30 gal tetra tank to African Cichlids or The Newb Cichlid Thread

[beowulf]

Interesting thread which helped me also as I am thinking of making a 20 long shell dweller tank.  I guess I'll have to contact Pegasus when the time comes for the fish !!

[groan]

Beowulf,
I guess I really should rename the thread!

All the questions a newb would ask about starting on cichlids'

[beowulf]

For Africans for sure.  The only Africans I have are a couple of kribs in my community tank.  I do have some South Americans like some firemouths and dwarf pikes.  Also in a 10 gallon I have some apisto Inca that I hope will breed.  Cannot wait to try out some "real" Africans in the form of shellies.

[pegasus]

Cannot wait to try out some "real" Africans in the form of shellies.

beowulf... Good choice for your 20 gal tank and to go from kribs to shellies.

[groan]

What are Shellies?

[darkdep]

Shellies = Shelldwellers

[groan]

sorry, i should have clarified...
What type of cichlids are shellies? (I knew of the term, just not sure what type are)

[darkdep]

A good reference on many shelldwellers is Here.

[beowulf]

A good reference on many shelldwellers is Here.

I also use that site for info.  Another one that I like is this one http://www.duboisi.com/forum/profiles_brevis.php

I have not made my mind up completely between brevis or ocellatus.

[darkdep]

Brevis bite.  Hard. 

[groan]

Well with keeping in the vein of brilliant colour I expect I will need to see the fishies before I can decide for cirtain.

Before walking into a shop/breeders I will consider these as possabilities and consider any others.


Saulosi http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1 Should I be concerned that it recommends a 55 GAL? I saw that 30 gal TOTM on the cichlid site that had 16 of there in it!
Yellow Labs http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=713 This one recommends 40 gal and up...again should I be concerned?
Shelldwellers I would have to see some of these to pick the group. accordign to the link below I could do 3 pairs...but as I have read, they tend to be bottowm-mid fish. I suppose that's ok. I'm used to having lots of fishies swiming all over so it would just be an adjustment.

(This site says I could do a small community in a 30 gal...lots to choose from but none that have any punch colour)
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_29g.php

Any thoughts

PS I jsut realized what type of Pleco I have...It's a Clown Pleco x2
http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile80.html

[groan]

OK, Just an update...
i KNOW you have all told me to sell the fish here and to buy the fish here, but I'm too stuck on the whole convienience thing. It's been my way for ever and it's a hard habit to break.
I'll be bringing my current stock in to Big Al's this weekend to make the trade and to get some cichlids.
I just called the east end one and thy have no Saulosi so I'll be getting something else. I'm a little disappointed but i'm still open minded. and will consider everyting I have learned in this thread.
I am transferring the shrimp to my 10 gal tank for the person that has already claimed them.

If I can locate a breeder by this weekend that is closer to the east end of ottawa and has saulosi i'll make a visit, but if not I'll be heading over to BA's

If you are such a breeder PLEASE PM me soon...they are such a beautiful fish.

Otherwise I'll be sure to update this thread after my transformation.

Any last minute advise or if you are a BA employee/barfly can you make any suggestions based on what they have?

[repeej]

If you are going to buy Africans at Big Al's make sure you bring lots of $$$.  You will be shocked to see the prices compred to what you would pay a local breeder.

There are no $3 africans at BA.....heck you won't even find $5 africans.  Sometimes a little "inconvenience" pays off in the long run.  Find yourself 4-5 1-2" Yellow labs and 4-5" Afras and you'll be all set.  Darkdep can likely set you up with the Afras and yellow labs are always selling on here.  That way you'll get your typical Ikea color scheme and you will not have to cut into your child's college fund.

[groan]

Thanks repeej.
I know what you mean. I've PM'd DD and jsut waiting for a reply.

I'm like this whenever i get started on anyting. i get excited and at the same time impatient to get it going.
I'd have taken days off from work to do this if I could! 

[groan]

Just heard from Mr DD and I'm glad to say I'll be visiting him this weekend.
It is on the other side of the city but it's easy to get to so a big thanks to everyone who helped me with this!
You Rock!

[adam_ottawa]

You seem rather enthusiastic about restocking your tank, groan.

I would suggest that you take your time, find the breeders and plan the stocking of your tank.

Like jepeej said, stores are way too expensive with Malawi cichlids.  Demasonis, for example, are about $23 there whereas you can usually find some at local breeders for about $2-4 each.

When I set up my African tank this summer, I took three months acquiring what I needed, doing lots and lots and lots of research then finally searching for breeders.  Once I was finished, I really enjoyed the setup because I was very prepared for almost anything that could go wrong.  Plus I was able to provide the best home I could for these demanding fish.

Good luck with your quest and keep us posted!  Once you get Africans, you'll fall in love with them.  They have such personality!

[groan]

Thanks Adam,
I know i dive into things but ever since I decided to get cichlids I've been doing research (about a month now). it's only recently that i've been doing the final preps and getting the advice from you folks.

As i mentined in my previous post I will be visiting DarkDep this weekend and with his help I am sure I will bring back some wonderful fish.

I am glad I listened to you guys and decided to go see the breeder because of that fact that it would cost me 4 x as much to get what I want.

Once the fish are in and settled I'll post some pics!

[groan]

I took the fish in to BA's tonight. I had the opportunity to do it so I did.
Besides it gives me a chance to get the tank ready for the new inhabitants. With the credit I got some food and a PH buffer to bring it up to 7.8 ish.

I'll test the water this time tomorrow night. Right now it tested almost 7.
I know people said it shoudl be OK for the type I want to get but just to be safe and to make thier transition more comfortable.

By the way!
I know that CAE are very popular. I brought in 3 large ones (3 inches each or so) tonight at 8:30 so they should be there tomorrow morning! He told me he sells them for 1.99 each no matter what size. he may have been feeding me a line but ther eyou go.

I'm looking forward to my visit to DD's on saturday.

I did a redesign...I'll post a pic in a second.



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[PaleoFishGirl]

By the way!
I know that CAE are very popular. I brought in 3 large ones (3 inches each or so) tonight at 8:30 so they should be there tomorrow morning! He told me he sells them for 1.99 each no matter what size. he may have been feeding me a line but ther eyou go.

He wasn't feeding you a line - people generally don't like CAE because they can be very aggressive. 

[groan]

AH.
well they were a great help in my tank. I had a horrendous case of black hair algae and they cleared it all up!
They weren't bad agains the other inhabitants. they mostly chased themselves.