# Stuff in tank vs. moving water



## nyrgoal99 (May 5, 2008)

I have about a 15 gallon tank that has 4 cichlids in it. One is small at probably two inches, the rest are probably 3.5-5in.

My issue is, I use to have 2 nice things in the tank, a big pot and a castle. However, it seems as if the water is not moving as well as it should be, and the tank is getting dirty. One fix is I moved the airstones around, but I was wondering if I should only put 1 of them in. My other thought is to get a catfish.

Thoughts?


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## naegling23 (Jan 4, 2008)

catfish will clean up any food that falls to the bottom of the tank, but they wont clean the dirt and poop from the other fish.

I'll note a few things.

1) what kind of cichlids are they? There are only a few dwarf species that can be kept in a 15 gallon, and even at that, 4 would be really pushing it.

2) how often do you perform water changes?

3) what filter do you have?

It sounds to me like your cichlids are growing and producing more waste you may be looking at having to do some upgrades.


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## nyrgoal99 (May 5, 2008)

#1-They are some kind of african cichlid. They are black with white stripes
#2-I would say probably every 4-6 weeks.
#3-Whisper 20 gallon so I do not think that is a problem.


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Are the stripes on your africans vertical or horizontal? Either way a 15g is way to small for them. I would up your water changes to at least weekly and consider getting a bigger tank.


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## nyrgoal99 (May 5, 2008)

iceblue said:


> Are the stripes on your africans vertical or horizontal? Either way a 15g is way to small for them. I would up your water changes to at least weekly and consider getting a bigger tank.


Vertical stripes. If you know exactly what they are I would be intersted.

How big of a tank do you think is needed?


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

> Vertical stripes. If you know exactly what they are I would be intersted.


Hard to say. Can you match up the body type with any of these. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/a ... allery.php 
Or these. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n ... allery.php



> How big of a tank do you think is needed?


Again, that is dependent on the type of fish you have. Thier territorial needs and demeaner have to taken into consideration when choosing a proper size tank and I can't think of any cichlid over 4" that would do well in a 15g long term.


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## PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn (Dec 26, 2005)

I would suspect that they are convicts

even so 15g isn't really big enough. I would put them in a minimum 20g long (30by12by12)

I also take manufacturers claims with a pinch of salt, I'd probably use 2 of those filters on a 20g.

your waterchanges are no where near regular enough. I would suggest a MINIMUM of 25% weekly. I personally do 50-60% every week on my tanks


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