The Seedy Recipe .: Cichlids: A Knowledge Base

OK, so you just bought your first Cichlid tank and you just found out that the LFS or "Megamart" steered you wrong...what do you do? I understand money and space constraints, and I believe that any one, with some work, can keep and breed Cichlids successfully... Just follow my recipe, I've tried to make it as simple as possible for the newbie and to give reasons for my recommendations... If any one has ANY feedback, it is of course more than welcome...

Situation #1.....Too small a tank....

So you just got that "killer" deal on that 29 gallon tank you've had your eye on and you decided on Cichlids, but every one is telling you your tank is too small...Well, if you have less than 25 gallons "they" are correct (except maybe for a grow out, or dwarf species tank)...Think of it like this...you wouldn't keep a horse in an inner city apartment, and you wouldn't keep a Macaw in a Parakeet cage, so why would you put Mbuna in a 20 gallon?

Here's what to do with that 29 gallon starter kit...

Redecorate
First, total "redecoration" of the tank to suit cichlids. Your 29 probably came with an under gravel filter, if not you will need to get something like "egg crate" from the hardware store to protect the bottom of your tank. Now, go to your local rock supply company, these are the people who landscapers buy their supplies from. Buy at least 20 pounds of either limestone of sandstone that you can easily and safely stack inside your tank... the more rock, the better. If you have softer or more acidic water (lower pH/kh/gh) you might want to use limestone for it's buffering qualities. Next, go home and rinse the holy heck out of your rocks...do not use soap or any detergents, just rinse like there is no tomorrow. Now you need to sterilize the stones, for this you can either boil them (if your pots big enough, or the stones are small enough) or you can make a 10-20% bleach solution and soak the rocks overnight. You will then need to rinse the rocks again, and again, and then twice more to be sure you got it all. Next, place your rocks in a large bucket or tub, cover with water, and then squirt in a HEALTHY amount of your favorite water condition (you can't use too much). I like using Amquel and Novaqua at this step. Finally, build a "reef" in your tank using your rocks, make sure that you sit your rocks on the bottom of the tank and not just on the surface of the sand/gravel, or they may topple killing fish or even breaking the tank. If your fish are already in the tank, make sure you don't "squish'em" when adding your rock. Try to keep in mind that your goal here is to break up the fishes line of sight and to provide as many hiding spaces as possible. The "experts" (especially Konings) strongly recommend that you have a background on at least the back and preferably one more side of the tank, so you may want to DIY a background when you get a chance...for now just having the back and a side covered from the outside will be enough.
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Beef up that Filter!
Ok, this is going to cost you some cash, sorry, there just isn't a way around this one...But spending money on a good filter is better than spending it on replacing your fish... Cichlids are super messy eaters and require more filtration per gallon than your standard "tetra" tank. I recommend having two "Hang On Back" (HOB) filters on every tank, that way if one goes out, or you need to set up an emergency hospital/fry tank, you are covered. If your undergravel filter (UGF) does not have a power head, then you need to get the largest reversible power head you can afford/fit and set in up "reversed" to the UGF. While many people will tell you (and somewhat correctly) that UGFs are "no good" on a cichlid tank because the fish dig. I recommend them two fold, one because they protect the glass from your rocks and two, because a reversed power head will keep the "sludge" from building up under your rocks and pollute your water. Here is my "rule of thumb" for calculating proper filtration for an overstocked, small, cichlid tank. First, do not count on any filtration from your UGF/powerhead combo, this is primarily for flow, and it's efficiency will be reduced when the cichlids start digging (and they will). Now add together your remaining filters "gallons per hour" (GPH)...you need to be turning over your total water volume at least 10x per hour, preferably more...so if you have a 29 gallon tank, you need at least 290 gallons per hour of filtration + the flow from the power head...

"Fix" Your Species Selection
First, If you have a Maylandia crabro (Bumblebee), go ahead and take it back now...He's just going to get too big and mean. Trust me on this one, unless you have 50+gallons, just go ahead and take him back, same goes for Haplochromis Moori (blue dolphin), Tropheus species and Cyphotiliapia frontosa. These fish would be elephants in poodle carrier...

A few things to keep in mind before you buy any more fish... These fish can live for 5+ years, so you want to select the finest individual that you can, also this may matter to you later as you get more into the hobby and want to breed your fish...Fish should be disease and parasite free when you buy them, don't try to "save" a sickly fish. As with most wild animals, fish hide the symptoms of their illness for as long as possible to avoid predation. Therefore, by the time you see illness in a fish, it is almost, if not already past the point of no return...Split fins are very common among cichlids and will heal, but steer clear of any fish/display tanks that have dead fish, "spots", or "fuzz".

Try to fit your current species selections into one of these tank designs...
The HYPER AGGRESSIVE 29 gallon recipe. Expect to have casualties from this species selection...
Feed spirulina based cichlid flake/pellet
1 Male/2 Female Kenyi (Maylandia lombardoi)
1 Male/2 Female "Zebra species" (such as Maylandia Estherea the Red Zebra)
1 Psuedotropheus demasoni
1 Melanochromis species (Such as arautus, johanni, etc.)
1 "pleco"

The LOVE SHACK...
If you keep your water quality up with this tank you will soon be up to your gills in fry...
Feed spirulina based flake/pellets and regular cichlid pellets/flake

1 Male/2 Female Labidochromis cerealus (Yellow Lab)
1 Male/2 Female Iodotropheus sperengrea (Rusty Cichlid)
1 Labeotropheus or Cynotilapia afra species
1 Psuedotropheus demasoni
1 "pleco"

The SEEDY SPECIAL....Mixed lake omnivores...
Make sure you have caves for the Substrate spawners (lelupi or Juli ). Feed regular cichlid flake or pellets, can be supplemented with frozen mysis/brine shrimp/bloodworms and fresh blanched leafy greens/veggies...
1 Male/2 Female Cynotilapia afra "Mbweca" (hard to find "green" C. afra, a very unusual dwarf Mbuna)
1 Male/1 Female Julidochromis transcriptus or Neolamprologus lelupi (Lake Tanganyika cave/substrate spawners)
1 Male Aulonocara jacobfreibergi species (peacock)
1 Bristle nose or Leprocanthicus species "pleco"

More to come as I "cook it up"