riflemn Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) I was wondering if plants are neccesary for African Cichlids and if so which plants should I be looking at buying? I am setting up about a 50 gallon tank with lots of rocks. Edited July 16, 2009 by riflemn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catshanon Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) anubias varieties, vallisneria, java fern, sagitaria, echinodorus tennellus might be tolerated by cichlids. However, if you are creating a biotope tank, its best to have just rocks with lots of hiding places, and no plants. African cichlids live in rocky areas where no plants grow. Take a look at these videos if you haven't done so already. Plants are not necessary for african cichlid tanks. I have just set up one, with sand and slate and rocks..I also don't have an air pump, I just let the flow from the AC110 aerate the water. Raj Edited July 16, 2009 by catshanon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moutain Dew Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 [ Makes me feel like diving in my tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riflemn Posted July 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 (edited) Thanks for the info regarding plants. I am trying to set up something that is visual pleasing as well as a healthy environment for the fish. The visual part is for my wife so that she does not disown me as she sees what it is costing me:-) I will post a photo when I get it done. Edited July 16, 2009 by riflemn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KTK Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 The plants menchend above should work but remember that some cichlids are just jerks and will up root anything for the fun of it. Im having success vallisneria right now with a snad bottom and have had success with anubias and java fern on rocks in the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 anubias varieties, vallisneria, java fern, sagitaria, echinodorus tennellus might be tolerated by cichlids. However, if you are creating a biotope tank, its best to have just rocks with lots of hiding places, and no plants. African cichlids live in rocky areas where no plants grow. If you want to blur the biotope line a bit: several plant species do exist in the more pebbled/sandy, lower current areas of lakes Malawi and Tanganyika. Some that could be used in the aquarium are Vallisneria spirialis, Ceratophylum demersum (hornwort), and Myriophyllum spicatum (Eurasian water-millfoil). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rED O Posted July 18, 2009 Report Share Posted July 18, 2009 Plants in a mbuna tank is risky, I have tried it and every time they made a salad out of the plants. You can try raising the mbuna up with plants, that might be worth a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted July 20, 2009 Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Plants can be hit and miss with Malawians. I've personally never had any troubles keeping them with mine, but many have. I keep my tanks rather heavily planted, so even if the fish do eat some of the plants there's enough in there that they won't eat them all (cichlids don't even compare to silver dollars for plant eating capability). Jungle vals are my personal favourite to go with Africans, and there are plants similar to them found in and amongst many of the reefs in Lake Malawi. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
riflemn Posted July 20, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 20, 2009 Plants can be hit and miss with Malawians. I've personally never had any troubles keeping them with mine, but many have. I keep my tanks rather heavily planted, so even if the fish do eat some of the plants there's enough in there that they won't eat them all (cichlids don't even compare to silver dollars for plant eating capability). Jungle vals are my personal favourite to go with Africans, and there are plants similar to them found in and amongst many of the reefs in Lake Malawi. Thanks for that info. I would like to have to have plants in my tank and will look for some Jungle Vals Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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