Alright so I am was at my LFS today and was browsing around and I was seeing if anything caught my eye. Needless to say before I was about to leave empty handed I saw 2 very small Cichla in a tank. I have never seen them around where I live but decided to take them home. Now they are set up in my 20G Long with a few small feeders. The guy at the store told me they were only eating feeders right now so I got a few small ones to take home also. Anyway now I have 2 Cichla. The guy at the store couldn't tell me what exactly they were except Peacock Bass. I posted a picture up yesterday of them and someone said they were probably Mono/Ocell Hybrids which are the most common, which doesn't bother me but I am not 100% sure I tried to use the ID stickie but alot of them look alike to me, so if anyone could give me a positive ID that would be awesome. But I have them set up in my 20G with pool filter substrate and some feeders. So far they seem to be ok. As soon as I put them in the tank they kinda chilled in the middle of the tank and when I dropped the feeders in one of them went straight after them and got one so I think that's pretty good.
So my 20G Long tank has a Fluval AquaClear 50 as my filtration and a Fluval M100 Heater (100w). Pool filter sand as my substrate and nothing else in it. I think thats ok for now. I have some questions about my new Cichla though. I don't know exactly what light is on the tank except it is the original bulb that came with the hood. Should I have a special bulb for them or is there a better bulb I could be using. Would doing WC's when they are this small be a bad thing? If I do WC's should I do a 50% or smaller?
What is the best food to get them on. I would like to get them pellet trained as soon as possible. Are they 2 small to start trying? Would it be ok to add some small Clown Loaches to the tank I was planning on getting a few soon but I can wait if that would be a bad idea. And would it be better to leave a bare sand substrate or add some drift wood and plants to give places to hide to feel more secure in the tank. Right now I have the lights off and a towel over the tank since its in my room.
I have alot to learn I know and most of this stuff can probably be found in stickes or other threads which I am about to start reading as soon as I get done typing this up. I plan on getting my 90gallon set up very soon so they can be moved to that when they get a bit bigger and after that I want to get something much larger most likely over 125gallons. And eventually I know someone who has a massive tank at his house who can take them in. I want to make sure I have a plan down the road for these guys. They did start to hide in the corner of the tank and are doing that a bit I don't know if that's normal or not. If anyone has some tips or any adult versions of these please let me know and give me some advice and post pictures of yours. I am extremely excited about these fish.
So my 20G Long tank has a Fluval AquaClear 50 as my filtration and a Fluval M100 Heater (100w). Pool filter sand as my substrate and nothing else in it. I think thats ok for now. I have some questions about my new Cichla though. I don't know exactly what light is on the tank except it is the original bulb that came with the hood. Should I have a special bulb for them or is there a better bulb I could be using. Would doing WC's when they are this small be a bad thing? If I do WC's should I do a 50% or smaller?
What is the best food to get them on. I would like to get them pellet trained as soon as possible. Are they 2 small to start trying? Would it be ok to add some small Clown Loaches to the tank I was planning on getting a few soon but I can wait if that would be a bad idea. And would it be better to leave a bare sand substrate or add some drift wood and plants to give places to hide to feel more secure in the tank. Right now I have the lights off and a towel over the tank since its in my room.
I have alot to learn I know and most of this stuff can probably be found in stickes or other threads which I am about to start reading as soon as I get done typing this up. I plan on getting my 90gallon set up very soon so they can be moved to that when they get a bit bigger and after that I want to get something much larger most likely over 125gallons. And eventually I know someone who has a massive tank at his house who can take them in. I want to make sure I have a plan down the road for these guys. They did start to hide in the corner of the tank and are doing that a bit I don't know if that's normal or not. If anyone has some tips or any adult versions of these please let me know and give me some advice and post pictures of yours. I am extremely excited about these fish.
