# Answers Please!!!



## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

I have my 29g almost done cycling and am going to add some low light low maintenance plants! So the big question issssssssss:

What kind of Cichlid to add, what gender, and how many.

Also, can cichlids be paired with cories and snails or will they be too aggressive and either hurt the cories or eat the snails? I dont want to have hiding places, I want all my fish to feel open and free with no fear, hopefully.

Alright, thanks for the responses in advance!

:fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish: :fish:


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## Daniel1 (Aug 30, 2006)

i have a pair of Appistogramma borelli. in 29 gals planted....
they have great personality, they stay small and are colorful...and i have a trio of albino cories and a lot of snails...
hope this helps


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

Hiding places make fish feel more confidant (i.e. open and free).
Picture the room where you sleep.
Now picture sleeping on a bed out in the open in the middle of a busy train station, bus depot, airport, etc - where are you going to feel more secure ?

more hiding places means seeing your fish more, not less.

Are you looking for peaceful cichlids, or something more assertive ?
Are you keeping a hard water / High pH tank, a soft water / lower pH tank, or more of a neutral pH moderate hardness tank ?

I like Kribs in a "fairly" peaceful softer water tank. Mine never bothered snails or cories (as long as the snails and cories stayed away from the krib eggs/babies). They are colorful, hardy, have great personalities, don't get too big for a 29g, and go well with most schooling (dither) fish.

In a harder water tank - you might go with rainbow cichlids or one of the different "convict" cousins like the Honduran Red Point or_ Cryptoheros nanoluteus _- but I'm not sure I'd trust them with cories. snails would probably be fine.

In a truly hard water tank (pH above 7.8) you could do some shell dwellers - Neolamprologus multifasciatus are great little fish, although they'd definately need some cover (I use snail shells) -- and most cories wouldn't be too happy at that pH and hardness. snails would probably be fine.

the only snails in my planted tanks are malaysian trumpet snails (also called MTS) - they keep the gravel clean and don't eat plants.
Most other common aquarium snails just love plants - yum yum.

There are of course lots of other cichlids - but very few commonly found ones that I would personally recommend for a 29g.
Cichlids are almost always very protective parents - they look at the tank as the house their kids will be growing up in, and any other fish are the predators that would eat their kids. In a 29g, many adult cichlids would treat any of their tankmates the same way I'd treat a child molester I found in my house (or my brother's house since he has kids and I don't) :mrgreen: -- even when they aren't breeding, most cichlids are trying to clear out the other fish so that if the right guy/girl swims by, then can settle down and raise some kidlets


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Corys like softer water, a pair of angels, rams, apistoes or Laetacara Dorsigera or small Aquidens would be ok with cories. Search for Dwarf cichlids, anything else is too big for a 29.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

Thank you all for your advice.

And the type of snails I was reffering to were Mystery Snails. Are there any plants they wont eat? Seeing as I saw them at the pet store and they were alway in planted tanks. They are said to only eat the dead leaves of plants...is this true?

And yes, dwarf cichlids, I see. I would like my cichlids to be females (no breeding just yet, not enough buyers!) but ummm...yeah I dont want them to be too aggressive but I have found the more aggressive the fish, the more human it is. I like fish that have minds, that actually think and understand basic emotions and needs. I found that cichlids are the closest I'm gonna get to that. Haha, so I believe I would love to have some in my new tank!

And the tank is moderately soft and has a REALLY HIGH ph, I think from 7.8-8.4 or something like that. And the hardness is...I believe 74? Yeah...I can do more tests and get back to you on that one.

But yeah, would maybe 4 panda/albino/spotted (still not sure of the breed yet..haha) cories and 2-3 mystery snails do good with a pair of female cichlids that are recommened for a 29g planted tank?

Thanks for all your help, by the way. I cant wait to get on this!


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## Laura Ann (May 3, 2006)

29 gallon planted... hummm... lots of good things can be put in a 29 gallon!!

