# HELP ME INTO THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF CICHLIDS



## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi Everybody

I have been bitten by the Cichlid Bug.

I recently popped into a local aquarium on the off chance that they might also stock reptile supplies as I wanted to purchase some anti-bacterial vivarium cleaner for my snake collection. I was politely asked to leave the shop 2 hours later as the owner wanted to go home for his dinner.

I have earmarked a space in my reptile room where I could house a 330 litre tank (63 inches long by 18"wide).

Obviously, before purchasing the tank, I would like to learn as much as possible about the husbandry of these wonderful animals and would appreciate any help that anybody can give in pointing me in the right direction in deciding which species or region to commence with on my journey to total addiction, much in the same way as happened with my collection of corn snakes.

Finally, for this post, can somebody help me to pronounce Cichlids correctly. Is it Chitchlids, Kichlids, Kicklids or something else?

I look forward to hearing from you and to hopefully being able to share the knowledge I gain from you over the coming months and years with newbies like me at some time in the future.

Cheers
Patrick.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Pronounce it sick-lids with the emphasis on the first syllable.

Take a look here at the beginning of the Profiles page and view the two galleries: New World and Old World.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/

Then, there are cookie cutter tanks in the CF Library to give you ideas of what might be compatible together. The longest tank in the cookie cutters is 48" but your space is only a foot longer so you might be able to add one species, for example.

Enjoy browsing!


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

A regular 100gal is 60x18x20, just right :thumb:


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## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi

Newbie here. I am on a quest to improve my knowledge of Cichlids in order to be able to decide, at some point in the future, whether or not I can dedicate the appropriate amount of time to their care and attention. I realise that the scenario within this thread relates to an emergency measure in order to bring the water quality back in line with expectations but what would be the normal daily, weekly and monthly routines undertaken to maximise the chances of maintaining water quality of the highest standards?

Is this routine applicable to Chichlids just from this particular region or is this routine applicable to all Chichlids from all regions?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated and I hope this is not considered as a thread steal. If so I am more than happy to start a fresh thread.

Cheers
Patrick.


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## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

DJRansome said:


> Pronounce it sick-lids with the emphasis on the first syllable.
> 
> Take a look here at the beginning of the Profiles page and view the two galleries: New World and Old World.
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/
> ...


WOW, WOW, WOW !!! Well done to everybody who put the suggested lists together. Fantastic job.

One question. When the number assigned to a species as part of these suggested set ups is separated by a colon (e.g. Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Chailosi" - 2:4), am I correct in thinking that this means 2 males and 4 females whereas if the number is on its own (e.g. Metriaclima estherae - 6) it means 6 fish of any sex?

I can already see that one tank is not going to be enough. How are you supposed to choose? I can not even decide which region to choose never mind which species within that region to choose. I would rather have a busy tank with lots of variety rather than single species or pairs. Would I be correct in thinking that the greater the volume of fish the more frequent the water changes would need to be?

I assume that species from different regions can not be mixed.

Cheers
Patrick.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The colon is used for m:f but metriaclima estherae - 6 does not mean 6 fish of any sex will work. Often we buy unsexed juveniles but still want to end up with 1m:4f...especially with an aggressive fish like Metriaclima estherae.

I hope we don't actually have chailosi 2:4 in any of the cookie cutters, LO>

Some species from different regions can be mixed, but it is the exception rather than the rule I'd say.


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## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi DJ

Here is the actual example from the Cookie Cutters................

• Pseudotropheus sp. "Elongatus Chailosi" - 2:4 
• Metriaclima estherae - 6 
• Metriaclima greshakei - 4 
• Labidochromis sp. "Hongi" - 5 
• Synodontis multipunctatus - 3-6

So if 6 doesn't mean 6 fish of any sex, what does it mean?

Cheers,
Patrick.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

I'm not sure how they're coming up with those numbers, either! 
I've had good luck buying at least 6 of a species of Malawi cichlids, and removing all but one male. With more aggressive species, more females are preferable, and more juveniles should be purchased. I sell extra males on Craigslist, or bring them to the store for credit. 
Keeping fish from different regions sometimes works out, sometimes not. I'm keeping a Victorian species (H. Latifasciata) with Malawi, and Tanganyikan catfish, without problems. 
I've found it much more rewarding to keep breeding groups than all males, and easier, too. I'd be looking for 4 or so breeding groups with females that aren't terrible looking, and aren't too aggressive. I've got L. caeruleus and Ps. "acei", they're both popular. It's easier and more interesting to keep breeding groups, and you don't need to keep any fry if you don't want them. 
Yes, you'll be changing more water with more fish, but they actually pick on each other less if there's more of them. I hook a siphon/fill device to the sink, so it's pretty easy to do. It's also nice to have a small 10-20 gallon tank for quarantine/breeding/jail/etc, but it doesn't need to be decorated or even permanent.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Malawi are harem breeders, so they mean 1 male and the rest female.

I would actually do 1m:4f for all of those fish instead of what is listed. I also would not combine the two Metriaclima species (estherae and greshakei).

Well, get ideas from the cookie cutters, but then confirm here before you get too attached to the mix, LOL.


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## GTZ (Apr 21, 2010)

MORPHandSOWF said:


> Hi
> 
> Newbie here. I am on a quest to improve my knowledge of Cichlids in order to be able to decide, at some point in the future, whether or not I can dedicate the appropriate amount of time to their care and attention. I realise that the scenario within this thread relates to an emergency measure in order to bring the water quality back in line with expectations but what would be the normal daily, weekly and monthly routines undertaken to maximise the chances of maintaining water quality of the highest standards?
> 
> ...


*Merged post*


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Daily, feed. 30 seconds.
Weekly, 50% water change. 40 minutes, but you can do other things while waiting for the drain and refill. Vacuum substrate during the drain period.
Monthly, clean filters. You may not need to do this monthly depending on what kind of filter you have.

Figure an hour weekly/maximum.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

*assuming, of course, that you've restrained yourself to 1 fish tank.


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## ChoxRox (Sep 8, 2011)

brinkles said:


> *assuming, of course, that you've restrained yourself to 1 fish tank.


I have 11 tanks running right now, and it doesn't take more than an hour a week to do water changes. I do have a partner helping, though. It's nice to have one person draining and another scrubbing the tanks, or cleaning/switching filter pads.


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## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

Many thanks for the responses.

I think I can cope with that. I just need to decide which fish to get. How long does the tank need to be set up for before introducing fish and is there an order in which you have to introduce the fish?

Cheers
Patrick.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

You would need to set everything up then "cycle" the tank, realy good article on it here
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... _cycle.php
Mine took 5 weeks


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you do a fishless cycle, you can add all the fish at once.


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## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

I have ordered my aquarium this morning. I was going to post a photo but couldn't work out how to do it. Could somebody point me in the right direction?

What is meant by a cycle?

Cheers
Patrick.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

fusion said:


> You would need to set everything up then "cycle" the tank, realy good article on it here
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... _cycle.php
> Mine took 5 weeks


Here is the answer to your cycle question.

Here is the sticky about how to post a pic.
viewtopic.php?f=47&t=21085


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## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

THANKS DJ !!!

Here is a photo of the aquarium I have purchased....................










The cabinet is 160cm in length and features 2 doors at each end with a wine rack in the center and a draw above this. The matching hood (21cm high) fits securely onto the top of the glass aquarium, which in turn fits neatly into the cabinet surround:
Max Length: 160cm
Max Width (front to back): 45cm
Max Height (inc. stand & hood): 155cm
Approx. Volume: 330 litres

Cheers
Patrick


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## Storiwyr (Apr 24, 2012)

Wow ... that's a beautiful tank.


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## fusion (Jun 21, 2012)

Storiwyr said:


> Wow ... that's a beautiful tank.


+1 sweet :thumb:


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## MORPHandSOWF (Sep 2, 2012)

Hi guys

I had a quick look on my water suppliers website and found the following information;

All units are mg/l.
Ammonium as NH4 - Prescribed Concentration or Value(PCV)=0.5 Average Concentration or Value(ACV)=0.058
Chloride as Cl - PCV=250 ACV=46.2
Sodium as Na - PCV=200 ACV=29.3
Sulphate as SO4 - PCV=250 ACV=45.9
Nitrate as NO3 - PCV=50 ACV=31.409
Nitrite as NO2 - PCV=0.5 ACV=0.014
Nitrate/Nitrite calculation - PCV=1 ACV=0.632
Total Organic Carbon as C - ACV=2.16
Total Hardness as CaCO3 - ACV=303.7

It doesn't mean much to me but does anybody know, from this data, whether or not there is a particular locality of Cichlid that would be more suitable to these water conditions?

Cheers
Patrick.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

All of the values except the last couple are either not much of an issue for aquaria or have more to do with how clean your water is. Cleaner water is better for all fish.

The last one could suggest fish that prefer water with a high pH/KH/GH over fish that prefer softer water, but I am not confident I know how to convert the value they provide (ACV) into the values we use in keeping aquaria (dKH usually).

Why not get a test kit and measure your tap water? You will need a test kit regardless of the type of fish you stock.


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## brinkles (Jan 30, 2011)

ACV is given as milligram/liter, which is the same as ppm. 303 ppm is about 17 dKH, which should be great for African rift lake cichlids.

31ppm nitrate out of the tap is no good, though.


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