# 55G planted with cichlids



## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

here it is:

eheim 2215 & 2222, 4x54 t5ho, submersible heater, dyi co2
50% water change twice a week

stocking: 5 red zebras, 2 johannii, 2 jewels, 2 yellow labs, 2 hybrids (unknown), 3 julii, 13 tiger barbs, 1 bristle-nose

plants: l arcuata, e tennellus, java moss, and 1 unknown
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a bit of an issue with algae but otherwise a good tank


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

Get 1 or 1 pair of BN pleco. It will take care the algae for you.
Btw, your tanks looks very nice


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## Tropicana (Feb 15, 2009)

nice! lol its funny to see African cichlids and plants working well. The algae is actually a good thing, have you ever noticed your mbuna's(zebras) grazing on it?


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## igor.kanshyn (Jan 14, 2010)

Looks nice.

Have you secured those "rock ladder" somehow?

Algae always grows on walls of a tank. But it's harder to remove from rocks 
BTW, it seems to me that you have a lot of light. It might be more than you need.


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## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

I'm considering getting co2 system or cutting down light from 9 to 6 hours 

got a baby bristlle nose, don't mind algae on rocks but I have some on my tennelus grass too.

I notice my cichlids munching on plants and algae all the time which makes me wonder if I should even feed them..
once in a while my zebras dig out one of the plants and I have to replant it ...

I was thinking of getting couple more julii as they like groups or couple more electric rams females.. (right now 1 m, 1f)


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

If you keep the africans remove this guy

http://bzconstruction.ca/k2.JPG

he needs a group of 5+ to be happy and they reach massive size also get rid of this guy

http://bzconstruction.ca/k1.JPG

bottom left and ideally the jonanni (with the stripe)

as it will be overly agressive.

Otherwise, except for possible tiger barb fin damage, going in either direction, which I think is unlikely, and the high likelyhood that they'll damage your plants, it'll work.

They do like a high pH, 8 is good. Planted tanks usually have a much lower pH. That makes for somewhat non ideal conditions. Not a huge deal or anything. Even straight tap water is cool. As long as you don't use co2 it's fine. I'm just saying "ideally, do X".

Also, your rams and any other south american or west african cichlid you put in there will soon meet with death. Even some of the africans you already have are in improper numbers or going to become too aggressive or too wussy when the other ones are aggressive.


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## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

do you mean julii, jewels or the hybrids?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

okoolo said:


> do you mean julii, jewels or the hybrids?


the acei/something or other, jewel and the one with the horizontal stripe.

The corys I dont have high hopes for with these aggressive fish...

Once they bulk up and get territorial I think you're going to change your mind.

On an unrelated note

http://bzconstruction.ca/k4.JPG

What's the plant on the right?


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## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

It was sold to me as l arcuata but I don't think it is .. not sure really

what if I took out red zebras and left the rest .. could they coexist?

I was under the impression that cichlids became aggressive from the start and if there's no aggression presently, things would stay that way ..


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

AquariAM said:


> On an unrelated note
> 
> http://bzconstruction.ca/k4.JPG
> 
> What's the plant on the right?


looks like star grass to me


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

okoolo said:


> It was sold to me as l arcuata but I don't think it is .. not sure really


when i looked at it again, its definitely star grass


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

okoolo said:


> I was under the impression that cichlids became aggressive from the start and if there's no aggression presently, things would stay that way ..


There are different kinds and causes of aggression. For example, the jewels are substrate brooders. If you have a pair and they breed, they will fiercely defend the eggs and fry, and could even kill other fish if they don't have enough space to get away. When not breeding, they are not aggressive.

