# Some advice for new Cichlid owner



## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

Hello to all. New guy here. Also new to fish in general. I need to know how much I should feed the fish in my tank. I have a 50 gallon tank. I have 10 African Cichlids in there, 1 algae eater, 1 blue lobster, 2 parrot cichlids, and a spotted catfish. How much do I feed them? What kind of foods? How often? I'm afraid I'm feeding them too much because my water is just a little bit cloudy. Just a little bit. Any help?


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## cturner (Mar 21, 2006)

Has your tank been properly cycled? You could have cloudy water because of a bacteria bloom. You have quite the mixture there for a 50 gallon tank. In my opinion your parrots should be in a different tank by themselves. I would also take out the lobster because when it molts and your cichlids are larger he will get picked on and possibly killed. As far as feeding them it all depends on what size they are. What I feed my cichlids is NLS (New Life Spectrum) and some cichlid flake too. Feed as much as they will eat in about 30 seconds. If they are small then a few feedings a day is good to do with good filtration and lots of water changes. I'm sure someone else will chime in with what they think is best and what they would do.


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

I figured the Parrots shouldn't go with the rest of my cichlids but my wife wanted them and the Petsmart guy said it would be fine. What's the worst case scenario if I keep the parrots in there??

The cichlids I have grow to about 5 or 6 inches so hopefully they wont be big enough to harass the lobster. Hopefully  .

Thanks for your reply. I look forward to more.


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## cturner (Mar 21, 2006)

Worst case....the other fish could be too much action for the parrots and cause stress to them, possibly leading to illness or death (worst case).


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## Boomr99 (Dec 19, 2007)

> and the Petsmart guy said it would be fine.


Well that's your first problem. You listened to a Petsmart employee.



> The cichlids I have grow to about 5 or 6 inches so hopefully they wont be big enough to harass the lobster.


Not sure what you mean by this... it doesn't require a big fish to pick on that lobster. A 5" fish is easily big enough to kill it.

Do you know what type of cichlids you have? Is the tank cycled? 
We can't recommend what to feed until you can tell us what type of cichlids they are.
For now a general sinking cichlid pellet like NLS, Hikari or other brands will be fine.


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## edouthirt (Jan 22, 2008)

> The cichlids I have grow to about 5 or 6 inches so hopefully they wont be big enough to harass the lobster.


I tried a blue lobster / african cichlid combo and the lobster didn't even last til the cichlids were adults. I would suggest taking him out too!

But as far as feeding goes... I do the same as cturner... as much as they can eat in 30 seconds... but I do it twice a day... even for the adults. With good filtration and weekly water changes, it seems to be a very healthy and active (lots of spawning) environment.

Good luck!


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

The type of cichlids I have are electric yellow and blue, acei, jewel, peacock, and various other colors such as powder blue, black/yellow, albino, beige/black stripes. Everyone seems peaceful at the moment. I've seen everybody scatter when my lobster comes out to eat. Hopefully this level of respect lasts for a loooooong time.


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## cturner (Mar 21, 2006)

Can you post pictures of the fish that you have???

You still didn't answer the question that we are all waiting to hear the reply to. Was your tank properly cycled?? Since cloudy water was one of your original concerns.


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## Cook.MN (Mar 11, 2008)

Well, one night your cichlids are going to have a lobster dinner 

Sorry mate, it's inevitable.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

CardinalSin said:


> The type of cichlids I have are electric yellow and blue, acei, jewel, peacock, and various other colors such as powder blue, black/yellow, albino, beige/black stripes. Everyone seems peaceful at the moment.


With those species you listed (even without the unknown ones) your tank is not going to be large enough once they reach sexual maturity. The acei, black/yellow , beige/black (likely a Ps. crabro and/or M. auratus) are not suitable for a 50 gallon tank (they get too big and/or are to aggressive for the space alotted). It is very important that you get your fish all identified.

Having cichlids is very different from having a tropcal community tank. There are very specific guidlines for compatability due to the great amounts of aggression and territorial issues that happen with cichlids. Everybody is fine while they are all juveniles, but when they reach sxual maturity (way before they reach physical maturity) they will begin to fight and possibly (more like "will definitely") kill off any they don't want around.

This is the hardest thing for new cichlid keepers to accept. Any one of you fish could easily claim an entire 50g tank for himself and cause world war 3 trying to get everyone else out of his territory.


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## cturner (Mar 21, 2006)

Well put MalawiLover!!


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

cturner said:


> Can you post pictures of the fish that you have???
> 
> You still didn't answer the question that we are all waiting to hear the reply to. Was your tank properly cycled?? Since cloudy water was one of your original concerns.


