# 38g tank suggestions



## Guest (May 15, 2006)

I have an empty 38g tank (36" long, 12.5" wide, 20" high). After I set up my 55g planted, I would like to make the 38g tank a cichlid tank. I don't know hardly anything about cichlids though, so I have no idea what kinds would work.

I don't know the difference between Africans and South American ones, except that they come from different areas. I do know that rams are South American cichlids though. 

Can anyone give me some cichlid suggestions that would work in this size tank? Would Africans be better than the others? What about Tangs? 

I would like some colorful ones, if possible.

Suggestions?


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## Laura Ann (May 3, 2006)

I like the Africans better than South American.

Alot of cichlids (that I know of anyway) need a good sized tank.

I have a 33 gallon long, and now it has 5 yellow labs (love those guys) and 3 red zebras, and a pleco. I really recomend the labs. They are just beautiful. 

To help ya out, I am putting pics of mine up for ya

These are my newest yellow labs









And here are the red zebras









I think as long as you have plenty of plants and caves for the guys to hide on, you could do 5 of each breed, 1 male with 4 females (you an get them breeding this way). 

Try getting some terra cotta pots (you can get them from Wal-Mart). I bought 4 little ones, broke one, stacked the broken pieces, broke the bottom out of one, stuck it sideways and put some gravel in it, just took a chunk out of the other, stuck it like the last one, and the last one left whole and stuck it inside of the big log I have in my tank. They look great!

I hope I have helped ya out a bit!!


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## Guest (May 15, 2006)

Thanks Laura! That does help me out. Those are very pretty fish. Also, thanks for the picture!


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## Laura Ann (May 3, 2006)

Your welome!!

They are indeed nie fish, and if you don't go with the Africans I keep, there are tons more to choose from!


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## Jojo (Apr 11, 2006)

I'm with Laura on this I love yellow labs.


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## Guest (May 15, 2006)

If I got a group of yellow labs, is there anything else I could put with them? I know that some cichlids have to be in a species tank only. What would you guys suggest to go with labs?


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## Laura Ann (May 3, 2006)

I keep Red Zebras with mine. Labs are fairly peaceful. The only problem I have out of them is the occasional nip from the male. The red zebras do well, they just chase around mostly. Those are all I have kept, so ya may want someone else to help you out with that one. 

Oh yeah, jewels are quite aggressive. I DON'T reccomend them with labs or zebras!


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## Jojo (Apr 11, 2006)

I currently have labs and P.socolofi and un-known cichlid, they all get along great but the male p.soscolofi is the boss, but I'm just getting into cichlids and I know for sure labs and red zebras go good, the only bad thing about those two is they are bad about breeding with each other..


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## goodie (Sep 2, 2005)

This will help to get a quick idea of your options.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/quick_reference_list.php


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Socolofi get big for a 36" tank. P, Demonsoni are smaller and less mean. They would be ok with labs. For Tangs. Look up N. Lelupi, N. pulcher and J. transcriptus or J. ornatus. Only the lelupi is as colorful as the malawi mouthbrooders, but its cool to watch the substrate spawning egg layers herd their swarms of tiny babies. Some people keep julies with malawi mouthbrooders, but I wouldn't try it in less than a 55 gallon tank.


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## Guest (May 16, 2006)

Thanks everyone. I checked out the cookie cutter setups on cichlid-forum, but I couldn't access the 40g setup...which would be closer to my 38g tank. It wouldn't work for some reason. I looked at the 29g and 55g setups though. Here are some types they had with the Yellow labs: Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty Cichlid), Cynotilapia afra (Cobue), Pseudotropheus saulosi (another list says it needs a 55g or bigger though), and red zebras. What do ya'll know about them?

Thanks for the Tang suggestions emc. The N. lelupi is very colorful. Some of the different N. pulcher types were also colorful. Now I'll have to decide if I want to go with the Malawi cichlids or Tangs....well I have time to think about it.

What do ya'll use for substrate? I will need something that raises the pH and hardness.


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## Jojo (Apr 11, 2006)

Crushed coral will raise the PH.


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## Laura Ann (May 3, 2006)

I use crushed coral. 
Looks really nice, and the labs move it super easy.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I have P. Salousi in a 30 and they are outgrowing it, have to move them soon. I wouldn't put them in with labs because they both have yellow babies and I would get confused. Red zebras get even bigger, Afra are small, beautiful and mean, I wouldn't put them in 30. I use crushed coral, natural gravel or a blend of the two. Crushed coral will raise your hardness some, but if you have soft water like I do in atlanta, you'll need to add buffer also. If you want to raise babies, I'd go with the tangs, they'll guard and raise the fry right in the tank. If you get the Malawians, you'll need at least one more tank for holding mothers and fry. If your water is real soft, you might want to look at south americans again, their behavior is similar to the tanginikans, but the most colorful ones get huge.


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