# Our Cichlid Tank



## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

This is our 80 gallon cichlid tank. The first picture is the whole tank up against the wall, stand and all. The second picture is the whole front of the tank. The third is the right side, and the fourth is the left side.


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

Nice looking tank! It seems to me though that you should have done a bit more research before buying your fish. What I mean buy this is that a common pleco will get a bit big for this setup, and a clown knife will get WAY too big for it! I have personally seen a 2.5' long clown knife. Also, you should know the individual species of africans, as not all of them will be fine in an 80g.


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

I do know what my cichlids are. And I know that clown knives can get up to 3' long. However, its going to be a long time before he's that big... and when he does get that big, he becomes LFS credit. That was the LFS's idea anyhow. Problem solved!


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2008)

I work at a lfs where we take in large, unwanted fish, and it's not as easy as bringing them in...the lfs has to have a tank large enough for the unwanted fish to beginwith, and tanks that size are hard enough to come by, let alone a lfs to set up(thankfully, the lfs I work at has 4 120's running...2 with large fish, normally oscars, gar, etc. one with pacus and silverdollars, the other with full grown african cichlids.) Then the lfs has to try to sell the thing. 2.5 foot fish aren;t the fastest seller, because the buyer has to have a very large tank as well.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

*sigh* But keeping fish in a tank too small for them will stunt them, and they will not be able to reach their normal size.


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

Our LFS has a TON of huge tanks. Huge as in, more than twice the size of our 80 gallon. I've been told by multiple people that the size of the tank doesn't stunt growth, but that the extra waste is the problem... so we have a ton of filters and we change the water all the time. If it will make everyone happy I will take the knife back to the store where they will put it back with their pacu's and he can have his skirt ripped to shreds again.


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## trashion (Aug 24, 2007)

Hey now, no need to get snappy. People are just trying to help you out, and are thinking of the health of your fish first.


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

I'm not being snappy. I'm being chewed up and spit out. We took the fish from the pet store with an agreement that when it got bigger, we would take it back. The only tank they have to put him in is also their Pacu tank and he was being eaten. They had his skirt so tore up it took over a month in a hospital tank before he even started to look better. Now that he has no big splits in his skirt, and is just a little ragged, he went into the big tank. He's only 5" max and is VERY happy in our tank. He enjoys swimming around with the African knife and eating guppies and beef heart. The only two options right now are to keep him in there until he's about 8" long, then take him back, or take him back to the LFS now and tell them that I got in trouble for keeping a 5" fish in our 80 gallon. What should I do?


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## Gourami Swami (Jul 4, 2006)

The problem is that the 5" fish will get 3'. If you ake it back to the store when it gets 12" or so, it will likely live its live out in a 180g, way to small for it, or be sold to some bozo with a 75g. Its not really your fault, clown knifes should not be sold to the common hobbyist.

And once the clowns get big, they can take care of themselves. I wouldnt worry about pacu beating it up.


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## Guest (Mar 6, 2008)

i mostly agree with everyone here. there are fish that should not be sold, bought, traded, etc to the common hobbyist. special order maybe. that includes.... pacu, common plecos, clown knives, aba knives, fahaka and mbu puffers, arowana, red tail catfish, tiger shovel nose......... shall i continue 

a responsible fish store does not, and will not order these fish unless they are going to a customer with an adequate tank, which is not very many.


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## sarahbellum (Feb 28, 2008)

So what do I do? He's only about 5" and he really hasn't grown much in the month and a half we've had him. A little bit, but not much. When we brought him home, he had bloody spots all over his skirt where it had been split. He looks MUCH MUCH better now... The guy at the LFS knows we have an African knife and asked us to take him and get him to about 8-10" and then we could bring him back for credit (we didn't pay for him to begin with). Here's what he looks like now...


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