I Have Some Fish Tank Questions

[Benny]

you guys should check out my buddy Rainforest Farms International | Discus Fish, Freshwater Tropical Fish, Aquarium Plants, Tropical Fish Food he is in bloomington(support small business) he has real quality fish and supplies. and he can usually get whatever you want if he doesn't have it on the site.

How expensive is it to ship fish? I'm going to be getting a 55-60 gallon take in the next couple of weeks and Petsmart just doesn't have the variety I'm looking for.

Since adding fish, I've had two casualties...The orange one just completely stopped eating and the yellow one was as healthy looking as can be and just flat died in a matter of a couple of hours.

I've added a a couple more and have 5 total now...They will all be going into the new tank once I get it set up...I'll also be going for a bigger variety of colors, but for some reason, right now bright colored fish don't seem to want to stay alive.

 

[tyler34]

IDK I guess it depends on the amount you get. you can always shoot him an e-mail.

 

[cyberwild360]

It's not too horribly expensive depneding on where you get it from. Don't buy fish from Petsmart. And if you see one you absolutely have to have - quarantine it first so it doesn't affect the rest of your tank.

We had three fish delivered for around 100$ They were saltwater fish mind you - I've never priced freshwater fish.

I have a 215 gallon saltwater tank. I love fish tanks and like to think I'm pretty knowledgeable so if there are any more questions shoot.

 

[rfontes]

im assuming freshwater, i would use water that has been filtered by reverse osmosis-tap contains too many minerals and contaminants.. use a cap full of water conditioner per gallon, some ph buffer @ 7.0 neutral, and a lil aquarium salt.. let it run for atleast 2 weeks- let the tank cycle it will get cloudy(bacteria growth)- then it will gradually start to clear up- change about 1/3 of the water. put some aquarium plants in 2. remember you got to make the tank resemble a natural habitat.. i would test it out with a cheap goldfish for a week before spending big money on fish. theres this aquarium store on keystone ave, nice selection of fish to choose, i like the dwarf neon rainbow fish, nice coloring and mild temperament. kinna pricey though, 9 bucks each..

 

[RichardR]

Since adding fish, I've had two casualties...The orange one just completely stopped eating and the yellow one was as healthy looking as can be and just flat died in a matter of a couple of hours.

Those fish in your tank are Lake Malawi Mbuna, you should get used to having fish die, they are very aggressive & very territorial & they will kill each other off constantly as each of them tries to dominate the tank.

I've added a a couple more and have 5 total now...They will all be going into the new tank once I get it set up...I'll also be going for a bigger variety of colors, but for some reason, right now bright colored fish don't seem to want to stay alive.

Also keeping various species of Lake Malawi Mbuna into the same tank together only makes their aggression & territorial problem worse, especially when they start breeding.

Best advice I can give to someone wanting to keep mbunas is 1.) pick one species to keep in each tank, 2.) make sure that you only keep 1 fish for every 3 gallons of water in the tank & 3.) make sure that you build plenty of rock structures with plenty of individual caves for them to "claim" as their own.

Oh and 4.) you'll also want heavy-duty filtration, at least 10x your tanks total volume per hour ... so for a 55-60 gallon tank your going to want your filters filtering at least 600 gallons an hour.

 

[Benny]

Also keeping various species of Lake Malawi Mbuna into the same tank together only makes their aggression & territorial problem worse, especially when they start breeding.

Best advice I can give to someone wanting to keep mbunas is 1.) pick one species to keep in each tank, 2.) make sure that you only keep 1 fish for every 3 gallons of water in the tank & 3.) make sure that you build plenty of rock structures with plenty of individual caves for them to "claim" as their own.

Oh and 4.) you'll also want heavy-duty filtration, at least 10x your tanks total volume per hour ... so for a 55-60 gallon tank your going to want your filters filtering at least 600 gallons an hour.

Thanks for the advice! Now I have some questions.

Do you think I should give up on the Malawis?(Should I just keep them in the 20 gallon I currently have and start over with the 55? Will they eat the other cichlids?)

