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& MAINTAINING AN AFRICAN CICHLID TANK Note: I am not an expert but I have kept and raised Cichlids sense 1993 & I do have 22 tanks running. BASIC AFRICAN CICHLID SET UP: TANK - 29 and bigger are great for community Cichlid tanks. Smaller tanks are ok but you are limited to smaller fish. LID - Cichlids like to jump, so this is a must. You can get the plastic or glass lid at the pet store or, go to eagle and have them cut glass some glass, it is much cheaper. LIGHTS - Up to you, but I like to see my fish, also if you plan on having live plants this is a must. I much prefer the fluorescent lights to the others. The light is more even and your not running out every week to get a new bulb. Be sure to turn them off at night, your fish need to rest. To much light promotes algae growth, 8 hours of light is plenty. Here again I get my light bulbs at eagle to save money. HEATER -5 watts per gallon. 29 gallon tank needs 145 watts but I suggest getting the next size up. I personally like the Ebo-jager heaters, they are completely submersible and they seem to last forever. I have seen them in a couple of stores and did they ever have a price tag on them. I get mine from Pet Warehouse, See my links page. This is one of the few items I get online, I believe in supporting our local mom and pop stores but I also have to be true to my wallet. In stores these sell for over $30 each and I can get a 250 watt for $15 on line. FILTER SYSTEM - I use the Aqua Clear filters - DO NOT use an under gravel with cichlids they will dig it up. These are a popular filter and maintain is easy and carbon refills are cheap. The Aqua clear 150 is fine for a 29 gallon tank but I use the 200 on mine you can never over filtrate a tank. GRAVEL - I like the small natural looking gravel. What ever you use, make sure you have at least 1.5" of gravel. Clean the gravel before you put it in your tank. I also use Silica sand and crushed coral for sub straight. This is a very fine grain sand but it looks really nice in the tank. I got this in a 50 lb bag at Eagle for under $10. Any of the other sands are fine to use just make sure you clean them very well before you put them in your tank. ROCKS - NEVER LEAN LARGE ROCKS AGAINST THE SIDES OF YOUR TANK IT CAN BREAK THE GLASS OVER TIME. Lots of rocks, Cichlids need places to hide, it also makes the tank look nice. Make sure they are cleaned very well. I also save money here. I go to construction sites and the local river to get my rocks. I boil them and let them dry than do it again, you can never be to safe. This should remove anything that will harm your fish. Please, if you think the rocks might have been sprayed with a chemical or if there is shinny metal in the rock don't use it. Bleaching the rocks also is a good way to clean them and to kill any kind of bacteria that might be on them. MAKE SURE YOU RINSE THEM VERY WELL. WATER CONDITIONER - I use Stress Coat, but there are many very good products out there. This is a must, most city water has chemicals added to it and these must be neutralized. GRAVEL VACUUM - You need to keep your tank clean. This is a simple syphon with a large tub at one end. NET - Size and type depend on the fish you get, I like the fine mesh nets myself. TEST KIT - you will need to monitor the pH, ammonia, nitrates & nitrites. Ask about water hardness at your local fish store, you may need to check for this as well. MISC. - Crushed coral, coral pieces, barnacles, shells & plants ( you don't really need these but they look nice in the tank) CICHLID SALTS - I never have used them, but in some areas you might have to use them check with other people in your area or if you can trust your local store ask them. FOOD - There is a big selection of Cichlid foods out there. You need to read up on the fish you have to see what is the best food to feed them. I feed different flake foods and some Cichlid pellets. I stay away from live foods, as it is easy to bloat your fish or to introduce bacteria or other parasites to your tank. Frozen foods are also readily taken by most Cichlids and are much safer than live, but here again be careful not to feed to much. We all like a variety in our diet and fish are no different, give them a good diet. NOTE: I do not believe in added a bunch of chemicals to my tank water. There are ways to raise or lower pH without using a chemical. Same with water hardness, this can be adjusted naturally. When you start to add chemicals to your tank to raise or lower this or that it is a never ending cycle. Water changes are a nightmare and your fish are swimming in chemicals and not water. Read Read Read if you do you will save yourself lots of time and money and you can enjoy your tank.
Cichlids (like any other fish) like to have clean water. This is
another area of discussion between cichlid keepers. Some people say
weekly water changes are needed others say every 10 days or 2 weeks ect.
Really it depends on your tank size and number of fish in the tank.
I do weekly water changes and change about 25% of the water. I gravel vac
the tank every other week during a water change. If you have fish
that are spawners or you think they might have spawned, avoid that area
of the tank. NEVER change more than 50% of your water at one time. I do
change 50% of my water once a month I do this when I am doing a gravel
vac.
Cichlids are a territorial fish and will set up and defend an area in the tank. Most Cichlids like to have a cave or someplace that they can hide. In the wild, maintaining a large rock or area of rocks means two things. First - it means food. Algae grows on the rocks and the Cichlids eat the algae. Second - it means breeding. Cichlids do like to reproduce. So after you set up your tank, it is important to leave things alone. Let the fish settle who will be where in the tank. If you have put enough rocks in and made enough caves, things will settle down within a week. If after that time you are still having problems then you should add more rocks or caves to help the fish out. Filtration, I use the Aqua clear filters (they hang on the back of the tank) for there ease in maintenance. about every two weeks I clean the sponge and rinse off the carbon bag. (you should not do this the same week you do a gravel vac.) About every 6 months I remove and rinse out the filter it self. You should NEVER use hot water or scrub the filter clean. There are important bacteria that grow in the filter and you will kill them if you use hot water. (do not clean your filter the same week you clean the sponge or carbon bag) Under gravel filter systems are not recommended with Cichlids as Cichlids like to dig and they dig out the filter.
Feeding your Cichlids, here again people will give different answers.
Personally I feed my Cichlids mostly flake food. There are a number
of different kinds of flake food from basic tropical with a good mix of
protein and vegetable matter in it (this is what I use). You can
also get a variety of other special flake food. Be sure to read about
the Cichlids you keep as some fish can not tolerate to much protein in
there diet. There are a number of really great products out there to choose
from. I also feed cichlid pellets, these come in three different
sizes to suit the size of your fish. Here again check to see what
your fish can and should eat for the most part you really cant go wrong
with vegetable based foods. However some Cichlids need lots of protein
and if you have some of these fish you really should have them in a separate
tank in order to feed properly. I feed my fish twice a day in the
morning and in late afternoon. My small fish or fry get fed up to
4 times a day. There are many people out there that only feed once
a day. The most important thing is not to over feed your fish, uneaten
food will foul your water. Feed what your fish will eat and no more,
if you happen to overfeed don't panic just skip the next feeding and you
should be fine. If you notice food setting on the bottom of the tank,
stop feeding. Do a gravel vac and adjust the amount of food you put in
the tank. Also because most cichlids will eat algae it's not a good
idea to keep your rocks algae free. For many Cichlids this is a great
source of basic food needs and should be left in the tank. If you
have Cichlid fry they love to eat algae. In my breeding tanks the back
walls are covered with algae for the fry.
I hope that I have been able to help in some way. If you have any questions about setting up a tank or about African Cichlids please E-mail me. I am not an expert, but I will do my best to help. If I can't help, I will try to direct you to some one or some place that can. I will not give any kind of advice on a fish that I have never had. Return to:
Border picture of Male Lemon Yellow in breeding colors, note the black
beard
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