[ladytuscanny]

Hi,
I live in Florida and have been breeding angels for about 4 years. I'm giving up the hobby as it is so hard to keep them alive. I have a cycled tank with two juvenile angels, all that is left from my last spawn. The tank has two 55 HOB filters that are seasoned. I use R/O water exclusively for all of my tanks. I would like to get a breeding pair of cichilds and would like to start with the right kind of fish for my setup. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DJRansome]

Malawi do not pair and RO water would not be ideal for African cichlids. If you are SURE you want Malawi, mbuna are colorful and you could keep 3 species in a 55G tank. One possible configuration would be for each species group should have one male and four females. You probably want to keep your pH at 7.8 or higher for these fish.

For other ideas, take a look at the cookie cutter set ups in the library.

 

[Fogelhund]

Welcome to Cichlid-Forum.

A little tidbit for you, Angelfish are cichlids too. :wink:

How big is this aquarium, in both volume and dimensions? What are the water parameters? ph, hardness etc...

 

[Dewdrop]

Welcome to the group. Once you've given the specifics Fogelhund ask for, people will be able to help you. I'm sure you'll love mbuna if that's what you decide on. They are a pretty hardy fish and make for a very attractive, active, and interesting tank. :fish:

 

[chromedome]

g-day ladytuscanny,

welcome to the forum

take some time to read through the library and familiarise yourself with your wants and the requirements of your fish selection and compatibility.

it's well worth your time and you'll be sure to have a happy, rewarding experience.
i spent months learning through this forum before i set up my mbuna tank, but i'm new to fish keeping so you've got a head start on me!

your bound to love it, these are fish with personality plus

i wish you well

regards chromedome :thumb:

 

[ladytuscanny]

tee hee,
I know that angels are cichilds too, but they have the angelfish plague to contend with and I have sudden die off for to often to try again.

My tank is a 55g long. I have river rock on the bottom with some sand stone decorations. I understand that I have to change the tank set up i've been reading about that on this forum. Very useful information. I will get the parameters later.
The reason I use r/o water is my water company adds choramines into the water and the water treatment I was using was killing the angels. Can I use regular tap with with treatment for water changes in a cichlid tank?

 

[cichlidaholic]

Yes, you can use regular tap water, just make sure you use a dechlorinator that works for both chlorine and chloramines...Prime is the best you can get, IMO.

Do you want to go single species, or would you prefer having breeding groups of more than one species?

 

[ladytuscanny]

So glad can use regular tap with prime! Had a water treatment system on the house cost aprox $5,000 and the crappy water ate through everything. Would cost me more money to fix, and don't want to throw more money at it. Angels are beautiful, but not a good Florida fish to breed if you don't have the right equipment and setup. Everyweek I was refilling 3 gallon bottles at the local r/o machine, 12 at a time, to do water changes. Not fun anymore!

I would like to stick to a single species to start, something dynamic and fun to watch, but also would like to have them breed. I'm partial to orange or yellow and saw pictures of these fish last night, but can't find that link again. There is a cichlid dealer within a mile of my home and want to purchase from him, but want the right kind for my setup.

 

[cichlidaholic]

Well, you could go with a nice breeding group of Metriaclima estherae, or Ps. saulosi.

If you go with the estherae, I'd try to find the blue male/red female variant. (They aren't red, per se...More of an orange...) You could start out with 12 or so of those.

Saulosi are dwarf, so you could go with more of them and have your yellow/orange females and blue males. I'd shoot for 3 males in the breeding group.

 

[Fogelhund]

If you want a single species, you can't go wrong with Pseudotropheus saulosi in a 55 gallon aquarium. My recommendation would be to start with 12-15 young fish. They aren't pairing fish, so they are best kept in colonies.

 

[ladytuscanny]

Thank you both. The colors or themaylandia estherae and pseudotropheus saulosi are beautiful. Since I have a cycled tank what set up is best for these species. I will try and get one or the other. I've read the tank set up article and took notes. Can I add sterilized sand to the bottom of the tank or is a special kind of sand reguired. Have a 3 pound bag of baking soda on hand already. Plenty of sea shells on from the beaches I need to purchase hiding places. I would like to start with terra cotta planters instead of rocks. Is that recommended? I need to get a test kit, mine is all used up at the moment, what is recommended for a cichild tank, just a pH tester or something else?

 

[cichlidaholic]

What is the ph of the tank now? (There is a good homemade buffer recipe in the Chemistry section in the library.)

Watch the shells...Fish can get stuck inside them and die, causing ammonia spikes/problems.

I use medium grain silica sand in most of my tanks. All you have to do is rinse it well, turn off your filtration and add it to the tank.

I'm sure you know this, but you need to make sure you keep fish in the tank up until the time you add the new fish. The angels won't fare well with these guys, so you'll need another tank to move them to.

Personally, I prefer rock over the terra cotta planters, but it's all a matter of choice. The fish won't mind either way. Be warned that these guys dig...Alot...So plants may be uprooted and anything you stack in the tank can be toppled over...

I like to be able to check ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates when I have problems in the tank.

You'll be fine with a ph between 7-8.

 

[Number6]

ladytuscanny

Angelfish can thrive on Florida water by the by... whoever persuaded you to use R/O water for your fish did not give you good advice... straight R/O water is not good water for 99.9% of cichlids out there, Angelfish included.

So only switch from Angels if you really want to... don't switch because of your past troubles.
:thumb:

 

[ladytuscanny]

The truth is i've just added cichilds to my collection of fish. I've moved the juvie angels into another tank and did a huge water change and adjusted the ph in the display tank to 7.8. It has taken me all day.

I stopped in at the cichild breeder's store and purchased male and female otopharynix tetrastigma. The female was holding a brood and have the fry in a separate tank. I hope some will live to be adults.

 

[ladytuscanny]

sadly, all of the fry died. It was to much for them. Now for some guppies

 

[ladytuscanny]

http://cichlidstore.net/shop/
This is the link to the store that I bought my cichilds from. He has a lot and they are big and beautiful!