Cichlid community tank

[Evan]

Ok, well I'm back!
And I have another question. I really want to set up a 30 gallon. I don't want another community tank, and I already ruled out reef tanks, so I was recently thinking about a cichlid community. Not sure what kinds though.
Definetly not SAs, but thats about all I've ruled out so far.
I like most of the african cichlids, if possible I'd like to keep agression to a minimum, and still have a relatively active and colorful tank.

What would be some beginner good species? I'd like to have as many as I can fit without overstocking too much. I'll probably use a aquaclear 70, and 2 times a week water changes.

Thanks in advance!

[jbeining75]

The aquaclear 70 is a good choice... Use rockwork, caves , and driftwood to break the tank and allow numerous establishable territories.... African cichlid need to be a little crowded to combat aggression... If you put them in you need to put them in together or in larger groups.... In a 30 gallon if you use tanganiykans a little smaller than malawi you can't put around 10-12 in there to keep them comfortably....

[sailor]

I will post a link to a cookie cutter for a tank of approx your size

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_29g.php

hope this helps

Sailor

[Evan]

Thats a good link sailor, I think I'll bookmark that!

I was looking at some of the fish there, and many I have never seen before, and I think it would be very hard for me to get them in a nearby lfs, but I can try my best if I have to!

One fish that I really liked was this http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1671
and I have found those here before.

Not sure if I can use these but I'll ask anyway, would it be possible to put in some demasoni? I really like those fish.

Are there any african cichlids that would be ok in a tank that size?

[Lady Hobbs]

Check out the dwarfs.

http://www.jdburgessonline.com/fish/dwarfcichlid.html

Technically, you have either a community tank or a cichlid tank. Not cichlid community.

[sailor]

The Tanganyikan and Malawian in those cookie cutters are african cichlids.

you could keep a few leleupi in your tank here is a few detailed links to them
http://www.gcca.net/fom/Neolamprologus_leleupi.htm
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_leleupi.php
http://www.aqua-fish.net/show.php?h=lemoncichlid

[Evan]

Technically, you have either a community tank or a cichlid tank. Not cichlid community.

Is this a general rule or does it only apply to my sized tank?
If I didn't do a community could I instead do 1 pair of some breeding cichlid, or 2 pairs. It would be cool to try and breed something.
But not convicts, I never liked convicts and I'm not sure why.

Thanks for the suggestions!

[todaie12]

I also have a malawi tank. The one thing I did do with my mbuna tank is I put an extra filter on it because of the bio load. You may need to do that later on down the road. When your fish get bigger. I love my malawis they are so colorful and pretty to watch.

[HeinzP]

How many cichlids should you add to a 30 gal Mbuna tank?

[Lab_Rat]

How many cichlids should you add to a 30 gal Mbuna tank?

Zero. I can think of no species of mbuna that I would recommend for a 30g tank. Look into shellies, julies, or dwarf species instead.

Also, zombie thread.