# Moving back to keeping Cichlids



## palmtopman (Oct 8, 2012)

I've kept fish for many years ranging from cold water, tropical and marine and have recently moved back to keeping Cichlids, which I love. In the past I've kept 3-4 pairs of commoners e.g. Jack Dempseys, Firemouths, Convicts; but as imagined, when they've reached maturity and start to breed, battles begin. So this time, my theory is to keep a large selection of predominantley males and thin them out as they get bigger (4-5"). So, my current selection of 12, sized 2-3" consists of: Blue Acara, Convict, Firemouth, Frontosa, Geophagus, Green Terror, Jack Dempsey, Jaguar, Black Diamond (Paratilapia polleni), Red Terror, Synspilum, Tiger Oscar and a Giraffe Catfish to do the hooverig lol. They're in a 5' aquarium, furnished with a few rocks and pieces of Bog wood; filtered by a Fluval 404 External Power Filter, with 10% [IS THIS ENOUGH?] water changes twice a week. Watch this space..... [INTERESTED TO COMMENTS / OPINIONS... have I made a mistake?]


----------



## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

How many gallons is your aquarium? Regardless, I can guarantee you that you will soon be HEAVILY overstocked and run into major aggression problems. You have quite a mix of cichlids from pretty much every region: CA, SA, Africa and Madagascar. Many also vary from being relatively mild tempered (Geo, BA, FM) to real heavy hitters (Jag, GT, RT). Your definitely going to want to reconsider you stock and remove a number of fish.


----------



## palmtopman (Oct 8, 2012)

Hi Chris, thanks for your reply. My 60" x 18" x 12" aquarium is 56.1gls (based on the formula (LxWxH)/231). I did state that it's my definate intention to thin them out from current 15 to approx 4-5 fish. Before and during my purchases I did discuss my plan with several SMEs and they agreed that you don't always get a particular breed of fish behaving as any text book suggests. I'm keeping a 'Bully' league table lol and currently the GREEN TERROR is the bad boy (as expected), however, a surprise is the smallest fish in the tank, a JACK DEMPSEY, which is 2nd on the league table! Anyway, before any of the inmates get physically scarred, I'll be getting rid of the bullies. I'm pleased to have found an excelent aquarist Waterland Aquatic Centre (in Dillywood Garden Centre, Higham (Near Gravesend) in Kent) who specialise in Cichlids (and biguns!) who will happily rehome the bullies for a credit note, that I decide need to go  I'm currently, when possible feeding them 3-5 times daily (otherwise twice) also with 30% water changes weekly, to boost their growth rate. The Giraffe Cat is speedily growing!  Oh and in addition to my initial post, I've got 15 Cichlids now with the addition of: TRIMACULAT, HARTWEGI & PARATILAPIA (Black Diamond). Watch this space.....


----------



## CjCichlid (Sep 14, 2005)

I'm glad your aware it's not feasible to keep all those cichlids in that size tank for long. A 56gal aquarium is actually quite small considering the adult sizes of most CA cichlids. Honestly, many of the cichlids you currently have couldn't/shouldn't even be kept in a 56gal aquarium by themselves, let alone with others. Just be sure to keep an eye on your water parameters as with such a heavy stocking, your nitrates could go through the roof very quickly.

Check out the "cookie cutter" stocking recommendations here for a more reasonable, long term stocking plan: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php


----------



## bluejack23 (Jan 23, 2012)

Imo even a temp stocking of these fish in this auarium is a bad idea. If you had a 125 your theory of buying 15 cichlids and eventually thinning down to 6 would make more sence.


----------



## Zombie Cichlid (Jun 26, 2012)

Forget it! If you keep 5 cichlids in a 56 gallon they will die by poor water conditions or aggression.
In a 56 gallon you can keep just 1 cichlid and do 25% water change once a week.
So, just chose 1 cichlid and maybe 1 pleco and 1 catfish and that's already full stocked for a 56 gallon.


----------



## du3ce (Sep 11, 2012)

Zombie Cichlid said:


> In a 56 gallon you can keep just 1 cichlid and do 25% water change once a week.
> So, just chose 1 cichlid and maybe 1 pleco and 1 catfish and that's already full stocked for a 56 gallon.


are you joking??? :-?


----------



## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

du3ce said:


> Zombie Cichlid said:
> 
> 
> > In a 56 gallon you can keep just 1 cichlid and do 25% water change once a week.
> ...


He must be. I don't know what to say either.


----------



## Zombie Cichlid (Jun 26, 2012)

No, i'm not joking.


----------



## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

In a 55g you can EASILY keep a shoal of 6 firemouths. That, already, is more than one fish. Or a harem of Convicts (maybe with two males). That, again, is more than one fish. =.=


----------



## FishFanatic245 (Oct 17, 2012)

also angel fish, non-breeding discus (possibly), all the dwarf cichlids, festivums, eletric yellows, and so on! so please inform us all on why you can have only 1 cichlid in a 56 gallon other than the so called poor water quality/aggression issue that will likely not even occur with some cichlids!


----------



## Zombie Cichlid (Jun 26, 2012)

6 firemouths in a 56 gallon??? they will die in 1 or 2 years. (they are meant to live more than 5 years).
Azedenkae, your fish don't thrive, they just survive.
In a 56 gallon you can keep:
1 large cichlid (such as an Oscar) or
2 medium cichlids (such as Blood Parrots) or
4 small cichlids (such as Convicts).
Considering that is better to keep just 1 male of each species.
A 56 gallon is a very small fish tank for cichlids, take Oscars for example, one of the most common cichlids out there, they eat a lot, therefore produce a lot of waste, which increases the level of nitrite and nitrate in your water. Keeping 2 or 3 Oscars in a 56 gallon will inevitably lead to HITH and death.
Do your research and then we can talk.
Good luck!


----------



## Azedenkae (Apr 19, 2012)

I do do my research. If it works, it works - and to be honest, all my fish are thriving - they eat well, they're active, they're breeding. If that's not the definition of thriving then I don't know what is.

Did you not just say a few posts ago that one can only keep one cichlid in a single 56g? What's all this about keeping 2 medium cichlids or 4 small cichlids? You've just contradicted yourself.

Did you know that your suggestion to add a pleco or a similar catfish to a 56g, rather than another cichlid, is a bad idea? The only thing that's good about adding a pleco 'cept for a different cichlid, is that they can withstand the aggression of certain cichlids. This doesn't help when it comes to certain smaller cichlids, like Thorichthys species. On the other hand, they grow large and produce a huge amount of waste - so much more than adding another cichlid would. Similarly for many catfish. So now you have three fish in a tank, and at least one of the three produces a lot of waste, the other of the remaining could produce as much - which is obviously problematic.


----------

