Want To Start.

[ukowen]

Hi,

i have been keeping tropicals a few years now, but i want to start keeping cichilds.My tank is set up for tropicals i was wondering if i need to change anything ie water temp, lights, any help would be great thanks.

 

[randallhart]

Depends on what cichlid you want. And how big is your tank?

 

[ukowen]

210 l, wide 39in deep 18in height 28in with 2 external filters, fine sand base, and a few rocks i no i need more rocks to make caves and holes.

 

[Matt_northants]

Do you know what your hardness and pH is as this will affect what type of cichlids you could keep. You may not need to make some caves as not all cichlids are cave spawners.

 

[ox5477]

Do you know what your hardness and pH is as this will affect what type of cichlids you could keep. You may not need to make some caves as not all cichlids are cave spawners.

Agreed. If you want african lake species, then you will need different water parameters and most likely a rocky terrain as a good portion of the species live in environments that help mitigate aggression as the rocks help each fish create it's own little territory.

African river species and new world cichlids can probably live in the your current water conditions if the pH is not too high. Anything under 8 (7.5 more preferable) would be fine for them. you could look into smaller species such as rams and they would live fine with your community fish.

If you want bigger species than make sure you research their space requirements. many people buy fish for a tank that is way too small, especially when mixing species. Unlike the african lake species, New worlds need alot of space to create territory.

 

[ukowen]

i was told buy a fish keeper that u need to over stock rather than under stock is this true

 

[shroob]

i was told buy a fish keeper that u need to over stock rather than under stock is this true

For african cichlids generally, however there is an art to it, I wouldn't recommend buying african cichlids left right and centre and bunging them in.

Though there arn't just african cichlids, theres new world cichlids which are equally as intresting. It would be better if you decided which ones you wanted to keep, then people can help stocking from there.

I might not have got this but, are you planning on adding cichlids with your existing tropical fish?

 

[ukowen]

No my tank is fish free at the moe, i dont no what type to go for because i dont no to much about them

 

[Matt_northants]

Why not pop down to your library and borrow a fish encyclopedia? Then you can have a look at what you like and this would determine what you need to change. The cichlids are a highly diverse family from the soft water loving Discus and Apisto's to the hard water CA and RV cichlids, then theres the brackish ones from India.

 

[shroob]

You could also check out the profiles on this site, they have most of the common cichlids listed.

African
http/www.fishforums.net/category/41/Cichlids-African/

New world
http/www.fishforums.net/category/42/Cich...South-American/

 

[Straydum]

both african and new worlds are equally interesting though i personally prefer new world cichlids