# New (unintentional) cichlid parent



## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

Okay so I have posted for help on so many other forums and honestly no one has responded ! Anyway, any advice or help ANYONE can give me would be really really appreciaed.

Basically my roomate left a few weeks ago and couldn't take his fish tank. I agreed (stupidly) to take it and now I'm stuck with the following: a 30 gallon freshwater tank (heater, lamp, filter etc...). it was so gross when i first go it (everything was caked with poo) so i did a massive syphoning yesterday (i know about water and stuff, only took out approx. 10%). The following fish are living in it:
1 - green terror (approx. 4 inches)
1 - jack dempsey (approx <3 inches)
1 - yellow number (i can't figure out what he is based on my research, he is just really bright yellow)
1 - ropefish (he is awesome and i would love to keep him)

now my tank is really over crowded right? well i could use some help here. how would i get rid of these fish (is there a fish humane society?)? would i be able to keep any (i.e. the ropefish, he is so cool!) in a 30gallon tank? (i have done some research on this, and some say yes, some say no...i can't tell which one to trust!) 

or should i just give up on all cichlids and the ropefish (i mean if it is cruel to keep them in such a small tank i really wouldn't want to do that) and go with a tropical fish community tank (i mean in your opinion)?

also - one final, sort of irrelevant question i guess, this tank has like a regular store bought pebble bottom, should i switch it to sand? i mean as a general inquiry, no matter what kind of fish i get, is sand better than the gravel??

okay so i appologize for the noob-ness. 

I really appreciate any advice anyone has to give!!

thanks again 

Jess


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

Heya Jess,

Feel free to post a free to good home/trade/sell ad in the market place forum if you're looking to get rid of any of your fish. they tend to move pretty quickly on the board.

Personally, i find sand difficult to clean (but others will tell you the mulm sits on top and with a little practice you can easily syphon it off). you don't NEED to switch to sand really, but it would depend on what sorts of fish you plan on stocking. as far as what you've got in there now, i don't believe any of them require such a fine substrate.

The green terror should be in a 55gallon tank, so yeah i think he's a little big for it. The JD, you're bordering on the smallest recommended size for juveniles, i believe. i hope someone with more cichlid experience posts in this thread as well.

is this the yellow number?
http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/cichlid/images/ElectricYellowCichlidWFCiaf_C1447.jpg

and i believe as well the rope fish will get too large (40 cm) for your tank.

You could do a complete redo. Trade/sell the fish and stock it with tonnes of cool corys and livebearers. there's other options as well.

In the meantime i'd suggest picking up some test kits (pH, ammonia) and keeping the water quality as pristine as possible until you can move the fish or hear better advice than what this relative noobie can tell you.


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

Well, i think i am honestly just going to get rid of these guys (i feel really bad keeping all of them in a tank that is way to small for them!) and get some kind of shrimp/snail/crawfish tank. maybe i can figure out some kind of trade situation !

thanks again for the quicky reply. I'm going to post on the marketplace area right now and see what kind of interest i get. The only thing that I am kicking myself for is going out and buying stuff for them. I spent a fair bit on big castles and fun places for them to hide, only to find out that its useless anyway. oh well. 

here is a perfect example of why pet stores are the worst ideas ever (well the ones that sell pets anyway...)


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

no problem. 
katalyst has some gorgeous inverts available. consider PMing her once you off your current residents. i may also be the proud owner of several cherry shrimp if i get my act together .

as far as pet stores go...i always love recommending Menegarie on parliament and winchester. hard to go wrong there.


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

I live so close to that place! its weird you mentioned it, i was just there buying some caves and stuff for these guys (while i was still under the impression that i might be able to keep them). okay anyway this got off topic (i shouldnt hit up forums at work).

again thanks, i posted on the marketplace, hopefully someone will take pity on my guys and adopt them...


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

Hi Jesser, welcome to the forum!

As twoheadedfish said, your tank will ultimately (or already be) too small for all of your current occupants. I hope they get rehomed quickly so you can move on with getting a nice planted shrimp tank. so much better than big fish 

As for the accessories, try to get a trade for them, or maybe sell them in the market place, or kijiji or something.

If you want to keep ropefish like fish, but don't get huge, I'd recommend changing your substrate to sand, and then getting some serpentine loaches, like the kuhli loach. They're pretty amusing, andI can understand why you like the ropefish.

If you're looking for shrimp, I might be downtown in two weeks or so to go back to menagerie, and do a shrimp swap (for a more varied gene pool) with another member that lives downtown.

IMO, go for the planted community aquarium. It'll be a very rewarding experience, and it looks so nice and lush too


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Welcome to the forum, jesser 
In time you will see that agreeing to take the aquarium will in hindsight be a wonderful decision you have made.

What to do.
It's whatever you want at this point. You can decide on keeping the 30 gal. and selling the fish or keeping the fish and buying a larger tank. I would suggest to keep the 30 gal. and go with community fish and shrimp also. Eventually getting a good light for plants is also a good move. Plants in the aquarium have many advantages as the fish/shrimp feel/look better, plants consume fish wastes, provides some oxygen, and it looks more natural than a bare tank with fish. 
Whatever you decide we all will be here to chat and help with your questions


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

Hi new friends and thanks again!

wow everyone on this forum is so nice (not like a few other forums that i tried to get some help from). 

anyhow, i'm thinking this: giving away the current residents. I'm not going to lie, it will be upsetting to see them go. I've only had them for about 2 weeks but i have spent a lot of energy trying to give them happy little lives :'(. I may be the only person to cry after giving away fish hah!

Anyhow, once these guys are gone, I am planning on doing a nice plant filled tank. I think I can handle plants after the emotional trauma. After that I think I will stick to invertibrates. They really facinate me and I think they are totally cool. 

Anyway thanks again guys, you really are super nice. I'm sure I'll have about 50 billion other questions in getting this whole shabang set up. But first I have to get rid of these guys. I'm considering posting on kiji but am worried about the type of fish owner who will take them. Although, i guess unlike mamals (I am an avid chinchilla parent and have some serious quams with people who sell animals on kiji) people who are looking for specific cichlids probably know somethign about their care.

Anyway thanks again everyone, I'm half excited about this now !

Jess


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

jesser said:


> I'm half excited about this now !
> 
> Jess


then you're half way there


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## I_dude (May 9, 2008)

As someone who has joined the forum not too too long back - I have to agree with you Jesser, this place is pretty friendly.

I have got a tonne of good advice from ppl here which has made life a lot easier for me and the fish 
So welcome to the forum and good luck with your fish


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## jesser (Jun 24, 2008)

yay!!! found a taker for all of them (double yay!)...

now to plan out a nice new tank. hopefully i'll be able to get some decent pics and can field suggestions in the beginners lounge !

thanks again everyone, i sort of felt like crap about this whole situation (i mean not only are they leaving, but i did spend time and some effort trying to get the tank comfortable for them) but everyone on this forum were so nice and like i said i am sort of looking forward to making myself a nice little invert planted tank ! 

thanks again everyone !

Jess


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## Fishfinder (Feb 17, 2008)

Glad you found someone who could take them. Gl with you planted tank in the future, and Welcome : )


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Welcome Jesser! 

Yea i am so bad with getting super attached with fish, even fish i give temp homes to. lol.

I am happy you have found homes for them :3


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## Tabatha (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome Jesser, I hope you have the time to hang out with us on GTAA, there's a lot of really nice peeps around here!


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