Dwarf gouramis will do great, and they get along with most everything! They are georgous too!

Rams, Bolivian or German, is another possibility. These fish pair off, so all you'd need is a male and a female. 

You could also do a group of dwarf shell dwelling Tangyanikan cichlids, if you wouldn't mind just those in a tank. They are quite interesting to watch, they dig and hide in their shells. They also have great personalities! If you go with these, it is best to get small groups of 5 or 6, a ratio of 1 male to evey 3-4 females. 

The only thing about cichlids, is that they _like_ having hiding places. It gives them refuge from other fish, and they also breed in hiding. So, I would suggest you put a cave or two in there... and if you don't like caves, you could do small terra cotta pots.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

I've heard I can add kribs as well, or angel fish. Is this right?


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## Laura Ann (May 3, 2006)

Yes, those are a possibilty as well, though I don't know too much about them.


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## Jojo (Apr 11, 2006)

I suggest Bolivian rams, I have a pair right now and expecting another pair soon, they are beautiful and awesome fish. And they are a lot more forgiving then German rams.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Its easier to add hardness than to lower pH. Tangnikian shell dweller never seem to saturate the market (they have few fry and grow slowly). But that limits the plants you can have. Central Americans like convicts would do ok in your water as is (I think). If you want a pet, focused on you and not a colony. Get only one. An angel or an Aquidens. Most cichlids are bright enough to reconize people, eat out of your hand, and ever do tricks. But breeding fish focus on their own family, not you.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

Yeah, I'm not ready for breeding espcially because I dont know anything about cichlids and am just getting into them. So thats cool, thanks for all the ideas! I will go to petsmart soon and just scope out the selection, jotting down notes to ask you all soon! I am going to plant the tank first before I add any fish though, so maybe a week or two and I will have new fish! Yaya!!!!


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

I don't know anything about cichlids, never having kept them (although I will be getting some angels for my new 58g tank once it's matured a bit) but I do know snails.

The term "mystery snail" is a bit unclear, as lots of snails can be called mystery snails. I think usually they are Pomacea bridgesii, which are mervellous snails that get to be about the size of a golf ball and don't eat plants (except for duckweed, which they love). If they are being kept in planted tanks at the pet shop, then they are probably P. bridgesii.

HOWEVER, these snails have much longer antennae than snails like MTS or nerites, and they prove irresistable to some fish that will leave the other snails alone. Please consult http://www.applesnail.net/ for compatability (click on the Discussions menu item in the left hand side, then go to the "Apple snails, fish and plants..." forum and read the sticky "Good fish to go with your snail LIST" to see if your fish choices are on it).


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## redpaulhus (Jan 18, 2005)

I'd ask your local stores what thier pH is. Find one with a pH that runs about the same as yours, and check out their dwarf-ish cichlids (alot of people think of just apistos/rams/kribs when they think dwarf -- they don't think of the small-med sized central american cichlids like the _Cryptoheros_ species'_._)

The central american cichlids like the Cryptoheros complex would do great in that pH. I'd avoid rainbow cichlids (they will probably eat the plants) but there are still a number of nice mid sized fish that would work.

In terms of west african fish, Kribs should do ok at that pH - and the females are beautiful - assuming they've been aclimated to that pH.

There are a ton of fish from *Lake **Tanganyika* that would do great in a setup like that.
A few shell dwelling cichlids such as _neolamprologus brevis_, or a few bigger fish like N_eolamprologus leleupi _would love that pH.
http://www.bigskycichlids.com/Nleleupix.htm

Plants that do ok in that setup (ie pH) might be trickier, but I suspect that anubias and java fern would do great.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

Ok so what I found out is that Cichlids probably wont do well with Mystery Snails, noooooooooooo. Hahaha, but with that caution I will still have some mystery snails because I love them sooo much! But I will keep a pretty damn close eye on em. The thing that I was most worried about was not the little tenticle thingies...but the fact that I have a sorta friend who is OBSESSED with cichlids and has 2 55g, 2 10g, and 1 75g in his tiny room he is renting, and he said that most of hid cichlids are snail eaters and will knock mystery snails off the glass and ram them into rocks until their shell cracks and then eat them.... I dont want that to happen! Sounds like it wont though.

