# Getting Back Into the Hobby



## vdubber (Feb 23, 2012)

It been a few years since i have had an aquarium and i am having one given to me for free. I am definately still a beginner, but have some experience with Cichlids. The only difference now is that i am in GTA, as before i was in Vancouver.

My questions are regarding GTA stock.
I have been puttering around and have not noticed much live stock being sold. Are cichlids that much harder to find here in ontario?

I will be starting off with a 31gallon tank. i know it isnt big and my options are limited on types of fish i can keep.

what would be my best option species wise, based on availability of fish and tank size?
central american, south american, Malawian, or tanganyikan?


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## Scotmando (Jul 10, 2011)

31g is small for most cichlids, unless you're doing a species only for some of the smaller lake tanganyikans. 

I have a 23g long with neolamprologus brichardis & they do great in there. 

You could also do some New World dwarf Apistos. 

There's a few options out there for you.


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## Kimchi24 (Mar 22, 2013)

Welcome back to the hobby, mate! To start I would say that you should definitely go for shell dwellers for that size tank. If it is by chance a 36 inch tank, you can do a species tank of saulosi which have blue males and yellow females. As far as I know, cichlids are pretty common in the GtA. Specifically finatics in Mississauga. They are quite well known in this community as the place to go for cichlids. Good luck mate


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

There are actually quite a few choices for you. There are numerous West African cichlids that will work nicely in that size of tank, as well as quite a few from South and Central America, that typically aren't classed as dwarfs but don't get very big. Numerous Cryptoheros species come to mind. One thing different here is the water is harder than what you had in Vancouver. This isn't really that important for the vast majority of fish commonly kept.
Welcome back to the hobby.


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

You sure it's a 31 gallon? Unless it's custom that's not likely. Probably a 29.

What are the tank dimensions in inches?

You can keep number of different fish in a 30 gallon. An angelfish, saulosi, brichardi, shell dwellers, kribensis, either type of ram, apistos, etc.

You could keep an angelfish with a pair of rams or a pair of apistos or a pair of kribensis. Or get a breeding group of saulosi or brichardi.


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## Kurare (Oct 8, 2010)

Finatics aquarium. Mike is a crazy cichlid guy. In fact 85% of his tanks are cichlids. He's got connections... Apparently ^^

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Aquatropics is also good for africans and some SA/CA.
Menagerie is good for dwarf cichlids. Usually less common ones. And sometimes larger cichlids like amatitlania sp and angelfish.


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## Hitch (Apr 26, 2009)

All of the dwarf cichlids would be possible for that tank: rams, apistos, kribs are prob the most popular. With africans, there are a bunch of shell dwellers.


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

I would surely go to Finatics on Dixie rd. and check out his stock or ask what he can order in. In my opinion the best cichlid supply store in the GTA.


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

Speaking of cichlids, there's a guy selling REALLY rare (I'm a fan of this genus and I've never even heard of them) cryptoheros. Actually, he's now giving them away for free. If I had an empty tank I'd jump on this. 
They'll fit in your 30 gallon.

http://www.gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=50281


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## vdubber (Feb 23, 2012)

mistersprinkles said:


> You sure it's a 31 gallon? Unless it's custom that's not likely. Probably a 29.
> 
> What are the tank dimensions in inches?


30 LENGTH X 19 HIGH X 12.5 DEEP

thanks for all the replies and suggestions

i am planning on starting with young fish ~2"
i havent decided if i want to do a species tank yet.
so far my main options are apistos, saulosi, or rams.or a mixture if compatible.

i know labs get big so will those be out of the question? how about peacocks?


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

vdubber said:


> 30 LENGTH X 19 HIGH X 12.5 DEEP
> 
> thanks for all the replies and suggestions
> 
> ...


No labs. No peacocks. Your only malawi option, if you want to be humane, is saulosi. Technically demasoni would work, but they won't because you can't fit enough of them in that tank to spread the aggression out. They are a very mean fish and regularly kill eachother if you don't have a lot of them.

