[buri]

Hi everyone,

yep, my last fish tank i had when i was 15 yrs old, i had a big one ( around 50 gal) and 3 small ones in my tiny room.

I started with guppies, neon tetras and platies, then moved over to piranhas and end up with chiclids. My school friend made me love chiclids, we were taking care of the aquariums with my dad so i had the CC ready all times

I am 35 now, changed 3 countries, married, with almost 2 kids so again i am into taking care of fish and i am checking chichlids.

Those days we used to read chiclid books and chat with aquarium shop owners to get info (no google, 14.4k internet ) so it was hard to take care of the fish, tank and so on. So i hope i can get some help here to start of quickly.

So my questions are:

1- Ideal size for 10-15 chichlids ? I am checking 65 gallon (240 lt) tanks, maybe even bigger to start off.
2- Any suggested brand? Juwel ?
3- Intank or Canister filter? I know EHEIM was the best brand 20 yrs ago, still the best?
4- I still didnt decide on the specific chichlids i would like to buy however i see it will be Africans for their amazing colors, any good source to read which combinations i can make? rules and so on? or video maybe?

i will edit the post more later when i remember stuff, thanks alot in advance, i will be watching videos and reading more on chiclids

 

[Deeda]

Hi and Welcome to C-F!!!

Welcome back to the hobby! You are correct that searching for info has somewhat changed from relying on books or shop owners with the advent of the Internet.

Do you know what cichlids you are considering to keep? Malawi cichlids are some of the more colorful ones so I think those are what you are considering buying.

1. You want the the biggest tank that you can purchase, more specifically choose the tank with the largest footprint (Length x width) as most cichlids choose territories and use the floor space

2. Any brand should be fine, I'm not familiar with ones outside of the U.S.

3. Canister filter would be a great choice and I prefer the Eheim Classic series myself. There are a lot of newer brands and models available with prices ranging from under $50 to much more money.

4. Which fish to buy is always the biggest question along with which species will get along and also not cross breed with each other. Check out some of your local fish stores to see what they carry in stock or may be able to order for you. You also may be able to mail order fish or might have a local fish club in your area.

You can also check out the Library or Species Profiles at the top of the forum near the Home page as their is a lot of great info available that was submitted by members.

 

[DJRansome]

At least 48" long.

 

[buri]

Hi and Welcome to C-F!!!

Welcome back to the hobby! You are correct that searching for info has somewhat changed from relying on books or shop owners with the advent of the Internet.

Do you know what cichlids you are considering to keep? Malawi cichlids are some of the more colorful ones so I think those are what you are considering buying.

1. You want the the biggest tank that you can purchase, more specifically choose the tank with the largest footprint (Length x width) as most cichlids choose territories and use the floor space

2. Any brand should be fine, I'm not familiar with ones outside of the U.S.

3. Canister filter would be a great choice and I prefer the Eheim Classic series myself. There are a lot of newer brands and models available with prices ranging from under $50 to much more money.

4. Which fish to buy is always the biggest question along with which species will get along and also not cross breed with each other. Check out some of your local fish stores to see what they carry in stock or may be able to order for you. You also may be able to mail order fish or might have a local fish club in your area.

You can also check out the Library or Species Profiles at the top of the forum near the Home page as their is a lot of great info available that was submitted by members.

thanks for the response

I think i will go with african cichlids, i like the blue colors, i need to check each and decide.

1- I am looking for some used tanks, around 300 - 380L ( 80-100 gallons )

3- I am checking EHEIM and FLUVAL for filtration however as i read, i need between 5-10x more hour filtration on what my fish tank is. So for example if i get a 300L tank, i need a canister filter that has 1500 l / hr capacity. Which i see everyone using 2 filters per aquarium. Is this right? For a 300L tank, what filter should i get?

At least 48" long.

yeah thats min what i am getting

 

[thornsja19]

If you want African cichlids (looks like specifically you're looking at Malawi mbuna?) you want filtration that equals 8-10x flow rate. So if you're looking at a 300L tank, look to get 2 or more canister filters that combined have a flow rate of 2400L-3000L per hour. So if you like Eheim Classics, get the 2217 model (600L/hr flow rate) and run 4 of them. I'm not sure on the flow rates of the Eheim Professional series so if you like those you'd have to look them up for yourself. If you like Fluval, get the FX6 (2130L/hr flow rate) and go with 2. It'll be a little overkill but hey, too much filtration is rarely a bad thing and mbuna like playing in the current.