Yeah, I waited 6-8 weeks for the cycling period. I never considered doing 25% water changes every week though. I'm thinking with the amount of food I feed them I should change the water frequently.


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

MalawiLover said:


> CardinalSin said:
> 
> 
> > The type of cichlids I have are electric yellow and blue, acei, jewel, peacock, and various other colors such as powder blue, black/yellow, albino, beige/black stripes. Everyone seems peaceful at the moment.
> ...


****! ****! ****!!!!! **** you Petsmart employees!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I remove my two parrots will it help a little bit? I really do not want to remove my other cichlids or my lobster. I also can't afford a whole nother tank setup for these guys. This sucks bad. Thanks for educating me though guys.


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

Hey guys. I was wondering. I have a 30 gallon tank with one angel, two glass fish, one glass catfish, one blue flame gourami, one blue dwarf gourami, one black ghost knife, one algea eater, three dwarf puffers and a spotted leaf fish. Can I take my parrots out of my 50 gallon and put them in there?? I haven't had any issues in this smaller tank. The gouramis are peaceful and my puffers are happy as long as they have plenty of snails. The leaf fish seems to be only aggressive towards the angel. I'm running out of options. Aside from returning the parrots to Petsmart (with no refund) I have nowhere to put these guys.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

Unfortunately your 30g doesn't have room for the parrots. They can be very aggressive to calm tankmates like in a tropical community. They will also get to large for a 30g.


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

MalawiLover said:


> Unfortunately your 30g doesn't have room for the parrots. They can be very aggressive to calm tankmates like in a tropical community. They will also get to large for a 30g.


So then I guess I'll have to keep them in with the rest of my cichlids. Oh well.


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## edouthirt (Jan 22, 2008)

Most fish stores will let you bring in fish for store credit, or in some cases pay you for them.

You dont have to keep them.


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## acreal (Jan 18, 2006)

> Aside from returning the parrots to Petsmart (with no refund) I have nowhere to put these guys.


Hmm why not ? They've obviously been incompetent or misleading, so I would go there and _require_ them to refund me, making some "noise" if necessary. :x


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## zazz (Apr 5, 2008)

Cook.MN said:


> Well, one night your cichlids are going to have a lobster dinner
> 
> Sorry mate, it's inevitable.


at some stage you just have to take a punt...if you are trying to create a slice of nature sometimes lobster is on the menu....

although i must say that the armour on those dudes is well worked out ...they must stand some chance surely.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

You might also check your local fish stores. You may not find anyone to pay you for them, but many will take them in for some type of store credit or discount on your next visit. You will never get what you paid for them (unless Petsmart will do a refund), but personally in the long run the lesson learned is more important than the money lost.

I would try Petsmart first, and go from there.


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

zazz said:


> although i must say that the armour on those dudes is well worked out ...they must stand some chance surely.


While they are in their hard shells, they are quite safe. Its when they molt that they become vulnerable. Once they shed their outer shell, it take several hours for the new layer to harden. During this soft time, cichlids (especially mbuna) will pick at it. They will often lose legs and feelers, but sometimes they are just shredded.

I heave read that if you can provide a hiding [place that only the lobster can get into and that only has a small front opening which can be protected with just the claws, it can better defend itself while hardening.


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

All you guys are awesome. Thank you for all your feedback. I was half expecting for you guys to start flaming. It's good to see a forum where everyone behaves like an adult.

I'm probably going to get rid of the parrots soon. We'll see what happens.

I refuse to get rid of my boy 'Larry' (blue lobster) though. He's entertaining as ****!


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

Here's a couple pics of the fish.


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## eL Chupy (Aug 6, 2007)

you've got excelent info so far... I may have missed it, but is this a 4 foot tank or 3 foot tank?



CardinalSin said:


> I have a 30 gallon tank with one angel, two glass fish, one glass catfish, one blue flame gourami, one blue dwarf gourami, one black ghost knife, one algea eater, three dwarf puffers and a spotted leaf fish.


one other thing I noticed in your other tank that will be a concern is the black ghost knife... he's gonna way outgrow a 30... I believe they can get close to 2 feet long...


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

eL Chupy said:


> you've got excelent info so far... I may have missed it, but is this a 4 foot tank or 3 foot tank?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


What you talkin' bout Willis?!?!?! 2 feet long?!?!?! Say it aint so. The little guys like 2 1/2 inches and I've had him for about 6 months now. Maybe I have one who's growth is stunted :roll: I'm glad I found this forum because I'm finding out all kinds of new info. Now I have to worry about my black ghost too. Sheesh!

