Cichlid questions..

**kenyth** · 04-18-2007, 03:33 PM

Eventually, sometime down the road, I would like to have a Cichlid tank. My favorite aquarium size is the 29 Gallon (tall) setup. Just so I can have a vision, what kind of small colorful Cichlids are available that will live together? I've seen beautiful bright yellow and bright blue specimens. How many will generally live in a 29 gallon aquarium without killing each other? Will they be able to stand reasonably hard well water?

**A1cntrler** · 04-18-2007, 03:42 PM

I keep mine in a 29 gallon tank and they seem to do quite well. You need to first decide what kind of Ciclids you want. The ones you are speaking of sound like Lake Malawi Mbuna ciclids. You will want to get a lot of rocks for them and build a rock wall with lots of crevices for them to swim in and out of. I built mine about half way up the back of the tank. As for the water, check your LFS or online to look for Ciclid buffer (To get the PH right) and it will tell you how much to add in order to match the lake your ciclids are from. Also look for some Ciclid lake salt to add to the water. Again the container will tell you how much to add to match the lake. I also picked up a bottle of some Ciclid Trace elements yesterday to put in there for them. They are quite active always, and bright and colorful. IF you do decided to go with the Mbunas, then you shouldn't mix them with Haps, a deeper water variety of fished from Lake Malawi. As for how many you shoudl put in there, I'm sure someone will chime in and answer your question. I have 6 in mine.

**kenyth** · 04-18-2007, 09:36 PM

How big do those particular Cichlids get? Are we talking six inches, or a foot long?

**cocoa_pleco** · 04-18-2007, 09:38 PM

mbuna vary. auratus generally are about 3"-4", but are extremely territorial.

Why not make the 29g into a 4 krib tank?

**kenyth** · 04-18-2007, 09:56 PM

I am fond of a rainbow of colored fish in my tanks. Blues, yellows, reds and greens. Kribs just don't have the color I'm looking for.

**sergo** · 04-18-2007, 10:02 PM

blue rams are quite colorful but they apparently are short lived too. yellow labs, bolivian rams, and other dwarf cichlids you could probably try. just do you research first.