30 gallon

[BBB]

HI, everyone, New to forums.
I have a 30 gallon tank dimensions: 30ins wide 12ins deep
This is only my second tank so i am still learning. My tanks been set up for about 3 weeks. I have a redtail shark thats been in there for about a week and a half. I just got an electric yellow cichlid/ yellow labs. I am planning on having 1m and 2 female electric yellows. Also would kribnesis cichlids work with them or is the tank too small??

[Fishguy2727]

In general it is not good to mix rift lake cichlids (the electric yellow labs) with fish not from the same lake (more specifically the same type of fish from that lake). If you are wanting to do the labs I would suggest removing the shark and sticking with just mbuna (the rock-dwelling herbivores from Lake Malawi, this includes the labs).

[BBB]

oh well if i were to just put in kribnesis cichlids, do you think the redtail would be fine? Or could i remove the redtail and get 3 electric yellows and a few red zebras or is that to much for a 30 gallon tank. I think I know the answer to this but if it is at all possible i would like to do it.

[sergo]

what kind of filtration are running on the 30?

[BBB]

Its a tetra whisper 30 power filter. Is that enough. I have a bad feeling ur going to say I need more filtration.

[sergo]

ok, i don't see a big problem with about 4-5 of the smaller mbuna in there if you add some better filtration to what you have, like maybe a canister. i have a whisper 60 and a fluval 305 on my 55 cichlid tank (check my profile for occupants). the thing is that you'll really only be able to have 1 male and the rest female so you'll have to get some different species in order to get some good coloration in the tank.

[Fishguy2727]

More filtration and an aggressive water change schedule will let you do what you are thinking, at least to start. The problem is that with mbunas you will probably end up needing to pull some out because they either get too aggressive or beat up.

[BBB]

k well other people told me that in a 30 gallon tank i could only really keep 1 male and 3 female electric yellows and remove the redtail shark or it will die. Do you recommend removing the shark, if so then would it do fine with kribnesis cichlids??

[sergo]

ami mistaken or do the red tails get real big? if you do the cichlid tank you should do only them.

[BBB]

The redtails get around 5-6 inches and is supposed to be pretty territorial. Mine is only around 2.5 inches right now.

[sergo]

i may be thinking of bala sharks. just remember to keep water parameters in mind. mbunas like hard alkaline water, i don't know what the shark needs.

[BBB]

um well the water parameters are a little different. A man at my local pet store who know alot alot alot about fish said since our water is so hard that trying to change it would be too much work and it wouldn't change much. he also said that since all the fish are used to the hard water the water parameters are a big factors.

Thanks for all the answers by the way.

[Fishguy2727]

Don't mix the shark and the mbunas. The shark and kribs may or may not be okay together, most likely not.

It is easy to bring pH up, not down. If you have hard water it is hard to bring the pH down, which is what he is probably talking about. However, if your water is hard enough the pH may naturally be fine. What pH does the tank hold at? What pH comes out of the tap?

[BBB]

My tanks pH is around 8 maybe a little more. The tap water im not too sure about but i would say around 7.8. I've gotten mixed responses from people saying its okay to keep the shark with electric yellow cichlids or peackocks and then others said no.

[Fishguy2727]

Rift lake cichlids have very unique water chemistry. Because of this they should not be in with fish that are not used to those parameters. Those parameters need to be simulated in the tank. People who say no are probably going by this. Those who say it is fine are the ones who would not alter their tank water to the parameters these fish are native too (even when captive bred, it still makes a difference). They may live together, but they can't thrive together, and thriving should always be the goal.

[BBB]

Thanks for everything and overall you don't think the redtail shark and a few electric yellow cichlids would get along right?? Someone else also said that crowding a 30 gallon tank with 3 electric yellows and 3 red zebras would be good since it would bring down the agression, if i took the redtail out and did frequent water changes and had extra filtration. is there any truth to this?? sorry i just realized that i think you answered this.

[Fishguy2727]

I would start with about 8 juveniles. As they grow you will most likely need to remove 2-3 as they either get too big and aggressive, or get beaten up.

Personally I would suggest peacocks. They are more colorful, not nearly as aggressive, overall a much easier to deal with fish.

[Cichlid_Man]

BBB,
Everybody has given great advice already, but I was once exactly where you are now and Fishguy really helped me out.
I had a 30 gallon with 4 Mbuna's in there and a redtail shark.
At first things were OK, but as the cichlids grew, they killed off the shark.
Then, they got too big for the tank and I had to go to a 75 gallon.
Also, as it was already said, Mbuna water chemisrty is unique.
Special salts and buffers that other fish would adapt to.
Good luck.

[BBB]

Thanks for everything so far by the way and sorry for these next comments since you been giving me advice and now im getting a 55g or maybe a 75g but probably 55g so when giving me advice lean towards 55 but point things out for 75 also. So can i keep multiple species of mbuna now?? I'm thinking a few electric yellows and red zebras for sure. Then maybe an electric blue and a catfish, although they probably get too big for a 55g. Any suggestions, I would like some blue.
Thanks.

[sergo]

you can do some red zebras and some socolofis, just to name a couple. afras are very pretty also. you can go with multiple species but i would doing some research first. if i had a choice i would do a 75 with 2 fluval 305s or 405s without even thinking about

[BBB]

Someone told me that a 55g would be too small for mbunas and would just be a grow out tank since it is only a foot deep. Does the extra 6 inches on the 75g make a big difference??

[RobbieG]

Every little bit helps - getting the largest tank you can afford and fit in the space you have always pays off in the long run.

[Fishguy2727]

Get the biggest you can, you will be glad you did. But a 55 is fine for mbunas, they only hit 5-6".

[BBB]

Do you have a 55 gallon or 75 gallon tank?? If so how long does it take you to change the water and how much do you change and how often?? I'm assuming you dont use the carying the bucket back and forth method

[Fishguy2727]

All my tanks get 75-90% water changes weekly (unless I'm feeling lazy or too busy from school). I use a Python system to do my water changes. It should take about an hour to do a 55-75. That includes drain/vaccum, algae scrubbing, and refill.

[BBB]

75%-90% isnt too much?? i would just do 50% water changes every week or so

[BBB]

Edit that: the way i worded i would just do 50% changes made it sound like i was telling you to do that and im a begginer i really was saying i could just do 50% water changes and be fine right??

[Fishguy2727]

The nitrate level will tell you your minimum water change schedule. The bigger the water changes the more important some things are. Mainly temp and pH. If these are the same in the tank as form the tap than you could literally do a 100% water change. The bigger the water change the more frequent they need to be, mainly because pH will shoft over time so you can't always do really large ones if you have not done any in a while. Whatever your water change schedule you should build up to it, not jump right in. If you see any problems either cut back or hold at that same level until you get better at it. Very large frequent water changes result in the best colors, health, growth, but can also make problems worse if you are not doing them right. For example, if the water coming in is 8F different than in your tank, in a 10% water change it's nothing, but in a 90% water change it can cause some bad stress problems.