And what size of tank do you think I will need for all of them.
With the fish you have a 75g tank MINIMUM, anything smaller and you will be dealing with aggression issues from the JD. JD are nasty fish and will hound anything in a small tank to death once they are adults.
The genus Cichlid has two completely different subdivisions. They are African and South American. South American Cichlids, being the Jack Dempsey, Convicts, and Jewel, should not be kept with the African Cichlids. They both have different needs. SA need soft water, however, the A need hard water.
Alright guys I'm hoping my landlord will let me set up my newly acquired 55 gallon tank. I'm thinking African Cichlids, 4-5 maybe 6, and one pleco. It wont be a planted tank but I plan on having lots of fake plants and caves/decorations. I am curious as to how many I can have in there happily. I am looking to mix different types of African (if that is ok?). I plan on doing a month fish in cycle with a few feeder fish (an possibly my pleco half way through) before I introduce my cichlids. Does this sound alright? Is there any basic care stuff I should know? I've done some research and I believe I know the basics (Heat to 76/78 degrees, hard water prefered, filter required, feed once a day with cichlid pellets, clean 15% of the water once a month and no tank mates outside of other cichlids and a plecos).
I would not get a Pleco because they get huge and produce a lot of waste. Instead, get 8-9 Cichlids. I have 6 in my 37 and are all healthy and happy! And yes, you can have different types of African Cichlids.
These fish are unlike any other freshwater fish. They are like saltwater fish, but without the cost and maintenance. You won't be sorry with getting AC's!
Ok. no pleco then and just a few more lol. I'm fine with that :) I have a LFS that will order any kind I want for me so when I have the tank established I'm going to sit down with her and her book of fish and place an order.
Thats good! A product that I would recommend is Start Zyme, this will add good bacteria into the aquarium and will help it cycle a little faster. Another product is Stress Coat. This is my favorite aquarium product because it takes out chlorine, helps with fish that are stressed out, and adds onto the fish protective slime coat.
Oh yeah, I have start right from Jungle and API Stress coat, along with AQ salt. I do plan on letting the tank run almost a full month until adding cichlids. I've never ran into "new tank sundrome" and I don't plan on starting with this one. The lady at a petsmart saw me looking at the cichlids and asked what size tank I have. I told her I was working on setting a 55 up. she was just like "oh let it run for a few days and then just plop the fish in" all smiley and what not. I told her "No, I want my tank fully cycled before I add any fish I really want in there. I wont be buying fish until its sat for at least a month." She almost looked appalled by that, shrugged and walked away.
yes that may work on smaller tanks but not the big ones... I guess I'm finding there are some cichlid specific substrates, do I need those or can I just stick with gravel?
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