I always heard 1 inch of fish per gallon of water...The Malawis get to be 4-6 inches.

What do you mean just keep one species? If I'm going to go with Malawis, I should just keep Malawis in there? I've been looking at lots of tanks and I've seen several successful tanks with multiple species in there...I even saw a tank with South American Cichlids with African cichlids(and I heard that was a big no no).

Let me look around for the rock setup I'm wanting to mirror and you can tell me if you think it would work...
(If you or any have any suggestions, especially with pictures, please feel free)

 

[Benny]

OK, this is the one I was thinking of:

[Note the S. Americans(I see at least 2 SA parrot cichlids) with the Malawis]

And I found this one along the way:

 

[RichardR]

Thanks for the advice! Now I have some questions.

Do you think I should give up on the Malawis?(Should I just keep them in the 20 gallon I currently have and start over with the 55? Will they eat the other cichlids?)

Lake Malawi Mbuna are all fairly aggressive, L. caeruleus (electric yellow labs) are probably the least aggressive of the bunch & are a bit easier to keep, you might try a tank of those to start off with, they are very beautiful fish & they breed easily.

I always heard 1 inch of fish per gallon of water...The Malawis get to be 4-6 inches.

Mbuna need a little more space because they are so territorial, even in single species tanks with 3" of fish per gallon they will still regularly fight each other in order to dominate the tank.

What do you mean just keep one species? If I'm going to go with Malawis, I should just keep Malawis in there?

Lake Malawi Mbuna is a generic term that actually encompasses several species of "African cichlids".

I've been looking at lots of tanks and I've seen several successful tanks with multiple species in there...I even saw a tank with South American Cichlids with African cichlids(and I heard that was a big no no).

I wouldn't advise it, unless you really like netting dead fish out of your aquarium.

Let me look around for the rock setup I'm wanting to mirror and you can tell me if you think it would work...
(If you or any have any suggestions, especially with pictures, please feel free)

Those photos of the rock structures that you posted are what you basically will want to construct, just make sure that you can easily disassemble & reassemble the structures for cleaning purposes.

 

[woundedyak]

Thanks for the advice! Now I have some questions.

Do you think I should give up on the Malawis?(Should I just keep them in the 20 gallon I currently have and start over with the 55? Will they eat the other cichlids?)

I always heard 1 inch of fish per gallon of water...The Malawis get to be 4-6 inches.

What do you mean just keep one species? If I'm going to go with Malawis, I should just keep Malawis in there? I've been looking at lots of tanks and I've seen several successful tanks with multiple species in there...I even saw a tank with South American Cichlids with African cichlids(and I heard that was a big no no).

Let me look around for the rock setup I'm wanting to mirror and you can tell me if you think it would work...
(If you or any have any suggestions, especially with pictures, please feel free)

1 fish per gallon only works if you are keeping Neon's or Gold fish. Malawis should be in nothing smaller then a 55, but preferably 75+ There are a huge vast of sub species(500+) with in the Malawis. The term "Malawis" comes from the lake that they are found in. The two most common groups are "Mbuan" and "Haps"
Mbuan are 90% vegetarians and are mellow compared to the Haps which mainly prey on smaller fish. So this is were the conflict happens!

 

[Benny]

I found a great deal on an already setup tank, but it has a 12 fish "colony" of Flametail Peacock Cichlids...Would my fish eat them if I stuck them all in the same tank?

Here is a picture of the setup.

[/IMG]

 

[RichardR]

1 fish per gallon only works if you are keeping Neon's or Gold fish. Malawis should be in nothing smaller then a 55, but preferably 75+ There are a huge vast of sub species(500+) with in the Malawis. The term "Malawis" comes from the lake that they are found in. The two most common groups are "Mbuan" and "Haps"
Mbuan are 90% vegetarians and are mellow compared to the Haps which mainly prey on smaller fish. So this is were the conflict happens!

Mbuna are vegetarian for the most part, however they are extremely aggressively territorial & will relentlessly kill other fish in their tank (not for food, just to kill them).

