# how to start with cichlids



## wolverinebrad (Apr 13, 2014)

Hi, I have recently purchased a 29g tank and would like to get some Cichlids, Im very new to this and any info would be great!

I really like the Electric Yellow Lab Cichlid if I could get these to go with other types of Cichlid i would be very happy, also i really like the Striped Talking Raphael Catfish, would this go well with some Cichlids?

thanks for any help Brad


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## cichlidbreeder21 (Apr 13, 2014)

With a 29 gallon I would go with smaller cichlids and if you want an electric yellow lab I would personally stock only mbuna with it but if you want a catfish it should be fine just make sure it has at least 2 inches for every inch your cichlids are. So if your lab is 3 inches try a 6-8 inch catfish or as big as you can find. We have had problems with plecos in our smaller mbuna tank when only around an inch bigger and they are armored so size definitely matters. Also a big mistake is feeding the cichlids live food, this will raise aggression and teach them to kill tank mates that would be a problem in the tank. Hope this helped and best of luck to you friend! :fish:


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

cichlidbreeder21 said:


> With a 29 gallon I would go with smaller cichlids and if you want an electric yellow lab I would personally stock only mbuna with it but if you want a catfish it should be fine just make sure it has at least 2 inches for every inch your cichlids are. So if your lab is 3 inches try a 6-8 inch catfish or as big as you can find. We have had problems with plecos in our smaller mbuna tank when only around an inch bigger and they are armored so size definitely matters. Also a big mistake is feeding the cichlids live food, this will raise aggression and teach them to kill tank mates that would be a problem in the tank. Hope this helped and best of luck to you friend! :fish:


Yellow labs are just over 5 inches, not three, and why would you put an 8" catfish in a 29gal (30x12") aquarium? I'm sorry but I feel like this is bad advice.

You can't keep yellow labs in a 29gal tank. It's just too small. If you want labs you should get a 4 foot tank (55 gal) or larger. You can probably get away with pseudotropheus saulosi or Metriaclima lanisticola in a 29 gal tank. They're mbuna like the labs but are smaller.

Something you could also do with a 29 gal tank is an angelfish, a pair of bolivian rams, and some medium tetras like lemon tetras.


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## wolverinebrad (Apr 13, 2014)

thanks for the info guys,

i have thought about an angelfish and bolivian rams too, at the moment i am thinking of 3-4 bolivian rams, an angelfish, a catfish and maybe 2 other smaller cichlids maybe some dwarfs.

i love the look of the yellow labs as i said before but may use them in the future at some point.

am i thinking along the right lines here?


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

wolverinebrad said:


> thanks for the info guys,
> 
> i have thought about an angelfish and bolivian rams too, at the moment i am thinking of 3-4 bolivian rams, an angelfish, a catfish and maybe 2 other smaller cichlids maybe some dwarfs.


Nope. Not in a 29. Due to territorial behavior, you can only have 1 (Or a pair, if you are dilligent and remove eggs right away to prevent aggression) Angelfish and 1 pair of bottom dwelling dwarf cichlid (ie, Kribensis, Ram, apisto). The rest of the fish have to be non territorial and dither fish.

So for example

pair of angels
pair of bolivian rams
7 bleeding heart tetras
bushy nose pleco


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## wolverinebrad (Apr 13, 2014)

Thanks pablo,

After chatting with the aquarium manager of my local petland and listening to the advice of from here, i think i will go with 2 angels, rams, small school of tetras/damios, a catfish and a bushy nose pleco

Just need to add a few more plants and rocks to the tank before i am ready to add any of the fish.


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

I'd avoid most types of danios with angels and dwarf cichlids. They are not fast eaters, while the danios are voracious. Most or all of the food will be gone before the cichlids can get to it. Slower moving, slightly less crazy eaters like lemon or bleeding heart tetras might be a better choice.

Just make sure you remove eggs in this tank when you see them. The cichlids defending their eggs could cause damage to the other fish. Otherwise all these fish are pretty peaceful most of the time-- although occasionally you get a douche-bag angelfish. Watch out for that.

As far as the "catfish", there's really no need. The tank will be pretty well stocked already and the need for an additional catfish (plecos are catfish too) is not there. I would just go with the pleco for bottom dwellers and leave it at that. If you want to nix the tetras you could swap in a school of corydoras though.

BTW nobody has discussed this in this thread yet, but, is your tank fully cycled? Were you fishless cycling it with ammonia? You do know you can't just set a tank up and add fish right? Do you have 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and some nitrate reading?


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## wolverinebrad (Apr 13, 2014)

my tank has been running now for 3 days, i added the nutrafin cycle to the water when i was filling the tank, i also have a PH testing kit.
i havent tested the PH level yet as i am still going to add a couple live plants and some rocks and this will change the level slightly

can you tell me more about the nitrate and amonia? i think i may have missed looking into this, although i am being very careful to make sure everything is ready before i put any fish in!


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... ycling.php

Read this, and look up, either on youtube, or in text, a deeper explanation of the nitrogen cycle. It's the most vital part of aquarium keeping.


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## wolverinebrad (Apr 13, 2014)

Thanks again pablo!

Live plants will go in today hopefully and will get on the amonia testing


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## pablo111 (Dec 10, 2013)

wolverinebrad said:


> Thanks again pablo!
> 
> Live plants will go in today hopefully and will get on the amonia testing


If you haven't added ammonia, there's no ammonia to test. You have to buy a bottle of ammonia and a syringe/pipette and add it to the tune of 2-4ppm and maintain it there until the tank cycles.


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