John Snow Posted November 3, 2009 Report Share Posted November 3, 2009 Hi Everybody, I'm new to the world of cichlids and am eager to jump right in. I've been doing some research for the past 3 weeks and i think i have a pretty good idea of what might work for me, but i want to run it by the group of experienced cichlidophyles before i head out and buy some fish. I have a 30 gallon long tank that has been cycling with zebra fish and it's almost ready as my ammonia and nitrite levels are falling. I've got a biowheel type filter (not sure how many gallons/hr but it's rated for a 30 gallon tank) and lots of rocks for hiding places. I'm looking at two options (based mostly on availability at Big Al's Edmonton): 1) Starting a colony of Ps. Saulosi, i'd get 4, pretty sure they are 1M and 3F. OR 2) Going for all male (hopefully) tank with different species, i'd get 4 out of the following: 1 Cynotilapia Afra Cobwe 1 Ps. Saulosi 1 Ps. Demasoni 1 Labidocromis Perlmutt 1 Ps. Elongatis 1 Ps. Polit I know option 1 is good but can option 2 work? For some of the species i might end up with a female - is that a deal breaker? I'm also assuming diet is critical, so an Astatotilapia Nubilis for example would be incompatible with a Cy. Afra because one is herbivore and the other carnivore, is that correct? thank you for your help. John Snow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
outacontrol Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 (edited) do you want to breed cichlids? or just have a display tank? I would not recommend having any females in the "male only" display tank as it will lead to breeding aggression and fighting. Edited November 4, 2009 by outacontrol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wingin' It Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 If you're going to do option #2, i'd suggest buying larger fish so that you can be more confident in their sex, I also would try to get all males because some of those fish you listed get really, really aggressive when they are breeding (such is the cichlid trait) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesp Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 I agree with what Wingin and outacontrol wrote. I also personally prefer the male tank. Looks like you have your heart set on blues for these cichlids. I like a range of colours and patterns in my 55 gallon, but to each his or her own. As far as the feeding, New Life Spectrum is the best brand in the biz. Personally I have a big mix of cichlids and I have never had trouble. Be sure to offer them some romaine lettuce or zucchini now and again. Cichlids can get 'malawi bloat' if they have a diet too high in protein. Just feed a balanced diet and it'll never be a problem. (If anyone else has more input on the subject, please feel free to correct me). Welcome to the forum, you came to the right place for information. Cheers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Bloat is not a problem when feeding NLS, IME. Have been feeding NLS exclusively for 3yrs to all kinds of 'herbivores' - including mbuna - and have never had a fish get bloat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Snow Posted November 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Bloat is not a problem when feeding NLS, IME. Have been feeding NLS exclusively for 3yrs to all kinds of 'herbivores' - including mbuna - and have never had a fish get bloat. I'm not sure if i am understanding this correctly. Are we saying here that if i feed cichlids NLS then it won't matter if they are herbivores or carnivores? That i could therefore have a mix of both and feed them the same thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesp Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 That is correct. NLS is great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ishkabod Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 Yup that's right and from personal experience your best bet is to get a small group of each one you want a male of then when the male shows himself then you can place him in the 30 gallon. this will also provide you with a hospital tank to Quarentine fish before you add them to the tank. I don't know anything about Biowheels and don't know of anyone on here that has them. If the Biowheel is rated to 30 gallons then you might want to add another filter. There are a couple of other considerations. and i HIGHLY reccomend you read the articles i'll post a link to below for you. There is much more aggression in fosh when you have males that are roughly the same colour. The last two things i must add is get a robust plecco that won't grow too too big (4inches) and it'll take care of the glass cleaning for you, and if you wanted a planted tank then forget africans as they will dig them up. Hope this might help L P.S. Get some crushed coral to add to the tank to help buffer the PH. You also might luck out and find someone selling the fish you want in the buy sell section or at the auction. Setup Begginner fish Cookie cutter setups Reference Library Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted November 4, 2009 Report Share Posted November 4, 2009 With NLS you won't have a food issue; the thing to watch for is the compatibility of fish issue. Ihad a friend who had saulosi and demasoni spawning the same 33 gallon tank but I would have never tried that. Maybe a few of either but not both in a tank that small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 With NLS you won't have a food issue; the thing to watch for is the compatibility of fish issue.Ihad a friend who had saulosi and demasoni spawning the same 33 gallon tank but I would have never tried that. Maybe a few of either but not both in a tank that small. Watch out for the saulosi and demasoni demonstrating aggression to each other because of the similar striping pattern. We had that experience in our tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Snow Posted November 5, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 Thanks everyone, this is great info. I'm pretty sure i'm going to end up doing a single species tank with Saulosi (assuming they are still available), but it's so tempting to have a veriaty in there. What about aggression towards non-similar looking fish? If i had 1M 3F Saulosi could you add a male of a different species (Mbuna) or whould that male compete with the Saulosi male becuase he has no females of his own species? Lets say a Labidocromis Perlmutt or a Rusty cichlid, something pretty different looking then the Saulosi male. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Snow Posted November 9, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 So i ended up with the more sensible solution and now have 4 Ps. Saulosi in my 30 gal tank. One male and 3 females, the male is in between yellow and blue coloring. So, to feed these little guys i bought some Spirulina flakes and some New Life Spectrum pellets. What is the best feeding routine? They are herbivore and eat algea off the rocks normally, so i'm assuming i predominantly feed them spirulina flakes and a few times of week give them some pellets for veriaty. Does that sound right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiote Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 So i ended up with the more sensible solution and now have 4 Ps. Saulosi in my 30 gal tank. One male and 3 females, the male is in between yellow and blue coloring.So, to feed these little guys i bought some Spirulina flakes and some New Life Spectrum pellets. What is the best feeding routine? They are herbivore and eat algea off the rocks normally, so i'm assuming i predominantly feed them spirulina flakes and a few times of week give them some pellets for veriaty. Does that sound right? My Mbuna usually get Omega-1 Sinking Veggie pellets daily, Spirulina/Brine Shrimp twice a week, and daily offerings of leftover veggies from the fridge. Try to get your mbuna on blanched lettuce, zuchinni and brussel sprouts early on, its healthy for them and gets rid of spare veggies. Nice choice on the Saulosi. :thumbs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted November 10, 2009 Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 When I had saulosi I only fed NLS with good results. I did not mess around with supplementary foods. But when it comes to fish food you will get many opinions and many will defend their food choices more vigorously than their religions!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Snow Posted November 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2009 Thanks for the info, i'll start feeding predominantly NLS pellets. I have one more question. I've been reading about bloat and i'm not sure if i have cause for concern. The Saulosi have been in the tank only 3 days, roughly 24 hours after being in the tank i noticed the male had a long string of white poo hanging back there. From what i read this is often a sign of internal parasites/bloat. They were bought at Big Al's and had been fed OSI spirulina flakes once. All have really good appetitite and the male is not showing any other symptoms. Any reason to take action? For now i'm going to switch to only NLS and feed only once a day and observe to see if this white poo continues. If i notice the male being not so eager at feeding time, what treatment should i go get? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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