Haps are carnivorous (they'll happily eat other fish that small enough to fit in their mouth) and are found in the more open sand-bottom parts of Lake Malawi so they do better in open tanks without all of the rock structures that Mbuna favor, but in my experience they are not the "cold blooded killers" that the Mbuna are.

Haps are a bit more difficult to breed simply because they eat the off-spring of their tank mates much more readily than Mbuna do & since Hap tanks don't have all of the rock structures that Mbuna tanks do there are fewer places for the young fry to hide in a Hap tank.

 

[tyler34]

I found a great deal on an already setup tank, but it has a 12 fish "colony" of Flametail Peacock Cichlids...Would my fish eat them if I stuck them all in the same tank?

Here is a picture of the setup.

is it invisible?

 

[Benny]

is it invisible?

Does the picture not work? I see it just fine.

Let me redo it.

Edit:

 

[RichardR]

I found a great deal on an already setup tank, but it has a 12 fish "colony" of Flametail Peacock Cichlids...Would my fish eat them if I stuck them all in the same tank?

I wouldn't recommend mixing species, especially with Mbuna species & especially with m. auratus that I saw in your "my tank" photos, those are the "worst of the worst" offenders in my experience.

Here is a picture of the setup.

[/IMG]

But yea that tank setup looks like a good starting setup for keeping a. stuartgranti (ie Peacocks).

 

[Benny]

But yea that tank setup looks like a good starting setup for keeping a. stuartgranti (ie Peacocks).

I just recently bought the yellow fish in question, so he can be returned with a refund...What about the others?

I could always get rid of them, but I don't really want to.

 

[RichardR]

I just recently bought the yellow fish in question, so he can be returned with a refund...What about the others?

I could always get rid of them, but I don't really want to.

I noticed you also had p. lombardoi (Blue Kenyi's) which unfortunately are probably the second worst of the bunch, they are beautiful fish no doubt but they really should be kept in a single species tank due to their aggression.

 

[woundedyak]

If you can get a full tank of "Peacock flametails" AKA Ngara Flametail aka Aulonocara stuartgranti. That would be full of win as long as there is more females then males. Or it's a all male tank. "Peacocks" are my favorite cichlid to keep. I put a all male tank together about 5yrs ago and haven't lost a fish yet. As far as the Yellow lab goes....He might make it as long as he is bigger then the peacocks. I've seen stranger things happen in tanks.

 

[Benny]

I noticed you also had p. lombardoi (Blue Kenyi's) which unfortunately are probably the second worst of the bunch, they are beautiful fish no doubt but they really should be kept in a single species tank due to their aggression.

I really picked some gems didn't I?

Man, I really hate to get rid of them, but it's looking like I'll have to...At least I'll get a full refund on the yellow one, but I have no idea what I'm going to do with the other 4. They are in a 20 gallon tank right now and I'm sure they will end up killing eachother as they mature.

You sound like you know a little bit about cichlids(); do you have any idea what other species of cichlids I could put in with Flametail peacocks?

I'd really like to have a variety.

 

[Benny]

If you can get a full tank of "Peacock flametails" AKA Ngara Flametail aka Aulonocara stuartgranti. That would be full of win as long as there is more females then males. Or it's a all male tank. "Peacocks" are my favorite cichlid to keep. I put a all male tank together about 5yrs ago and haven't lost a fish yet. As far as the Yellow lab goes....He might make it as long as he is bigger then the peacocks. I've seen stranger things happen in tanks.

She actually told me that I'll eventually have to thin down the male population a bit as they mature.

How can I tell males from females?

Can I see a picture of your tank(with a zoomed pic(s) of the fish please?

 

[Benny]

I just read this from an article on cichlid-forum DOT com:

This species is very undemanding, as is the case with most of the peacocks. In other words, they are very peaceful, tending to ignore most other fish, and are rarely the object of any other fishes aggression. They also accept most aquascaping setups, including gravel, sand, rocks, or even planted aquariums.