# 75G cichlid tank help!



## Guest (Aug 29, 2007)

Ok so tomorrow we are picking up a 75G long tank. I really want to deal with cichlids so I have picked a couple out from CA and from Malawi.

German Blue Rams, Gold Rams, Co-ckatoo dwarf cichlid, firemouth cichlid, and Orange Co-ckatoo. Now if I went American Cichlid how many of each would you have, and which ones would you take out?

If I do Malawi I am looking at Yellow Lab, Acei, Demasoni (?), Orange Blossom, and Cobalt Blue... and once again same question?

And would a 75G be more than enough to house these little fishies? I am going to go to the LFS on Friday just to look around and see what I like so I may have more....
Thanks for your input....


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## KenSmith87 (Aug 10, 2007)

75g is sorry to say but too small for SA - American cichlids usually.

stick with dwarf cichlids like rams etc. dont mix firemouth with them either.. they can get to 7in max. dwarf cichlids only get 3 1/2 tops. firemouths dont kill fish pyscially, but they chase smaller fish around and stress them. Making them lack eating. That kills your fish off.

make sure if you get rams, to look at the water requirements online. they are a lil harder fish to take care of usually. (frequent water changes also). they would love it also if u planted the aquariums.. an if i were u id get 3 gold rams an 3 german blue rams. an some shoal fish. (colorful).. tetras, guppies, platies, etc. Corys, otos... about 6 or more each.


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## Guest (Aug 29, 2007)

Demasoni are very aggressive and should be kept in large groups, so a species tank is best for them. They should be kept in groups of 12+ to keep from having a single dominant male that kills all the others. I'd leave them off.

For the Yellow labs, Acei, Orange Blossoms, and Cobalts, you could have groups of 5-6 of each type. Its hard to sex some of them, but if possible keep them in groups of 1 male to 4-5 females.

Malawi Mbuna need hard water with lots of rockwork in the tank.


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2007)

KenSmith87 said:


> 75g is sorry to say but too small for SA - American cichlids usually.
> 
> stick with dwarf cichlids like rams etc. dont mix firemouth with them either.. they can get to 7in max. dwarf cichlids only get 3 1/2 tops. firemouths dont kill fish pyscially, but they chase smaller fish around and stress them. Making them lack eating. That kills your fish off.
> 
> make sure if you get rams, to look at the water requirements online. they are a lil harder fish to take care of usually. (frequent water changes also). they would love it also if u planted the aquariums.. an if i were u id get 3 gold rams an 3 german blue rams. an some shoal fish. (colorful).. tetras, guppies, platies, etc. Corys, otos... about 6 or more each.



I personally don't like tetra's, guppies, platies, or any of those that you mentioned, sorry. Well I have been talking to other people, and they say that I could take my gourami's and put them in with the rams. So if I got the rams I would have 3 gold, 3 blue, and 3 gourami, and one pleco.
Could I add more gourami, or more dwarf cichlids? And what are some different dwarf cichlids, that could either get along with the rams, or gourami. They don't have to get along with the gourami I could leave those in the 30, but if I could I would love to move them to the 75.


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2007)

JustOneMore20 said:


> Demasoni are very aggressive and should be kept in large groups, so a species tank is best for them. They should be kept in groups of 12+ to keep from having a single dominant male that kills all the others. I'd leave them off.
> 
> For the Yellow labs, Acei, Orange Blossoms, and Cobalts, you could have groups of 5-6 of each type. Its hard to sex some of them, but if possible keep them in groups of 1 male to 4-5 females.
> 
> Malawi Mbuna need hard water with lots of rockwork in the tank.





So I could have 5-6 of each of those species in my 75? That wouldn't be overstocking? And all those would do well with eachother, of course with plenty of hiding spaces?


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2007)

Yep, 5-6 of each would be fine....you could even do more, say 7 of each IMO with alot of rockwork in the tank. Its best to keep Mbuna close to overstocked to keep aggression down.

If you go with the Dwarf Cichlids, I'd keep a pair of Rams (gold or blue) and a trio of Apistos (1m/2f). You could possibly add another pair of rams, but don't get carried away. With just the dwarf cichlids, gouramis, and pleco, the tank will look quite empty. 
Do you like Rainbowfish? Here's an example of Dwarf Neon Rainbows: http://www.darkshadowgames.com/FishPage/FishPics/Rainbow1s.jpg. They get a tad larger than tetras and such, around 2.5" and are interesting, but beautiful looking fish.

With the Dwarf Cichlids, they are best kept in a planted tank (preferably live) as they seem to thrive in that environment IMO. You have to have some hiding spots for them as well, as the males can harass the females at times (especially the Apistos), but they are peaceful for the most part. Consider a planted tank and adding something besides the dwarf cichlids and the gouramis.


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2007)

JustOneMore20 said:


> If you go with the Dwarf Cichlids, I'd keep a pair of Rams (gold or blue) and a trio of Apistos (1m/2f). You could possibly add another pair of rams, but don't get carried away. With just the dwarf cichlids, gouramis, and pleco, the tank will look quite empty.
> Do you like Rainbowfish? Here's an example of Dwarf Neon Rainbows: http://www.darkshadowgames.com/FishPage/FishPics/Rainbow1s.jpg. They get a tad larger than tetras and such, around 2.5" and are interesting, but beautiful looking fish.
> 
> With the Dwarf Cichlids, they are best kept in a planted tank (preferably live) as they seem to thrive in that environment IMO. You have to have some hiding spots for them as well, as the males can harass the females at times (especially the Apistos), but they are peaceful for the most part. Consider a planted tank and adding something besides the dwarf cichlids and the gouramis.



I guess I have a lot of thinking to do. Thank goodness I have a lot of time between buying the tank and getting all the goodies for it, and then letting it cycle! But hopefully the cycling won't take as long since I am going to put some gravel in a stocking from my 30.
Those rainbows are nice, maybe I will find some kind of shoal fish that I really like. 
I don't know if I would rather do a Mbuna tank, or rehome my gouramis. I really love the way a Mbuna tank can look, but those rams and rehoming my gouramis would be great too. 
I guess one of the deciding factors would be which would be easier to take care of? I do 30% water changes every week, but is that good enough for the rams? 
I use to have 3 GSP's, so I am quite use to the messiness that fishies can make. But I would like to decide so I can start seriously reading on these fishies and get the tank ready for them..... which is going to take awhile anyway.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

75g is FINE for all the SA cichlids you mentioned, and you could even go bigger. Firemouths get to 5" unless you have a large male which might reach 6". Its possible they would chase dwarfs around but they are extremely docile IME, and I have kept them in a 30g tank with gold rams for a couple months with great success.

Another option for you to do if your looking for personality, would be a couple of larger SA cichlids, or even just one large centerpeice. I think A real nice tank would be a large severum or two with a pair of gold rams and/or other dwarf cichlids. a 75 has a rather nice footprint so you can go big with the fish, if you so choose.

Good luck!


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## Guest (Aug 30, 2007)

Gourami Swami said:


> 75g is FINE for all the SA cichlids you mentioned, and you could even go bigger.


Thank you! I have been looking into other posts, and one person told them SA cichlids would be fine in a 50G, but then come to mine and say that SA cichlids are too big for my 75G. Doesn't make any sense huh? 
I will definitely check into the severum, thanks for you help.


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