New to Dwarf Cichlids

[Rick Lindsey]

Hello all, I'm a very recent convert to dwarf cichlids, yet I'm experiencing a slight problem : My LFS doesn't have any.

While I was originally going to try to set up an amazonian type tank, I have since discovered that the water here is as hard as a rock, and now I'm intrigued by the african dwarfs, particularly the dwarf pseudotropheus and the shell dwellers.

A couple of questions, but first a (very) brief description fo my setup -- i have what was sold to me as an "80 gallon show tank" which is actually only 75 gallons, about 60" long, 11" deep, and 24" tall (on the inside). I'd like to use sand as a substrate, pile an enormous pile of rocks to make caves in one back corner, and perhaps plant the other corner heavily. At the moment I've only got a little AquaClear 300 (300gph power filter, no biowheel), but I plan to add more filtration with either something like an Emperor 400 (400gph power filter with biowheel) or a cannister filter.

Can african dwarf cichlids live peacefully with other schooling fish? I have a very tall tank and would like to put several schools of small fish to swim in the middle and upper tank.

What kind of dwarves would you suggest I start with? Will my tank be suitable for several different types of cichlids? I'm hoping I can have several different kinds of dwarf cichlids setting up their little territories in the 5' long tank, but I really don't know which ones would be good choices.

Also, where do I find these fish? I would really like to get some shell-dwellers if they are not terribly difficult to raise or terribly aggressive towards my other fish.

thanks!

 

[Neil]

Rick Lindsey,

WELCOME TO THE FORUM

Good to have you aboard. Unfortunately, you are on a subject that is a little unfamiliar to me. Your tank set-up, filtration and species mentioned sound good. Shell-dwellers can be very fascinating. There are numerous tank-mates that can be added to a tank like that, but they are going to probably have to be fast and occupy a different level of water than the Lamp species.
Hopefully someone else more in-the-know about these fish will pipe up with some better suggestions for you. Good luck. Neil

 

[Kevin]

Dwarf Africans

Rick,

In a tank that size you can probably have a numbr of dwarf species. Any of the Labidochromis or Cynotilapia would be great for a rocky setup but remember fish of the same genus may hybridize and that will make for a lot of ugly mutts so pick a species in the genus and make that your only representative. That may seem hard but if you were to choose (as an example) Labidochromis sp. "Hongi", Cynotilapia afra "Cobue" (cob-way), Metriclima sp. "Msobo" and Malanochromis dialeptos (all available with a little searching ( I would be happy to make a suggestion on a supplier for all those fish or similar fish) you would have 8 different looking fish as the females look different from he males in all these species nd they will fill your whole tank if you get 6 of each fish. I know the desire to put in schooling fish is strong but the behavior of this grop would keep you interested for months as their behavior changes aseach new male becomes more dominant an more frisky. If you can't find those fish you can substitue other fish in the genus but the Melanochromis spp. you should only substitute with a M. johanni as all the other Melanochromis can get too big and too nasty. Good luck!

Kevin

 

[Rick Lindsey]

Thanks for the suggestions! I have been perusing various resources on the web, and I like the looks of the labidochromis, likewhise the C. afra's.
The Cichlid Recipe's compatibility chart shows them as incompatible with the shell-dwellers, which didn't make any sense to me given their respective descriptions. Apparently I'm not the only one though . Perhaps they don't like mixing cichlids from different lakes?

I finally found a fish shop that sometimes gets the shell-dwellers in! (only an hour away, too...) Thatl fish shop also had some Neolamp. leleupi, as well as Neolamp. Brichardi. I realize these are the same genus, but they sure don't seem like similar fish... would there be a danger of hybridization with these? Would they eat each other?

I would quite happily accept supplier suggestions... I'm going to try to frequent the LFS when i can, but sometimes you just gotta go elsewhere!

thanks for the info!
-Rick

 

[Kevin]

Shell dwellers

In a tank the size you have shell dwellers are not going to be the most show for your buck. They are right that those aren't the best shell dweller companions -- all the fish I listed are from Malawi and would do best in a Malawi community. If your tank has an open area with shells and a rocky area -- any of the Lamps would be fine together but be prepared for fish of the same species to beat the tar out of one another.

Good luck with your tank!

 

[Rick Lindsey]

Where would be a good place to find specific malawi cichlids? My LFS has several tanks full of "assorted cichlids" one of which is labeled Malawi, but I've not seen any of the malawi guys called out by genus/species at the store.

I'm still waiting for my tank to cycle (it has sand and 6 danios... and it will have some plants as soon as my lids arrive so i can plug my lights in), so I still have alot of leeway in how I decorate it. Do most people use actual rocks to build a rocky habitat, or do they use lighter weight rock substitutes? I definately want a rocky habitate in at least part of the tank. I would build something all along the back if I had more width, but at only 12" wide, i'm thinking I"ll only pile rocks in the corners.