If I remove the parrots from my other tank can I put the black ghost in with the cichlids? Are they compatible?

I'm not sure if my tank is 3 ft or 4 ft. I never thought about measuring it. I'll find out though.


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## eL Chupy (Aug 6, 2007)

yea.. most sites list them as up to 20 inches... do a google search of black ghost knife and tons of stuff comes up...

not sure if the black ghost and cichlids are compatible. ... and check the dimensions of the tank... LxWxH... the jump from 3 feet to 4 feet may not seem like much, but with cichlids it makes a world of difference.. and the fish you can't ID, take seperate pics of them and post in the ID section of the forum to figure out what it is you have.


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

If you want I can take that blue crayfish off your hands. I have just the place for him.


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## Basolisk (Oct 11, 2007)

CardinalSin said:


> Hey guys. I was wondering. I have a 30 gallon tank with one angel, two glass fish, one glass catfish, one blue flame gourami, one blue dwarf gourami, one black ghost knife, one algea eater, three dwarf puffers and a spotted leaf fish. Can I take my parrots out of my 50 gallon and put them in there?? I haven't had any issues in this smaller tank. The gouramis are peaceful and my puffers are happy as long as they have plenty of snails. The leaf fish seems to be only aggressive towards the angel. I'm running out of options. Aside from returning the parrots to Petsmart (with no refund) I have nowhere to put these guys.


Sorrey to say but your 30gal is too small. I wouldent put parrots in any thing less the 100gal. As for mixing them with the tropical fish you have stated abouve I would thing that the parrots will have them selves a fish fry 

As for you blue crayfish/lobster I would move him to the tropical tank now if it is not allready too late for him/her. I some times place ghost shrimp in my cichlid tank for 2 reasons. 1 they will eat up anythink on the floor and 2 they become a treat for my chiclids :wink: Now I know ghosts wont get as big as you blue but for a chiclid going from a ghost to a blue is like you looking at a 5oz stake then looking at a 12oz NY striploin  (I need to fire up my BBQ)

The list below in my sig is the chiclids I have in my tank (40gal breeder) and I find it is too small for them and am soon moveing them to a 125gal. The ones I have are the more passive (calm) ones and they still fight among themselfs. Chiclids are great if you want a collourfull fish in your tank without going to saltwater fish, but require to be carfully pared up with others. Tho they are all generlised as chiclids there are verry diffrent fish among them. Almost like saying a Canadian an American and a Russian are then same :wink:


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

Basolisk said:


> As for you blue crayfish/lobster I would move him to the tropical tank now if it is not allready too late for him/her. I some times place ghost shrimp in my cichlid tank for 2 reasons. 1 they will eat up anythink on the floor and 2 they become a treat for my chiclids :wink: Now I know ghosts wont get as big as you blue but for a chiclid going from a ghost to a blue is like you looking at a 5oz stake then looking at a 12oz NY striploin  (I need to fire up my BBQ)


So you think that my fish in my 30 gallon will be safe from the lobster? Can a blue lobster live comfortably in a 30 gallon?


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## brycerb (Dec 23, 2007)

Don't worry about the crayfish haters. I have had crayfish in my 125 cichlid tank for a while now and everyone is cohabitating quite peasefully. As to the molting problem, if you have enough hiding places the crayfish will be able to survive (just like they do in the wild) One of my crayfish just molted, and I thought he was eaten because I couldn't find him and it looked like pieces of him were being snacked on. He was just hiding well, it surprised me because I had given up on him. I love them so much I have them in all my tanks. Great cleaners.


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## CardinalSin (Apr 12, 2008)

brycerb said:


> Don't worry about the crayfish haters. I have had crayfish in my 125 cichlid tank for a while now and everyone is cohabitating quite peasefully. As to the molting problem, if you have enough hiding places the crayfish will be able to survive (just like they do in the wild) One of my crayfish just molted, and I thought he was eaten because I couldn't find him and it looked like pieces of him were being snacked on. He was just hiding well, it surprised me because I had given up on him. I love them so much I have them in all my tanks. Great cleaners.


Cool. My crayfish had just recently molted and did just fine. He lives in a huge cave with my algea eater. How often do they molt?? Do they eventually stop molting?


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## MalawiLover (Sep 12, 2006)

The time between molts is dependant of health, age, availability of food and amount of certain chemicals in your water (I know excess iodine in my reef tank makes the shrimp molt too often which can shorten their lives).

They really don't stop molting, until they die, but as they get older and larger it really slows down.


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