New to Cichlids...Looking for advice

[pino]

Hello,

I'm new to fish keeping and am very interested in housing African Cichlids. I've done a lot of reading on tank setups, water parameters, and basic advice on how to keep cichlids, but I am totally lost when it comes to choosing which species to go into my tank.

I have a 29 gallon (yeah, I know...I should have bought the 55 gallon but I don't have the extra space :D ) tank that I bought in January and has been running sans fish ever since. Here's a break down of my equipment & water parameters:

ph - 8.2
kh/gh - 10 degrees (can't remember the formula to convert it into ppm)

filter - AquaClear 300
heater - Ebo Jager 150W
substrate - sand
decorations - a whole bunch of smooth river rocks piled on top of each other (also planning on purchasing two plants of the anubias variety)
water movement - Penguin Powerhead 660R to power 2 under gravel jets


I've read that many people suggest keeping dwarf cichlids in a tank that small but I have no idea which species are of the dwarf variety. Can someone please list the names of the cichlids that would thrive best in such an environment.


Also, I purchased a bag of crushed coral to mix with my sand substrate to help buffer the tank but this was before I tested the pH & hardness of my tank water (tap water tested as pH 7 & low hardness). Should I add the crushed coral or do you think it would be best to leave the tank as is?

Thanks in advance!

- Paul

[Rudy]

Paul,

Go for a dwarf malawi species tank. Pseudotropheus Saulosi would be my pic. Actually they were my pic in my 29.

You could go with 5-6. If you don't tell anybody you could probably go With a couple of tanginikan shell dwellers. Brevis worked for me. Shelleys are tough and don't create a lot of waste.

[SGypsyMermaid]

go ahead and mix the crushed coral with your sand substrate...you [i:02321fa4e7]want[/i:02321fa4e7] alkaline, hard water. i like rudy's suggestions, but don't tell anyone. :wink: