What Are The Best Cichlids For A New Cichlid Owner?

[guppy_man]

im a poet and i didnt know it hehe, im currently cycling my tank at the moment, and i was thinking of gettin a pair of cichlids, something not to hard to care for and is really pretty, have you got any ideas, i was thinking of rams or kribs?

thnx in advance

 

[Nim]

Rams are brilliant but they are overly sensitive and you need to provide them optimum water quality and soft acidic water. They are not very forgiving either.

Kribs are ok and pretty as well but IMO they dont have personalities like the Tanganyikan cichlids.

What size tank is it? You could have Tanganyikans if you have hard water or Festivams or other south american dwarf cichlids sincluding rams if you ha ve soft acidic water and if your tank is large enough you can even have discus.

Basically there are a lot of options mainly depending on what type of water you have and what size tank you have.

Nim

 

[guppy_man]

the tank is 39ukgal and will be medium planted with alot of caves and hardish water

 

[Nim]

lol.. Rams IMO then may be out of question if you have hardish water.

You can go for Kribs (they can turn very aggressive when breeding though).. or Keyhole cichlids, Festivams, Bolivian Rams, Angels, Many tanganyikan fish but they will like some rock work as well and do not damage the plants as much as malawi cichlids do.

You can keep Tanganyikans if your PH is over 7.4 and hardness over 8dGH.

What ever you keep, you may not be able to keep a lot of cichlids in that tank unless you have a breeding pair of neolamprologus brichardi or any shellies and they spawn and form nuclear family.

Nim

 

[Hels]

Hi

I have a pair of kribs and i found them to be great little fish - colourful and active with really good fry care... mine are on their second brood of fry, i keep mine by themself in a planted tank...singley they're fine in a community tank but as a pair you need to be careful about what you're mixing them with because (as already said) they can be aggressive when breeding...

 

[guppy_man]

ok i dont know if you have been reading my tank diary so far, but i have been saving up for lots of rock and plants for them to hide in, tanks been cycling for just over a week now, with no problems
i was hoping to have kribs, because how easy they are to breed and they are beautiful fish, they sell them alot round this area so im in luck

the fish im hoping to have in the tank are

pair of kribs
6 panda corys
5 platies
1pleco

thast what i want but i might add or remove from the list, not quite sure yet

 

[Ginge]

Guppy Man why dont you go with mbuna setup??? There ideal and not at all hard to keep

 

[guppy_man]

i havnt been researching on mebuna so i dont know that much

 

[Ginge]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=27706
There you go have a read any problems post them here were all glad to help
If you do go for mbuna have a look at the fish you can go for:
http/www.malawicichlidhomepage.com/aquarium/fish_list.html (The top section)

 

[guppy_man]

i have just read all of that i didnt even think that i could have mbuna fish, they are really really cool
is my setup ok so far with the filtration and air and gravel, if i do get mbuna i would need alot of rock

thnx alot

 

[Ginge]

Have you got graval or sand??? They can go with graval but sand is better.
Here is a link that rock will be plenty for your tank:
http/cgi.ebay.co.uk/Ocean-rock-25kg-for-...1QQcmdZViewItem
Filteration is just about ok but you may want to think about a small external ontop of the fluval 4 plus. or a large exteranl instead.

 

[bogwood]

What about some Tanganyikan Shelldweller cichlids... high PH... hard water... small size... interesting behaviour... easily to breed once established...

 

[Ginge]

What about some Tanganyikan Shelldweller cichlids... high PH... hard water... small size... interesting behaviour... easily to breed once established...

You also just described mbuna except the small part.

 

[guppy_man]

well in my tank i have really really fine gravel which looks like sand, i could buy lots of lava rock
make loads of caves, could you post pics of your fish or fish that i could have in the tank that dont grow big
thnx

 

[Ginge]

I i post some names that are ideal for beginerd then you can look em up on that link i posted:
LABIDOCHROMIS CAERULEUS
MELANOCHROMIS JOHANNI
Pseudotropheus acei
Pseudotropheus socolofi
Pseudotropheus elongatus
MELANOCHROMIS CYANEORHABDOS
1 Pseudotropheus demasoni ONLY!!!
Pseudotropheus Saulosi

Those would be ideal to start other please correct if im wrong and add others you feel dave can start the cichlids hobby with.