# new to cichlids - please heeeeelp



## JJ123 (Feb 13, 2010)

I always wanted to get cichlids, I like their personality and colours , so I decided to give it a try. Problem is I have no idea what to put in my tank. It is 46 gal tank, I made about 8 caves on each side ( I can always make more  ) and one cave in the middle. Pool Filter sand as substrtate. The tank is fully cycled. Ph 7.7 - 7.8, kh 6. So far I have 2" yellow labs, and four 2" yellow tail Acei. My question is - what can I put in my tank and how many? I wanted to get a combo of yellow , blue and maybe reddish colour. So far the only nice fish are the labs because the acei turned gray-black with light yellow tail, is that normal? I had them for 4 days. Also what do I feed the cichlids, I bought Omega cichlid food and Omega one freshwater flakes. Someone told me that Acei are vegeterians?  
Thanks.


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## Chromey (Sep 25, 2010)

Overstocking is OK If you have the right filtration.

As for Stock, Peacocks are sweet.

Make sure you Only put in Mbuna cichlids, Or you may have issues.

Your Acei is a Herbivore, I know mine LOVES Brine shrimp But eats anything i drop in the tank.
Heres some info on the Acei 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1460

I really dont like Flake food, Its messy, and i haven found any that my Boys like.

Ive been feeding them New Life Spectrum 3mm Sinking pellets, thawed peas, spinach, And treat them with Brine shrimp once a week.

Look into a pleco as well, Cichlids have a good size bioload per fish.


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## ThyrosineChoi (Apr 6, 2010)

I love tangs.
you can try cyprochromis leptos u can breed those in 3~4foot tanks

but there's Cyprochromis leptos "speckleback" and they're freaking expensive but amazinng colour :


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## ThyrosineChoi (Apr 6, 2010)

www.cichlid-forum.com and goto profile  and Tanganyikans!


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## dynamite07 (Oct 16, 2010)

Tanganyikans are awesome. You can go with alto compressiceps or calvus (I love these guys). You can also consider going with Brichardis from the Tanganyikan lake. There are many options with Tanganyikans and African cichlids in general. 
If the colours you mentioned are the only options, you can go with yellow labs for sure and also add in a German Red peacock. These are sweet. I have one about 2.5 inches. He was black at 1.5 inches and now he's turning blue. When he's fully mature he'll be red . On top of this set up you can add in other africans as well. Hope this helps.


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