NOOBY

[Chago09]

K I am not a nooby to fish keeping, I'm just a super noob to africans. I have been doing some reading on these guys and have come up with a few more questions. Well my set up is a 65 gallon with 4 electric yellows and 3 hap moori. Plus there is 7 cories and 2 bristlenose plecos. I have a Aqua Clear 70 and 50 on that tank. I have been finidng some nice rocks at the beach for my tank and after I clean and test them all I will be adding them. I have seen though that these guys like sand.... is it a must???? i love the way sand looks but i don't want to deal with mixing it and stuff caue I hear its not easy dealing with sand. Is there a brand of very very fine gravel that looks almost like sand but large enough to not have gas build up and soo on??? Plus my tap PH is 7.0. The LFS where i got the fish from kept them in 7.0 and there in it now and they seem fine so can I leave it there??? or should I look into a gravel that raises PH????Will my fish ever breed even with two different species in the tank???? My tank has a 65 watt compact flourescent light fixture that is 6700k(ment fort plants although i dont' have any) is this light to strong???? will it bother my africans
Thanks for the help

 

[kay-bee]

It might get a little rough for your cories if they attract harassment from your cichlids.

Sand is ideal but not essential. Many cichlids, especially c. moorii, spend quite a lot of time sand sifting. Gravel will still work though, if that's what you've got. I have sand in all my tanks. No real problem with it. Due to the physical properties of sand, not much solid waste gets beneath it (unlike gravel).

A pH of 8.0-8.4 is probably ideal. However stable pH is fine as well. If it stays at 7.0 and doesn't fluctuate at all, it shouldn't be much of a problem.

The odds of the species you have interbreeding is low (but not impossible). As long as you have adequate representation of both genders among both species you should be fine. You could probably add a couple of more labs.

 

[Scotty]

First off I would like to say "WELCOME" to this addictive hobby.
Fish you have should not cross-breed. I would like to recommend you look at putting a sand/fine coral mixture into your tank. The reason why I say this is I have had both sand and gravel bottoms and the sand is far easier to keep clean and the fish seem to like it a more. Why I say this is that all my fish spend quite a bit of time filtering through the sand, especially after they have been fed. This could be a natural part of their lives in the lake. I believe the closer to the natural conditions you can have your tank the more successful you should be at breeding your fish.
I would most definitely look to increasing the PH to around 8.
You can also look at putiing some Vallisneria into the tank. The fish will pull it out from time to time, but it adds some nice greenery to a tank.
Post us some pics of your tank.