keeping one species of cichlid or do an all male african tank. There's no good way to keep different species of cichlids together. They are just too territorial. They will eventually kill each other. You also have chosen various levels of aggression, which is no good. Maybe think about doing a community tank if you want the different colors? Or do one dwarf cichlid species with other dither fish?

 

[Inga]

Cichlids are awesome fish, and very entertaining to watch. If you decided to do Africans, you will want your water ph to be up around 8.0.  and they like hard water. If you choose to keep south Americans such as Oscars, jack Dempsey, Convicts, then your water can be at 6.5-7.0. I have had great luck with Oscars with Jacks, and other Cichlids, but every time I have had Convicts, I end up removing them from the tank due to territorial aggression. If you add lots of rocks, drift wood, and hiding places, they tend to choose an area and claim it. I have had to move things around in some of my tanks each time I added a few new fish at the same time, especially Africans, so they had to claim a new spot at the same time the newbies did. All that you have listed are great to keep, but you should keep south americans with same, and Africans with Africans... etc. There are some good sites that give the water ph and temp requirements for each species you choose. Hope this helps.

 

[ReMz]

Julian -
 
Congrats on the new 45g Bowfront! That is cool platform for a tank setup.

I'm happy you want to keep cichlids.... however, you need to differentiate between a New World Cichlids (South American) and and Old World Cichlids (African). Unfortunately, they cannot be kept in the same tank.

Before I go into detail. Do you want a tank with a lot of smaller, active, and territorial fish?
OR
Do you want a tank with ONE, TWO, OR MAYBE THREE large fish that are the focus of the tank?
 
Don't worry too much about PH right now. Do you have a cycled tank to pull media from? Cichlids, both African and South American are hardy fish, but they need a good start just like any other fish.  If you have not read this yet, please do:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
If you already are familiar with cycling, please pass that.

I've kept many new world cichlids.... lots of experience and what can and cannot go together (for the most part you need to know what you are doing to combine them, and even then they are unpredictable). And old world cichlid tank is going to be more of a sure-fire "community" with problems.

Once you have decided on one or the other... let me know and I can recommend stocking suggestions for a 45g.... although you are going to be very limited with new world cichlids if you want larger fish. Just know "electric yellow an electric blue cichlids, a few convicts an some kribensis cichlids" WILL NOT WORK.