# Keeping Cichlids



## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

Hi i have a couple questions about cichlids: 1. how many cichlids can i keep in an 18 gal tank, 2. Can i keep any other fish in with them like guppies, glass fish or freshwater lobsters, 3. Do i need any special decorations for them, 4: Can i get a mix of different colors that they sell at the pet store? Thanks for all the answers that you guys give P.S. I love the fish forums i have learned so juch from them!!!!11111: :fish:


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## austinroberts23 (Jan 25, 2012)

Zero. Plain and simple. Unless you want shellies. Typical cichlids get 6+ inches


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

i shouldn't keep any cichlids?
:-x:chair:


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

i shouldn't keep any cichlids??????????


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

there are a lot of different kinds of cichlids that you could keep in a 16 gallon tank...just not any of those that get large...(over 6 inches)...
first you need to find out about each of the fish you are interested in...find out their needs...once you have fulfilled their needs you can go get the fish...you could put a pair of 4" fish in the tank ; but no more than that..unless it's a pair of dwarf cichlids ; then you can add a couple of small catfish..


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

could i get a albino ruby peacock?


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## iheartfish:) (Jan 19, 2011)

No. If you want to do cichlids in an 18 gallon, stick with shell-dwellers. Peacocks get up to 7 inches and are too big for an 18 gallon.


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

could i have then move them into a larger tank as they outgrow it


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## austinroberts23 (Jan 25, 2012)

They grow pretty quick. Mine have gained about 1.5 inches in about 3-4 months.


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww man and i wanted some SO bad
:sad:


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

actually i will have to disagree here...you can keep an albino ruby in your 16..you could even have a pair in it...but much depends on how you set it up and maintain it.
i used to breed africans...kept them in 40 gallon longs...15-20 adults or more per tank...water changes twice a week..dolomite substrate..undergravel filters...tufa rock piled to the top of the tank...fish did quite well and always produced plenty of fry...nobody ever got beat up.....
when africans are a little overcrowded there is too much commotion for them to concentrate on any one fish..and the more cover they have the more secure they feel so the more they will be out and about instead of hiding all the time...
the biggest mistake people make is not providing enough cover....that and not providing the proper water parameters for their fish..

cmahan.....you can get 4 or 5 small peacocks and raise them until you get a pair...then sell off the extras....


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the news i want!!!!!!!!!!!!!! so what decor should i get them i have 3 have really small hiding that they can't fit in


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

the only decor you need is rocks...lots of them...full length of the tank...1/2-3/4 of the depth....and 3/4 or more of the height.texas holey rock or tufa rock....substrate should be either crushed coral or dolomite...
rift lake cichlids require a PH of 8.4 or higher..


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

do you think i would be able to get tufa rocka at a pet store that sells cichlids?????????????? :fish: :chair:


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## Superfly724 (Sep 16, 2007)

Look into Lace Rock as well. I've found it's a little more common than Tufa rock. At least where I live. And might be cheaper, also. If you're really going after some Aulonocara in that size tank, make sure you only have 1 male. I had a 55 gallon with 4 males and the dominant one had all the others backed into the corners and their fins torn to shreds (Then again, like Loha said, I didn't have enough cover in the tank). The females aren't as pretty, but the one male should more than make up for it when he's fully colored. Peacocks are some of my favorite fish. 

If you decide against Aulonocara, you could always look into a tank of Tanganyikans. You could do some Shell-dwellers like Neo. Brevis or Multies. With 18 gallons you might be able to do a group of Neolamprologus Leleuipi instead. And I've heard of people breeding Calvus or Brichardi in small tanks. All of these fish are extremely fun to watch and have a whole lot of personality.


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

i can't tell the difference between male and female




:fish:


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

There are going to be some differences in how to sex specific cichlids. However a place to start is by their dorsal fin. Males tend to be more pointed, and females more rounded. This will not be true for all cichlids, but I do believe it is true for many. There are stripe differences as well. Look up the fish you have at a site like the Cichlid Forum- they have pictures of males, females and juveniles of a ton of different Cichlids. 

The rounded fin should be fairly obvious. When I finally saw the difference in a females I was all "oh duh, that's easy to see." Juvies are hard because they are not grown up yet so they do not look like they "should" as adults. 

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/index.php


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## Ladayen (Jun 20, 2011)

Erm.. thats for live bearers like guppies Obsidian not for cichlids, at least I've never seen it before.

Erm Ioha.. really 6 peacocks in a 16g tank? I have 7 oto's in a 20 and it's looking full lol. There simply will not be any room at all for them to swim especially with proper rocks/caves. At even 4" per fish thats going to be 2' of fish. The tank is only going to be... 12" long maybe. So if you stack them on top of each other thats 2 rows so that about takes care of the height of the tank... meaning the fish only have the 10" of width to swim with. Now of course many peacocks are open water predators.. very active. I dont think they will be happy with this at all.

They're cichlids that will work in a 16g, any malawi cichlid is not one of them however.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

obs is correct for kribs, rams, convicts, jewels, many other biparental substrate spawning cichlids and often males will be larger. It is far more subtle than in livebearers. Look at the anal and the dorsal fins. Female Malawi cichlids may have a more rounded anal fin, fewer eggspots or be slightly smaller. But in many species females look nearly the same as males until the males change color with maturity, and even then many non-dominant males may look like females. In some tangs, size may be the only clue (i.e. julie females are larger, multi males are much larger) or mature males may have more of a metallic sheen.

In a small tank, you really need to keep up water changes or Malawian will stop growing (but not stop getting aggressive). I tend to recommend tank sizes based on a fish's life even though that isn't how I do it. I am always moving fry to larger and larger tanks as they grow. And I keep single Malawians in 5 gallon hospital tanks for short times. Most new people have only one tank and plans for more often fall through. If you get a fish that will outgrow your tank, have a plan for what to do with it. 

For a 16, I wouldn't get any Malawi fish for long term. Maybe the shell-dwelling psuedotropheus livingstoni, but probably not.

I say get a pair of Hemichromis Christatus. The smallest, mildest, and most brightly colored of all the jewelfish. Then the issue isn't the fish's size, but the number of fish. You could keep your LFS supplied.

Where are you located?


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## Ladayen (Jun 20, 2011)

hmm really.. I'm going to have a look at my jewel lol.


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

i'm really confused! Should i get them or not?????? Should i get a bigger tank????????? If i shouldn't keep them then what fish would be good??????? i already have some fish. I have four goldfish 2 orandas one calico and one shubukin and a fidler crab! They are pretty nice. i would rather get another tank then replace my other fish. But i have no space. we might put a new room on our house so mabey i can a bigger tank in there???????????????????????????????????????????


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

If your tanks are at or over capacity and you don't have a hospital/QT tank empty, don't buy more fish right now.


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## cmahan4576 (Apr 24, 2012)

i have a fish bowl as my current QT tank but i want to get like a 5 gal as my QT or a ten with a divider


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