phishy793

im getting a 55 gallon soon {for my birthday} and i was wondering if i stock up on cichlids how your supposed to, so they wont fight to much, will the tank crash? me and my dad were thinking about at first, putting in a lot of hardy fish first like giant danios or something to get it started. should i do this or does it not matter?



5 gallon-1black widow 1platy

fernival brainard

I would do some research on the various types of cichlids, and then decide which ones you would like and see if they are compatible with one another.

You do not want to add all of the fish to the tank at once, this will shock your system and the tank will not be able to handle the bioload (fish waste ect.) this is when you will see bad spikes in ammonia and whatnot, and you could lose some or all of your fish. You want to add only a few at a time and wait two or three weeks between additions. I would test the water often as this is a good indicator as to whether your tank is ready to be stocked with more fish or not.

fern

ps
I recommend reading the sicky on cycling tanks.....it is very helpful

Tommy Gun

I completely agree with 'Fern' here and would second his advice to read the 'sticky' article on cycling a tank, along with the fishless cycling article that can both be found here, respectively:

http://www.fishtankforums.com/5-fres...-aquarium.html

http://www.fishtankforums.com/5-fres...cycle-how.html

In the hobby today, there have been some great alternatives to cycling using fish like the giant danios that you suggest that will not only help you control the cycling better, but in some cases, slightly faster. This is not to say that anyone can really give you an exact timeline on how long it will be until your tank can support aquatic life completely, but in my opinion, fishless cycling is certainly the way to go since it is less messy, less guess work, and less frustration and stress for both you and the fish. Once you read those articles, which will not take long, feel free to ask any other questions that you have then and I promise that they will get answered as soon as possible.

I also have to completely agree with Fern's advice to start researching the different types and species of cichlids available. I would do this in two phases...first, check out some of the stores close to you (LFS) so that you can have a good idea what is going to be available to you most often. Take a long a paper and pencil or something to jot down the names and then take the time to learn about them a bit. There are many considerations to keep in mind when stocking a cichlid tank, and you can have a great amount of impact on how they behave in your tank, but you should know what fish you would really like to keep first, and then formulate a strategy on how to get them home, acclimated, and living harmoneously in your new tank. Again, this forum is going to be a great source of information, ideas, and opinions for you so ask as many questions as you need to. It is always best to make an informed decision rather than a 'trial by error' type system, at least in my opinon.

So, congrats on the new tank and have a very happy birthday on saturday!!!

Andyoybna

yea, definately add the fish slowly, once the tank is cycled, maybe 2-3 a week.

Also, from my experience of african cichlids... slightly over populate the tank, and put TONS of hiding places, caves rockwork, driftwood etc...

The over population will make it so the fish will never really be able to establish a territory, yet all of the hiding places will make it so they dont have to worry about being safe, i found that this highly reduces fighting in the fish, it does slow down growth a bit, but frequent water changes help that.

Basically, having no territory defend, makes the fish a lot more relaxed and passive, they will chase eachother around the tank sometimes, and you will have a dominant fish, but theres always those hiding places

phishy793

thanks for the info. ill read that article .

__________________
5 gallon-4 zebra danios 1 algae eater
55gallon-assorted african cichlids 1 red-tailed shark

Irish563

Hmmm.... In my experience it has always served well to add most if not all the cichlids at once to reduce aggression. If you add a few at a time, the fish that are added first will have more time than newer additions to assess territories. Then you will have to constantly move the hardscape in order to reduce aggression.

Irish

Irish563

FYI, this only works if the tank is completely cycled though.......

Irish

Tommy Gun

I would agree, and also very highly agree with Irish's next post about the tank needing to be cycled.

In the past, I have kept some very aggressive Malawi cichlids (M. Auratus and P. Kennyi) along with a relatively low-aggression cichlid (Yellow Labs) in the same 55 gallon tank and my method was to add all of one species at a time, with the lower aggression species first, in order to allow them to establish territories and take a good 'hold' on the tank. This worked out well for me until the fish became mature enough to want to spawn, and then everything went haywire and I was forced to "constantly move the hardscape in order to reduce aggression". To combat this, I just took out all the territories (rocks and caves) and added 'dither fish' (large tiger barbs) and everything went great from that point on.

I would be leery though, if you are some what, if not completely, of a beginner in fish tanks because to add a large amount of fish to a newly cycled tank is going to almost probrably start a mini-cycle, which is not good for already stressed out fish.

I think the best bet would be to see what fish you would like to keep as a first step, and then formulate a strategy from there. In the case of keeping similarly dispositioned cichlids, it might be better to make a few hardscape changes and add one species at a time, or it may be better to just get them all at once, preferably as juvies or fry, and adjust from there.

Just keep in mind that cichlids are a whole different ball game from community fish in which the aggression is generally limited to 'nipping' and chasing, which is bad since it leads to stress, opening the door to a whole host of problems. Cichlids on the other hand are completely capable of killing another fish pretty darn quick (M. Auratus for example, is possesed by the devil it seems at times) and if you are not careful in your stocking or methods of care, you could end up with just one fish left. This is why things like the decor and layout of a tank become important, as well as the ratio of males to females in a tank is key. Just as important are the types of cichlids (e.g. what area of the world, what lake in Africa, what eventual size) you want to keep and mix in the same tank.

Don't be put off by all of this though. While it seems like a lot at first, once you have a good plan and stocking is complete, your chances of success are good as long as you start off on the right foot. Like I said, my first stocking was based more so upon colors and what I liked, rather than compatability issues, which was a mistake, but I learned a lot of tricks and tips that made things work really well for me. In fact, I have since traded my Auratus and Kennyi and am now breeding yellow labs a bit too well, and am soon going to see if I can breed some other types of cichlids here in early next year. You have the advantage I didnt and that is having the ability to ask all of the knowledgeable and experienced people on this forum your questions and gather their input!