# 35g changing community to cichlid



## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I have a 35g I am in the process of emptying. Thinking about changing it to a cichlid tank. Fairly open to suggestions with a few things I am trying to avoid. The tank currently has eco complete black sand substrate and I don't want to change it so a more colourful fish that would stand out is preferred. I'm also not ready to start altering the PH large amounts through the use of chemicals. Beyond that aquascape wise I would change as needed based of fish needs. Also I have no plans to upgrading the tank so only fish that can grow out in a 35g only please. 

Thanks in advance.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

limits you to smaller ones. Kribs are in my 33G. You could go with Labs if you provide enough caves....and only a few.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Agreed with Rice. The tank is small for many of the African cichlids (I'm assuming Africans since you mentioned PH changes) and so instead of putting together a Mixed African Community, I'd say in this case that a species tank, (_maybe _with a featured catfish) would be a great option.

Kribs are nice, especially if you want to growout a pair to breed for you. IMO that's the best part of keeping Kribs, the breeding. Same with Brichardi and it's relatives.

Consider Tanganyikan shell-dwelling cichlids which are smaller, interesting, breeders, and often very nicely patterned and coloured. You can put a lot of thought into making a natural looking enviroment for them.

Also, if your community tank is a planted tank, before ditching all your plants, take a look if you you have plants that might do okay in the new environment.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

kribs are nice...








she looks nicer now...


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Wow she's a beautiful specimen Rice! Share a pic of Dad too, or is that him in the background there...?


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Will Hayward said:


> Agreed with Rice. The tank is small for many of the African cichlids (I'm assuming Africans since you mentioned PH changes) and so instead of putting together a Mixed African Community, I'd say in this case that a species tank, (_maybe _with a featured catfish) would be a great option.
> 
> Kribs are nice, especially if you want to growout a pair to breed for you. IMO that's the best part of keeping Kribs, the breeding. Same with Brichardi and it's relatives.
> 
> ...


I mention PH changes because I started a similar thread on another site and one of the suggestions involved a faimly of cichlids that needed PH 4.5-5 which is not something I want to attempt. Slight varations using driftwood or rocks is fine. My 35g as it sits now can be seen in my thread "35g sellout" I attached a video.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

It is pretty sparsly planted with a few java fern and other swords with a several pieces of driftwood. The kribs do have some nice colouration and fin shape. How many could I have in a 35? and what would be a catfish I could keep?


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

This might be a dumb question but would either kribs or shell dwellers still enjoy a more mbuna style setup with rocks/caves/driftwood and a few plants?


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

The kribs would do ok. this is them now...









they will be moved into here with the wood...bigger fish to be moved out...









shellies would probably like more open substrate area .....and lots of shells obviously.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Riceburner said:


> The kribs would do ok. this is them now...
> 
> 
> 
> ...


That second tank looks good, that setup is more along the lines of what I want. How many kribs could I put in a 35? just a pair?


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Are convicts an option for a tank my size if so how many?


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Yeah, a pair or some females, they breed like horny rabbits. But you would choose Convicts over Kribensis??!!!


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Looking at various options, tank setup etc I am also looking at fish that have a more marine style of swimming a big reason why I am looking at cichlids.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Take a look at Daffodil cichlids and their close relatives. they look almost identical to some Anthias species. They fit your tank, and have an amazing nuclear family habit.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Thanks for the suggestion a nice looking fish. How many do you think would fit?


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

_A pair to start_, they breed nuclear families, meaning that they have a batch of babies that they cohabitat with, and remain part of the family while the parents breed a second time, and etc. Eventually you have to remove the oldest generation (below the parents) when they get too large. And you just keep repeating this.

They can have three or so generations of fish in the same tank cohabitating well. Many parents would not breed a second time, would abandon the first babies to breed again, or kill them or chase them away, or something other. These fish work as a family unit, which is not common in most fish.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Great thanks for the help. I have been looking them up online and really like the way they look etc.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Yeah, they are beautiful. There are three or four species in the group with very slight differences. They often get mestaken for each other.

They would look great in a tank on black substrate, rocky hardscape and shells, and don't bother plants like many african cichlids would.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I only have a few plants mostly java fern and intend to use some of the pieces of driftwood with the plants attached to help support rocks/make caves. Once I finish emptying the current inhabitants I will be looking for a pair of these.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Been going over the options over and over and will probably end up choosing kribs, the colour is winning me over and over a black substrate would look nice and vibrant.


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## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

If you are looking for Kribs let me know. I have a beautiful pair i can give you to start you off. They have bred for me before, but were in a mixed community tank (now converted back to cichlids). They are currently in a 20 gallon tank as my cichlids outgrew them and I wanted them to be alone to avoid stressing them out. 

