treated me to a new 45 gallon tank.....

[keane]

Hi guys,

bought myself a new tank yesterday 4 x 1.5 x 1.25 (45 gallon).

Have already got a 30 gallon community tank (gourami, corys, rams etc) so this time I wanna keep some bigger, but not huge, cichlids.

not really looking for oscars, JD's etc as i would like to have as many as possible.

can i have your thoughts please.

cheers

steve

 

[Phantom Thief]

Oscars and JDs are NW cichlids, and i dont think oscars can fit in a 45g, though JDs may be ok.

P.T.

 

[keane]

thanks P.T

as you will probably have guessed I don't know too much about cichlids! )

as i said am not looking for the larger breeds. would like to keep a largish group of smaller cichlids, if possible.

gonna do some research, of course, but any ideas from you guys to point me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated........malawis? tangikyans (sp?), how many?

thanks

steve

 

[Ben]

a colony of Electic Yellows/Yellow labs! it would be so awsome,also mix it with agroup of electric blues

JMO,HTH

DD

 

[keane]

thanks DD.

was some yellow labs yesterday when I was buying my tank. they are awesome!!

how many fish will i be able to keep in a 45?

could i have some bottom dwellers in there too? (bristlenose? common plec, any other smaller plec/catfish?

also....with cichlids the tank set up needs to be predominatly rocks doesn't it?

can i stick a few plants in there or should i just stick to the rocks?

sand or gravel? was hoping to try out sand this time?!

sorry to keep asking so many questions but really wanna get this right!!

thanks to all in advance!

steve

 

[Phantom Thief]

how many fish will i be able to keep in a 45?

It depends on what sized fish, but i think you could have 4+ EYs in it, plus several other fish.

could i have some bottom dwellers in there too? (bristlenose? common plec, any other smaller plec/catfish?

You can get my favourite catfish, featherfin synos . Here's more info on them http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=71725

also....with cichlids the tank set up needs to be predominatly rocks doesn't it?

Not necessarily, it's really your choice.

can i stick a few plants in there or should i just stick to the rocks?

Once again, personal taste, but plants can be difficult or easy to keep, depending on your lighting, substrate, etc.

sand or gravel? was hoping to try out sand this time?!

Personal taste again . But if you do go with the featherfin synos, it would be best to get sand (though i keep them in gravel myself )

Keep the questions coming, it's better to ask now then to face problems later on for not asking . Besides, im in a good mood today so i'll do my best to answer all your queries

P.T.

 

[keane]

your a good man P.T!

the guy at the LFS (who actually seemed pretty knowledgeable!) said i could get up to 25 malawis/tangikanyans...(sp??) in there.

do the yellow labs/electric blues fall under this category? what other varieties do?

was just looking under this site...http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/quick_reference_list.php

seems quite useful. anyone used it?

am starting to be pain in the ass now i know but can't wait to get the thing set up (after cycling of course!)

thanks again

steve

 

[Phantom Thief]

I'm no professional on malawis or tanganyikans, or cichlids as a whole for that matter. But i would think that the number of fish you could fit in the tank would depend more on the size of each fish than the actual quantity of fish you have.

I'm a good man, i know

P.T.

 

[Ben]

im not sure about that much but i know that you must overstock malawi/mbuna tanks or any african tank for that matter to spread aggresion.

and yes cichlid-forum is very knowladge-able in cichlids,probably the best cichlid site on the net

DD

 

[Phantom Thief]

25 four inch fish would be quite some drastic overstocking

I have heard of it, yes, but wouldn't water quality become an issue?

P.T.

 

[Oddball]

I tend to find in any cichlid tank that i have ran, the trick is to get one cichlid that is somewhat larger than the others......

for example in one tank, i have a colony of electric yellow labs, tropheous duboisi and a few alunacaras. Life in that tank was bedlam until i introduced a very large female livingstonii who would give chase to any aggressive fish in sight, as a result i dont have many problems with the cichlids picking on one individual as it is swiftly broken up by the much larger fish.......

Regarding catfish i would recommend any catfish from the synodontid family and a few others my faves are:

Syn. nigreventis (upside down cat)
Syn. multiplepunctatus (cuckoo catfish)
Syn. ornatapinnis (ornate cat)
Syn. Eupterus (feather fin cat)
Syn. flaviatus (sp.) (pyjama catfish)
Gold synodontis (sorry dont know scientific name, gorgeous fish tho)
any member of the doridae family
Angelicus pleco
Clown Pleco
Rubbernose plec
Any form of sailfinned plec

and the beautiful thing with this is that you can mix any of the above species of catfish with each other AND cichlids!

Good luck and let us know how ya do

As an intersting foot note i know you mentioned "bottom dwellers" try looking into the smaller species of oddball such as peacock eel and polypterid/birchir these are unlikely but excellent tank mates if kept right, and interestingly enough polypterus ornatapinnis (although too big for your tank) is a native to lake tanganiyaka........

 

[keane]

great stuff Oddball! Cheers.

will post some pics when it's up and running!

steve B)