Please bear with me I'm new to cichlids...

[KeejuLovesHisAmour]

Hi there,

My wife and I are looking to establish a cichlid only tank, here is our setup.

We have a 25 gallon tank, the levels are as follows:

Temperature=77F
pH=7.2
Nitrate=0
Nitrite=0
Ammonia=0

What we're looking for is a pair of cichlids that would be good for this size of tank along with using the same tank to raise the fry.

Also we would prefer for the species to be easy to breed.

We already have had the following cichlids recommended but if you "resident experts" have any comments on the following or even some other suggestions it'd be appreciated.

Here is the list so far:

Rams (we do not prefer these as they're not mouthbrooders)
Keyholes
Festivum
Krebensis
Egyptian Mouthbrooder
Blue Lipped Mouthbrooder
Red Hump Earth Eater

Well any input is appreciated and TIA.

Hope to hear back from you all soon....

RGDS

Curtis M.

[Scotty]

Hey Guys, Below is a list of some hardy, inexpensive beginner cichlids that you can start with. I would like to start by making two comments on your post. First, the Keyholes, festivums and Kribensis are also not mouthbrooders, and the Geophagus will get too big for your tank. If you want the babies to be taken care of by the parents in the same tank, you want to stay away from mouthbrooders anyway. For the most part, once the babies are spit out they're going to get gobbled up. The non mouthbrooding, substrate/cave spawners are the ones that care for, and herd their babies around. This behavior is one of the coolest things for new cichlid keepers to observe 8) Also, keep in mind that you will eventually need to find a source to get rid of some of your fish, but a pet store will usually give you something for them. You're going to want to get a group of about six juveniles and let them pair off as they mature. Once you have a pair, you can trade the others in. Besides the substrate spawners already mentioned, you could also try:

Jewel Cichlids
Convict Cichlids
Brichardis or "Shell Dwellers" (These two are Africans, and while hardy, and easy to care for, will require a little reading up on your part to get the water chemistry right)

Anyway, hope this helps you out.... Scott 8)

[KeejuLovesHisAmour]

Scotty,

Thanks for your input, however, this is what a cyberbuddy of mine posted to me on another forum regarding convicts:

[quote:7af09c4a4f]the convicts are very easy to spawn and are likly to do so before the firemouths, hence claim the whole tank, they also have loads of fry (upto 300) which can be hard to sell and find room to raise, so if you only have the 30gal then I wouldn't even get them, as you will need another 50 gal to raise them to a size to sell.[/quote:7af09c4a4f]

What is your opinion on that?

Also, regarding the keyholes and festivums and kribensis, which do you recommend for a first time cichlid fish enthusiast for breeding etc.?

RGDS

Curtis M.

[Scotty]

Hey- Convicts are probably the easiest to spawn and raise, hence they are the fish you will get the least $$$ for when you get rid of them. Your buddy is correct if your "only" criteria is resale value, but you're talking miniscule amounts anyway. If you raised Kribensis for instance, you might get 25 or 50 cents apiece for babies as opposed to 10 cents for Convicts. You're not going to wind up with hundeds of babies from anything if you don't seperate them out to a rearing tank anyway. Eventually, the parents will spawn again and start preying on the prior batch. The plus to convicts is that they are almost indestuctible and will breed no matter what you do. Personally, I would pick Kribensis or Jewel cichlids for you if you asked me, as they stay smaller than some of the other species you mentioned. This means they'll spawn sooner and you'll have a greater margin for beginner errors in your smaller tank. Having said that, if you're willing to educate yourself and put the time in to the proper care, you can be successful with any of the fish on your list, so have fun with it 8)

[KeejuLovesHisAmour]

[quote:209c37f69b="Scotty"]Personally, I would pick Kribensis or Jewel cichlids for you if you asked me, as they stay smaller than some of the other species you mentioned. This means they'll spawn sooner and you'll have a greater margin for beginner errors in your smaller tank.[/quote:209c37f69b]

Scotty,

Thanks for your awesome input. Could you please provide me with some links or even your knowledge on how to sex either the kribs or jewel cichlids.

Also, these are not mouthbrooders correct?

RGDS

Curtis M.

[SGypsyMermaid]

hi 'k' :) no, they are not mouthbrooders. here are a couple of links. if you do a 'google' search on 'kribensis' or 'jewel cichlid' you'll bring up a ton of info. enjoy!

http://www.aquazoo.co.uk/page.cfm/Type=Fish/ID=175


http://www.aquazoo.co.uk/page.cfm/Type=Fish/ID=133

[finz]

um SGM, that first link appears to be an error :wink: :wink:

[SGypsyMermaid]

:oops: ok--fixed it.