# Best African Cichlids... for leaving moss alone.



## stalefish83 (May 22, 2014)

Hello all.

I am considering changing my CA set-up to an African set-up. My wife is (sadly) getting bored with the tank as is, and I'd like to do something that she could get excited about. The one thing she keeps saying is that she wants me to create an aquatic tree. I know my Firemouth and Rainbow cichlids will tear it apart, but I've read that some African cichlids leave certain types of moss alone.

I am starting from square one, so I don't know if I want to go Tanganyika (I've always thought it would be cool to have altolamps), Malawi, Mbuna... like most people, I want bright colors and interesting looking fish. I have a 75 gallon (48") tank with three large canister filters, so filtration won't be an issue, and I change out 10 gallons of water every week.

My wife's two main issues with my tank now is that the fish hide, and when they are not hiding they are fighting. I know Africans are more aggressive, but I'm hoping to curb that by overstocking and choosing the right fish... but I've also got to build a tree in there somewhere, so that will take up some space that would otherwise be used for caves.

Any suggestions on what cichlids might leave the moss alone?

Has anyone created an aquatic tree without infusing CO2? I'd like to avoid that if possible... and what light would you suggest? I've been looking into getting this light: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NAFQ99I/ref ... TMPH&psc=1

Would I need another light for the plants?

Any other thoughts or suggestions?


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## animallover4life (Jul 23, 2014)

If you go with Africans they will either eat all the plants or uproot them in my experience. Especially with mbuna.


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## hisplaceresort1 (Mar 10, 2014)

animallover4life said:


> If you go with Africans they will either eat all the plants or uproot them in my experience. Especially with mbuna.


+1 on the mbuna...


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

I've been keeping Tanganyikan cichlids (Multi, Julie, Calvus and recently Brichardi) with aquatic plants (anubias, bucephalandra and microsorum), in low light settings without any CO2 injection. Both fish and plants keep growing, and no fish eats the plants.

I also keep SA cichlids (discus, geophagus, GBR) with aquatic plants as well and they coexist well.

I don't keep moss anymore though. Trimming and keeping moss tidy are too much hassle for me. I prefer to have low maintenance tanks, therefore low maintenance plants without any trimming 

If I remember correctly, Multi, Julie, Calvus and Brichardi are carnivore, so they shouldn't eat moss.

Btw here are my planted tanks here in this forum:
* Discus Planted Tank
* Multi Planted Tank
* Brichardi Planted Tank


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