Some mbuna spp are very aggressive in the defense of a feeding territory. This is persistent, whether they are breeding or not. Mbuna only defend a breeding territory for the time it takes them to spawn. Mbuna also show competitive aggression between males -- the dominant male will show the best colors and intimidate the other males. This is mostly between fish of the same species, but not entirely. Sometimes a pecking order develops, and aggression is minimized because each fish "knows its place" and defers to more aggressive individuals. In a small tank, the less aggressive may not have enough space to get away from the more aggressive. How small is small depends on the species, and the 'virtual space', i.e. a completely open tank, where the fish can always see each other can be very dangerous to intimidated fish, but if there's a lot of cover and hiding places so they can get out of each other's sight, less space is needed. Another tactic is to have the tank so crowded with fish that they can't effectively chase each other because they run into another fish! This is why mbuna can be kept in crowds in a store tank.

Note that both territorial and sexual origin aggression will increase as the fish mature. Juveniles are not really part of the adult pecking order, nor are they sexually motivated. So even if things look fairly calm now, you'll have to keep watch for changes in behaviour. Stress alone can kill. If you see a fish 'hiding' in an upper corner of the tank, it can be dead in hours if not rescued and put in another tank. If you see all the fish at one end of the tank, most likely the jewels have staked out a breeding spot.

NB: the mbuna are all following pretty much the same script, so won't get into competitive sorts of aggression with the tiger barbs, which follow an entirely different script. When spawning, the jewels will regard anything that moves as a potential predator on their eggs and fry. The mbuna may harrass the cories just because they are small and slow moving. You'll have to watch out for that.


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## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

I noticed one of my younger barbs hanging out in the upper corner so I put him in my 15g with neons and harlequins for a bit ( thanks for that tip)

I'm considering putting some shells in to harden the water .. good idea?

also I'm not sure how much to feed as the cychlids kieep munching on plants and algae.. what's your opinion guys?


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

okoolo said:


> I noticed one of my younger barbs hanging out in the upper corner so I put him in my 15g with neons and harlequins for a bit ( thanks for that tip)
> 
> I'm considering putting some shells in to harden the water .. good idea?
> 
> also I'm not sure how much to feed as the cychlids kieep munching on plants and algae.. what's your opinion guys?


You can put shells in if you want. It's not going to help your plants. 
If you want to harden the water get a bag of crushed coral or get some cuttlebone and bust it into gravel size pieces, put it in a media bag and put it in your filter so there's no bypass.

Again, this is not going to make your tiger barbs or corys happy. It will also not make your plants happy.

I would not worry about the jewels breeding. That's not going to happen with the activity and agression level. I think in about 3 months you'll have some very big aggressive metriaclima estherae.

Feeding wise they really suck the food back and yours are skinny. Feed as much as they consume in about a minute three times a day. As long as they aren't bloated looking and dont have a big bulge in their mid section, feed them. They eat an incredible amount for their size.

If you get NLS cichlid formula 1mm that seems to really grow them out well and it isnt expensive.


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## okoolo (Nov 1, 2009)

are cichlids mostly active at night? when I turn the aquarium lights off but leave the room lights on I noticed that there is way more chasing around then during "daytime"


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

No, they are very visually oriented animals and sleep at night, ideally in a confined space where they feel safer. Perhaps light coming in more from the side illuminates the hiding places preferentially so they are less effective as hiding places?


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## dl88dl (Mar 8, 2010)

okoolo said:


> are cichlids mostly active at night? when I turn the aquarium lights off but leave the room lights on I noticed that there is way more chasing around then during "daytime"


Since your cichlids are still fairly new to their environment they are still very shy but once they get comfortable they will chase during the daytime and get very agressive towards those barbs and cories.


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## AquariAM (Jan 28, 2010)

bae said:


> No, they are very visually oriented animals and sleep at night, ideally in a confined space where they feel safer. Perhaps light coming in more from the side illuminates the hiding places preferentially so they are less effective as hiding places?


They're not really laid out properly IMO
You want complete darkness, at least 6" of depth, no taller than 1" more than the fish, ideally less. Opening as narrow as possible with the ability for the fish to turn around inside.






Here are various sizes of caves for various size of yellow lab mutt.

Once comfy they will become mean to your other fish though.


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