I have a 55 gallon tank with a mixture of 9 african cichlids what is the best bottom feeder to have in my tank

Question

I am wondering what kind of bottom feeder would be best for my 55gallon tank. I have in the tank already, 4 electric yellow labs, 2 blue johanni, 2 demasoni, 1 red zebra. I have a whisper 60 cartridge filter as well as a aqua clear 50 filter. I am knew at this and, I am looking for any help that can be passed on. Is there any other type of cichlid that you would add to my tank, I really like the bright coloured cichlids, or would you add more of a certain cichlid that I alredy have. When should I put a piece of romain lettuce into my tank to feed them vegtables, at night before bed or in the morning.
Thanks
Dan

Answer 1

You have some fairly aggressive african cichlids (excluding the yellow labs). Most bottom feeders suitable for tropical set ups are at risk of getting killed or their eyes plucked out (my demasoni's took the head off a chinese algae eater once). Cory's will get massacred eventually.

If you have lots of hiding spots, a small pleco might work (bristlenose or something similar); but the most compatible bottom feeder would be one of the african catfish (any of the synodontis species). They have the capability to fend off aggressive african cichlids and can be aggressive themselves (I have synodontis eupterus, synodontis angelicus and synodontis ocellifer in my various african cichlid tanks).

If you want to add more cichlids, I suggest adding 10+ more pseudotropheus demasoni. Having them in small groups (less than a dozen) is a sure way to enable the strongest one to kill off all the others. I had trouble keeping 5 in a 125gal (they're so ruthless to each other even though they max out at only 3 inches).

Answer 2

I agree the best bottom feeders for a mbuna tank are Synodontis - not every species will work, but many will. I'm partial to Multipunctatus or Petricola - tough, fast, and active, and fit right into the same setup as mbuna.

For other types of cichlid, make sure you stick to mbuna as most other types of cichlids just won't do well with them. As they grow you'll find they get more aggressive and those pairs will most likely stop working as one begins to pick on the other. These fish are best kept either in groups or singly. I'd add a few mor johanni, remove one of the demasoni, and add a 3 or 4 of one more mbuna species that does not look like one you already have. Perhaps you can look at P. Socolofi.

I would put the veggies in during the day, since this is when they're most active. For veggies you can also feed them portions of shelled peas, chopped spinach, or spirulina flakes.

You can find plenty of info and ideas on your cichlids at www.cichlid-forum.com

Answer 3

Don't use crabs or snails cause they will either be killed or end up killig your fish. The best thing to get would probably be a plecostamas at least 8 in. long which should run you up at least 20 bucks. Oh yeah and don't get anything aggressive like a dempsy, or oscar they will kill everything they can catch. but yellow cichlids are beautiful because of their shear vividness. Have fun and that sounds like an awful lot of filtering for your tank, I just have one 75 gal. pump on there, there is such a thing as to much water flow

Answer 4

for a bottom feeder I would choose a pleco or chinese/siamese algae eaters. if you get more formed cats like corys or loaches they tend to be the target of bullying from the chiclids. I wouldn't add any more chiclids due to their territorial tendancies. I would makesure that they have plenty of "caves" to hide in. The romain could go in before you feed them regular food of the evenings. Many chiclids are accustomed to meaty foods and won't mess with veggies, but good luck.

Answer 5

My exboyfriend had many, many cichlids. Beautiful fish. I believe there was a Cory Catfish in there. They look like tiny little catfish, they stay small and stay on the bottom. (well, bottom-feeders, duh.) The Cichlids never seemed to bother him, either. He also had a large Pleco in there.

Answer 6

a catfish

Answer 7

Try catfish, snails, crabs