But yeah, about the plants and the mystery snails. I thought they didnt eat plants, I heard they ate the dead leaves which is really nice for cleanup, but then they were moved to their own tank with no plants just recently and I got to thinking: "why?" but yeah, I think it might of been because of the waste they produce or something.

Ok, nice list of cichlids. I will write all this down and take it with me to the lfs. I was thinking that maybe if I read the little descriptions next to each cichlids tank and found the adult size, would that be accurate? I dont want to trust something if its going to throw me off and get me a fish that will outgrow its tank. And yes, I am going to build hiding places for the fish seeing as I believe that is what will have them grow up the happiest.

And do you think its ok to have just one cichlid in a tank instead of two? Will they not get lonely? Because if they wont, then I would rather adopt 1 larger cichlid and have it bond to me until I find out all there is to know about keeping them and then decide to breed!

Thank you all for your support and advice, its been a GREAT help. And that snail forum for fish compatability is very helpful too, thanks myravan!


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

Kageshi17 said:


> Ok so what I found out is that Cichlids probably wont do well with Mystery Snails, noooooooooooo. Hahaha, but with that caution I will still have some mystery snails because I love them sooo much!


Please don't! If you love them so much, then wait until you can give them a home where they will be happy, and not under constant threat of having their tentacles eaten or having their shells cracked open. They don't require a big tank, you could have a 10gal with a couple of mystery snails and a school of something small and peaceful like white cloud mountain minnows.


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

I know but they do such a good job of keeping my tank algae free! Maybe the cichlid wont bother them, you never know! I'll try it, if it doesnt work out I will take your advice in a heart beat, dont worry!


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## MyraVan (Jan 19, 2005)

My experience is that mystery snails (we call them apple snails over here, or brigs if you want to be specific about the species) really don't eat much algae. They eat some, but they prefer leftover fish food and duckweed. People keep them for their beautiful shells and interesting behaviour, not for algae eating. 

Nerite snails are the ones to get if you want an algae-eating snail. They are less vulnerable than apple (mystery) snails, since they keep their bodies almost completely tucked into their shells as they cruise the tank eating algae, whereas a happy apple snail has much of its body exposed.

I have kept nerites in tanks with fish that would nip the tentacles of apple snails. The nerites' tentacles are much less obvious; perhaps that's why they are ignored.

As I said I haven't kept cichlids, but I gather than the best algae eater for cichlid tanks is one of the smaller plecos, like bristlenose. That's what I will have in my 58g with the angelfish, once it's fully stocked (it's planted now, and I'll be adding the first fish tomorrow).


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## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

Yeah I tried having a pleco once and he totally polluted my tank...hahaha I guess they have a HUGE waste load. I mean it was crazy, strings of "poop" hanging from everything. Hehe, I dont really think I will invest in them. The only reason I said they were really good with algae is because I havent had any algae in my tanks ever...so I think that must mean that they were doing something to help it, right? Well, I just went to Petsmart to pick up some plants and couldnt resist the baby mystery snails they had in their tanks! They were free, so I purchased them. I'm guessing the cichlid will probably make short work of them, do you think? I really hope not, but I thought maybe they could grow to their full size with a cichlid and 4-5 cories in the tank. Do you think this would work out?

And should I add salt or calcium to the water? I heard snails need calcium to harden their shells and cichlids need salt. But salt and snails dont mesh? I'm not sure. And the only reason I dont get different kinds of snails is because there are none available in salem.  But I would if there were!


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Cichlid salts for cichlids, not sodium cloride. Calcium carbonate substrate is good for snails and cichlids.


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