# New to the ciclid tank



## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

About a month ago I bought a 36gal Ciclid tank and am keeping 4 africans in it. I keep my ph at 8.2 and my temp at 82 degrees because I was told you can control the temperament of your fish with ph and temp. They told me that higher levels would make increase their metabolism and make them more aggressive (awesome). They are doing great and have all grown rapidly but Im starting to develop algae problems. The question is if I put a placo or a snail in their will they tolerate the high ph without any problems. If not I guess I could lower the ph levels but I really don't want to. Any thoughts?


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## kay-bee (Dec 6, 2006)

I've kept bristlenose (BN) pleco's with african cichlids in high pH conditions (8.2-8.4) with no apparent issues. It's best that the pleco is in the tank first because african cichlids, particularly mbuna's typically do not take kind to newly added fish.

If you have lots of hiding spots and add the BN pleco at night that should minimize any aggression directed at the pleco. BN pleco's are great algae eates, aren't huge waste producers (from what I've seen) and don't get large.

With that said, if the african cichlids you have are mbuna's they'll graze on the algae themselves as most are algae eaters in the wild. In fact it's one of the reasons why they're aggressive. Apparently the algae they sustain themselves on isn't very nutritious, so they have to eat lots of it, typically off of rocks. The more rocks that the mbuna's can claim the more algae they have access to. They utilize aggression as a means to protect their territories (which is why herbivorous algae grazing mbuna's are lots more aggressive than fish-eating haps from the same lake).

With that said the mbuna's won't strip a tank bare of algae and will probably ignore any film algae that may be growing on glass, but it's interesting to observe their natural behavior (algae-grazing).

I've never kept algae-eating snails with african cichlids before so I'm not sure of the compatibility.

What type of african cichlids do you have? For long term success, most do best in larger tanks and in larger numbers.


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

I have 1 Electric Yellow, 2 Peacock, and 1 Cobalt Blue. Damn! While I was trying to figure out what kind of ciclid I have (is a pain by the way) I noticed that one of my Peacocks has a bloated stomach but only on one side and is brownish and discolored. It causes him to be unable to use his left fin. Treating with life guard and hoping for the best. Ive never seen anything like this have you? Things were going so good


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Do you still have this tank? Post pics if you do!


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Wow! blast from the past! I actually tore this tank down and sold it to another member on the forum over a year ago. It was a fun tank.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

lol try cichlids again! i love them. i figured id ask since i love africans and the date on this thread would show me how large i could expect mine to be. but since i creeped threw your old threads so i could see your tanks thats how i found this one.


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