You also can't mix apistos, saulosi, and rams. If you get saulosi you will need a relatively large group. I've never kept them so I can't give you exact numbers but I would guess something along the lines of 8 females and 4 males. That would be your whole tank. You could add a couple of synodontis catfish if you were really hellbent on them but the tank would be quite heavily stocked.

Don't count neolamprologus brichardi out. They're quite interesting, even if they are generally just 'grey'.

How about a rarer pelvicachromis (relatives of kribensis) pair and an angelfish and a honey gourami? That'd work. There are tonnes of options. Doesn't have to be all cichlids. Unless you go African. In that case I would recommend just a colony of one species.

To give you an idea of what NOT to do, a former friend of mine had 12 demasoni and 8 yellow labs in a 29 gallon tank. It was severely overcrowded, especially once the fish grew up, and the demasoni basically killed eachother until there was just one left. The labs got so big they barely had any room to swim around, and it was generally just a big mess.


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## vdubber (Feb 23, 2012)

I appreciate the feedback.
i definitely want to be humane with regards to conditions and environment for the fish.
out of apistos, saulosi, rams, and pelvicachromis, which would be easier (and cheaper) to find and stock?

as far as tank environment, what kind of aqua-scaping should i create? do these particular species require more swimming space or hiding space?
also would it be beneficial to have live plants?


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## mistersprinkles (Nov 4, 2013)

vdubber said:


> I appreciate the feedback.
> i definitely want to be humane with regards to conditions and environment for the fish.
> out of apistos, saulosi, rams, and pelvicachromis, which would be easier (and cheaper) to find and stock?
> 
> ...


It's great that you want to cater to your fish's needs as much as possible. Long distance high five!

The easier to keep fish out of the list would be the saulosi. They wouldn't be difficult to find. Call Finnatics in Mississauga (on Dixie Rd.) and ask if he has any in stock. This will cost you a few bucks though. Expect to pay +/- $10/fish for young ones at retail. For a colony of 12, that's a for bucks worth of fish. In my opinion, the Saulosi would also be the most entertaining to watch, as Mbuna are more active than south and central american cichlids as well as more active than kribensis and their relatives.

If you don't want to pay a high price per fish, you could buy them from the breeder, in which case you could expect to pay $3 per fish for young ones and get your whole colony cheaper.
Look on www.duzzee.ca and www.kijiji.ca.

For aquascaping for the Saulosi you want a scape of rockwork with as many caves as possible (12 caves for 12 fish would be ideal). The best place I know in the GTA for rocks is Betz Cut Stone. Kennedy Rd north of Finch. I suggest the sandstone. It comes in uniform 1-2" thick slabs. Buy several large slabs, take them home, and break them apart strategically with a hammer to get nice squares and triangles, then build your rock scape, biggest rocks on the bottom, and so on. This is, IMO, the best rock to build Mbuna scapes out of because it is totally non acidic and non alkaline, won't alter your water chemistry, and it affords the highest number of caves for the fish.

The Apistos, Rams, and Pelvicachromis sp would require a fairly similar habitat. Just a couple of overhangs or cave-like spaces (can be anything from a plant to a piece of wood to a flower pot with a hole in the side to a coconut cave, etc), some rounded rocks here and there (in this case granite is nice as it looks great and doesn't change water chemistry), some driftwood, some live plants. The Apistos would be the most fragile to keep while straight Kribensis would be quite forgiving and Bolivian Rams would also be quite forgiving. German Blue Rams and the less common pelvicachromis species would be more fragile. Apistos come in from $5-30. Kribensis are about $7 for a medium fish. Bolivian Rams are about the same price. And Blue rams are too.

If you want easy to keep fish I would suggest you get either a group of saulosi, or a pair of Kribensis, or a pair of Bolivian Rams. If you get either of the latter, throw in a nice angelfish, or pearl gourami, or something pretty like that, and a school of something you find attractive (ie nice tetras, pencils, barbs).


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