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New 29g tank - African Cichlids

4K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  Night Foxx 
#1 ·
I recently bought a new 29g tank & put three juvenile African Cichlids in the tank… no worries so far, but I have a couple of questions.

1. I read somewhere that you should use 'cichlid' sand along with some special rocks? Apparently the African cichlids aren't as hardy as their South American brothers & require a higher PH level? Any truth to this? I used tap water & standard gravel that I bought from Petco.

2. What are your thoughts on the flakes vs pellet food. I hear flakes are messier, but the pellet food seemed to mirky the water a bit.

3. How many cichlids can I realistically have in my tank? Any chance I can put a few other scavenger fish to tidy up a bit without the others attacking them?

Thanks for the help..
 
#2 ·
which africans do you have? and yes they do require a higher ph, my tap comes out around 8.0 and i used play sand after i washed it to put into my aquarium. i use flakes but im going to switch to pellets after they cycle b/c of the cloudy water that pellets make. as far as how many i wouldnt do any more than 5 and STAY AWAY FROM JOHANNI'S they are one of the more aggressive africans. be warned. and untill your cycle completes only add 1-2 fish untill after its done. honestly i wouldnt do africans with such a small tank but instead do a community they are easyier to take care of and you can have a wide variety of them.

but as far as african bottom feeder there are some catfish species that will do well. check the cichlid area i have a post with the same questions and have gotten alot of great answers and suggestions. Money
 
#3 ·
I believe they are Lake Malawi.. they look like this http://www.african-cichlid.com/MsoboF500.jpg... one bright yellow, the other bright orange & another w/yellow fins but a bluish-purple body.

And I'm not sure I read your post correctly.. you are swithing to pellets or are not? You mention because of they cloudy water they make.

How long does a cycle take? What wil happen if I don't add sand or something else to increase the PH? And by community you simply mean many other fish that get along & are not aggressive correct?
 
#4 · (Edited)
Ok for starters your 30 gallon is a little small for cichlids. if you could up grade to a 55 or larger you will be all right with 4 to 6of them. in your 30 iwouldnt put more then a pair(2). I dont have a problem with cloudy water with the pellets. I feed them every other day, so they tend to eat them pretty fast. Yes your ph needs to be around 8.0 or higher. The reason for the sand would be that cichlids are pron diggers. They up root plants live or fake. If you use river rocks then they cant dig it up as easy then (stress) ocurs. As Money stated with the community tank. I would say that he means get rid of the cichlids (rehome) them. Get some tetras, barbs, danios, and ect. Smaller community fish. Thats just a sugestion. Best of luck. We are here to help. Ask all the Questions you need. MOLLIES
 
#6 ·
that makes sense... it might work, but the odds are not in my favor. We'll see how it goes, hopefully all will go well.

If it seems more trouble than it's worth then I think the community/school options is the way to go, as you guys mention. While I really like the cichlid colors, I like the idea of having more than 2-3 fish. Hence the reason I got a 29g, which I thought was rather large comparted to the little 5-10 gallons ones I had when I was a kid.
 
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