There are currently a small batch of ciclid babies in the tank with them, which don't seem to bother the kribs ar all. 

I'd much rather they go to a nicer home than i keep them in a 20 gallon tank. the females about 2", and the males around the 3" range. 

If you're wondering about the community to cichlid tank deal, long story short i had a Hydor Eth flow through heater that malfunctioned and basically boilled my tank inhabitants  I used the community fish to get the tank going again until i was able to bring myself around to getting more cichlids.

On a second note, shell dwellers would do well in a tank with adequate room on the bottom. Keep in mind each male will stake out a 6" x 6" territory, usually letting other fish swim through but not other males.

Julidochromis cichlids, would also do well, they don't get too large, and look really cool as they swim in all sorts of directions, and are egg layers as well.

For mid to top water fish Cyprochromis would do well, but a 35 gallon is probably a little small for them. someone correct me if i'm wrong here, as I know there are some smaller varients available. 

Personally i think a pair of kribs, a pair of shellies (I love the Ocellatus Golds). a pair of Julies, and a small group of cyps would look great in a tank together.

just make sure you have lots of shells and caves for the kribs and shellies


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## george (Apr 11, 2009)

Anyone is breeding the brichardi or pulcher around here? Can I keep some in a 15G tank that is sitting empty at the moment?


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## adrenaline (Jan 17, 2011)

I would probably stay away from almost any cichlid in a 15 gallon tank. It's a little on the small side. The only ones you can probably get away with are some of the shell dwellers, like the ocelattus blue's and gold's, or multipunctatus which don't grow very big.

when I had my Brichardi they were over 3" in body alone, much longer with tail when gornw out. Beautiful fish though. I've been watching for a nice strain of them


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I am in the process of gathering decor for the upcoming cichlid tank. This week I picked up some granite from a quary near my cottage. i have some plastic pipe I was considering making some caves out of and place my rocks around them. At the moment a pair of kribs and possibly some julies are on the stock list. I have 1 1/2" and 2" pipe. What size would I need? I don't want the pipe to be a tight squeeze.


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## dynamite07 (Oct 16, 2010)

Go with N. Bricardi. You can go with 6 and weed them out when they pair off. Don't keep more than 1 male in the tank and you should be successful.



trailblazer295 said:


> I have a 35g I am in the process of emptying. Thinking about changing it to a cichlid tank. Fairly open to suggestions with a few things I am trying to avoid. The tank currently has eco complete black sand substrate and I don't want to change it so a more colourful fish that would stand out is preferred. I'm also not ready to start altering the PH large amounts through the use of chemicals. Beyond that aquascape wise I would change as needed based of fish needs. Also I have no plans to upgrading the tank so only fish that can grow out in a 35g only please.
> 
> Thanks in advance.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

The angel pair and pleco have been sold so now I can finally start getting the cichlid side going.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Ok here is my first attempt at a cichlid/rock aquascaping. What do you guys think? Sorry it is a bit blurry, not a lot of light in the room and didn't want to use the flash.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Pretty good, I'd just change the placement of that wood tower thin to sit infront of and obscure the view of the bottom of the heater and filter intake. 

Are the base of the rocks on the bottom glass? You don't want the fish able to dig beneath collum supports of the rock towers. Some species that you might be choosing will dig beside and beneath rocks.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

Which wood piece were you referring to? the arc in the center with java fern or the one in the top right? The arc piece is using the rocks on the right for support so would be difficult to swing it the other way.

They are not dug in that deep no. The plan is to put in a pair of kribs. Would they dig out undernearth the rocks? It is hard to tell from the picture but there is a cave on the left 3 sided and a 2 sided cave on the right of tank.


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Yep, I can see the caves, but IMO kribs love to dig down and under.

The wood I mean is the tall vertical peice with then fern at its peak. I'd put it where that sword plant (?) is, leaning to the left, to hide the bottom of the filter/heater a bit.

then I'd just move your powerhead out from directly under the light where hard stubborn algae will tend to grow on it. I was going to say just move it to the right a bit more out from under the light, but I can make out a peice of wood there now. It looks like there's an AC filter right about it, so that whole powerhead may help more tucked in on the far left top corner.

I'm nitpicking. It's a solid scape.


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## trailblazer295 (Mar 7, 2010)

I will experiment with it in a bit the poor fish are stressed at the moment lol

Actually that powerhead has been in the same spot for over a year with no alage growth on it. Ya the large filter is an AC 70 and a 30 to the right.


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