Stocking 29 gal African cichlids

[Jeditaz]

Feed enough for them to consume in about 2 mins. Rotate the Flakes in your feeding routine when you get the pellets. I personally would pass on the beef heart though. I personally feed my Cichlids once a day.

Thank you for the advice, I've been researching a lot and I'm starting to hear a lot of different opinions on bloodworms, some say it's great and some say they are too high in protein for omnivores that are mainly herbivores. Any thoughts on that? Also when you said rotate the flakes with the pellets do you mean like flakes Monday Wednesday Friday, pellets Tuesday Thursday Saturday and bloodworms Sunday? Also why would you recommend one feeding per day, my wife would say it's not enough but I've gained some weight in the three + years I've known her XD I will stay away from beef heart.

 

[tlindsey]

Thank you for the advice, I've been researching a lot and I'm starting to hear a lot of different opinions on bloodworms, some say it's great and some say they are too high in protein for omnivores that are mainly herbivores. Any thoughts on that? Also when you said rotate the flakes with the pellets do you mean like flakes Monday Wednesday Friday, pellets Tuesday Thursday Saturday and bloodworms Sunday? Also why would you recommend one feeding per day, my wife would say it's not enough but I've gained some weight in the three + years I've known her XD I will stay away from beef heart.

Yes don't feed the same type of food everyday. Personally I like to offer a varied diet with different brands such as NLS, Omega1, Ocean Nutrition just to name a few thats good for Cichlids. They even sell foods specifically for African Cichlids also.

 

[markstrimaran]

My wife over feeds my take, fish grow fast, but you need thin sand, a well designed sump, with high capacity mechanical filtration. Any pellet over 2 hours old, will never be eaten. If left to decompose will rapidly increase nitrates, and cause bacterial blooms.
I use an algea scrubber, with reef lighting to grow a lot of greens. That the fish consume, lately, about as fast as it grows.

 

[Jeditaz]

Thanks Tlindsey, I looked up the brand names you recommended and I will definitely look for that brand to feed to them! I thought the NLS was pretty cool that they are color enhancing pellets. I will look for both NLS and ocean nutrition in my lfs. I already use omega one flakes and bloodworms.

Thanks for the reply Mark! Honestly bacterial blooms and rise in nitrates and left over food are my worst nightmare for my tank. We thought about live plants at first but our lfs told us African cichlids will eat them so we went with artificial ones. Our lighting came with the tank so I don't know the specifications on if it's considered reef lighting or not. We do of course give them at least 12 hours of dark time nightly.

The fish seem to be getting along well and I added another picture that better displayed all six of them. I haven't been seeing any overly aggressive behavior from any of them. Surprisingly the Jewel cichlid has been pretty docile with the other fish and not attacking any of them. As time goes tensions may rise though.

 

[J. H.]

Seeing as you have a hang on back filter, you can put plants in it, too, like I do. It really helps with water quality, and there is no chance of the fish eating them, or running into CO2 problems or the other problems that only aquatic plants have. It really is as easy as sticking houseplant cuttings into the filter. (You have to pick ones that will work, though)
You can also look at markstrimaran 's african cichlid tank - he grows algae instead of plants and it looks great.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7440642
Best of luck

 

[Jeditaz]

Seeing as you have a hang on back filter, you can put plants in it, too, like I do. It really helps with water quality, and there is no chance of the fish eating them, or running into CO2 problems or the other problems that only aquatic plants have. It really is as easy as sticking houseplant cuttings into the filter. (You have to pick ones that will work, though)
You can also look at markstrimaran 's african cichlid tank - he grows algae instead of plants and it looks great.
https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/posts/7440642
Best of luck

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Thanks JH! That's an interesting idea about the plant in the filter, I can imagine that it works wonders for the water quality. When you change your filter do you take your plant out or do you leave it in? It's definitely something to consider!

I read Mark's thread and I was throughly impressed with the algae growing experiment he was doing. I will be watching that thread. It's really amazing that he's not feeding those fish, and the amount of detail and photos Mark was providing was throughly enjoyable. My favorite part was when the one guy asked Mark if he could use his photos and give him credit. It made me proud to join a group that is renowned worldwide! Great job keep it up Mark!

For me I intend to keep it simple, as a beginner I don't know what I'm doing but I'll do my best to keep my few fish happy.

 

[J. H.]

Thanks JH! That's an interesting idea about the plant in the filter, I can imagine that it works wonders for the water quality. When you change your filter do you take your plant out or do you leave it in? It's definitely something to consider!

I read Mark's thread and I was throughly impressed with the algae growing experiment he was doing. I will be watching that thread. It's really amazing that he's not feeding those fish, and the amount of detail and photos Mark was providing was throughly enjoyable. My favorite part was when the one guy asked Mark if he could use his photos and give him credit. It made me proud to join a group that is renowned worldwide! Great job keep it up Mark!

For me I intend to keep it simple, as a beginner I don't know what I'm doing but I'll do my best to keep my few fish happy.

You can take them out when you clean the filter, if you are not careful,and use a sponge as filter media like me, the roots will grow into the sponge, and if you remove them, it may kill the plant. As long as you keep the roots under control though, you can just lift the plant out when you clean the filter, and then put it back in.

 

[Jeditaz]

You can take them out when you clean the filter, if you are not careful,and use a sponge as filter media like me, the roots will grow into the sponge, and if you remove them, it may kill the plant. As long as you keep the roots under control though, you can just lift the plant out when you clean the filter, and then put it back in.

That's a great idea! The sponge makes sense because while I was looking at the pictures and reading I was wondering how the plant takes root. Right now my tank is still relatively fresh but if I start having water quality issues I will definitely keep that in mind! Thank you!

 

[J. H.]

The plants can live with their roots dangling in the air, too, but you have to make sure they don't fall over.

 

[Jeditaz]

The plants can live with their roots dangling in the air, too, but you have to make sure they don't fall over.

That's crazy! I've never heard of that before!