I have a 10g tank and 4 Cichlids. What would recommend for the maximum care? food, decor, number of fish, etc?

Question

I have recently obtained 4 Cichlids from my boyfriend's buddy who has a helluva lot of em. There are 2 males and 2 females. How many would I be able to keep in all in a 10g tank? Also, what decorations can be used; can I use any household items? His buddy would often feed them goldfish as a treat, is this healthy for them or is there something else I can substitute? My tank right now has a piece of petrified wood in the back, pebels and small rocks instead of gravel, a bubbling gargoyle, a plant in the back corners and a plant in the center. All 3 plastic. Also the largest male chases the smaller male until he hides behind the filter and won't let him go anywhere else. The larger male also seems to be semi aggressive to the other female. They are all inbred.

What other fish would I be able to keep with my Cichlids? Or should I just go with the theory of if I put in enough *overstock* Cichlids, and they try to fight they will lose the prey in the crowd?

I couldn't tell exactly what breed they are. The large male is white and is almost 3 inches long and almost 2 inches tall. My second male is slightly smaller and has a grey body with almost black stripes. One female is white and the other is the same as the smaller male. Should I return them and just get a smaller breed of Cichlids? If there are any? I can't afford a larger tank atm.

Thank you Zoe, I will be returning these little guys back to the previous owner. He can care for the larger breed better than I. I checked with the local pet store and they carry smaller breeds ^.^. I am sorry for the inconvienience or how I have so been deemed a novice and uncaring for for my fish.

Answer 1

Boyfriends buddy gave you cichlids...you are keeping them in a 10 gallon tank, and then asking how many can fit in..."other fishes" that can be kept with cichlids...overstocking idea...not knowing exactly what breed the fishes are...(and finally) should I return them...!!!

Either you are too novice for fishkeeping OR you are taking these living things not seriously enough as they being "living" as well OR trying to play god !!

I wont mind if you report me to YA, but this is no way even remotely a fishlover or fishkeeper (however novice he or she can be) behaves !!

Answer 2

First off, if these guys grow large enough to eat goldfish, your tank is already over crowded.

Secondly, Cichlids are aggressive fish, exspecially when there are males and females. They will chase each other and fight, and a 10 gallon doesn't give them enough room to make peace from afar.

For each male you need 2-3 females. Or, a tank with only males. At this point if you add more females, you'll be way over crowded. Can you give the two females back?

The drift wood you have in there now should come out. yeah it looks cool, but it puts things in the water that Cichlids don't like for long term use.

I like to use large rocks and flower pots. The flower pots make caves for the males as their territory. You can put two in, so that the openings don't face each other, and the aggression should drop some since they're each have a place to hide.

Stay away from the clay pots though, unless they have a thick glaze. The clay will seep into the water and turn it orange.

Anything with a hard nonporous surface can be used to decorate. Be creative. Cichlids like to hide, they like to dig in the gravel, and they need thier own territory within the tank.

You can pick up Cichlid food at the store, in pellets or granules.

Answer 3

return those cichlids, they're too large for your 10 gallon.
it's hard to ID without a photo.

the only cichlid i can think of that could live in a 10 gallon are the smaller species of Neolamprologus, or shelldwellers. they need to live in a species tank really though, but make interesting little talking points!

Answer 4

What kind of cichlids do you have? There are not very many cichlids that could fit in a 10 gallon tank, let alone four of them.

Instead of thinking about adding some fish, you should think about getting a bigger tank :) As for what tankmates they can have, well, that depends on the type of cichlid you have. Some cichlids are very timid (like Rams), some cichlids are fairly placid but can be ornery during spawning (like Angelfish or Apistogramma), and some cichlids are not fit to be with anything but other very aggressive cichlids (like Jewel or Convict cichlids).

Same goes for the decor. Many cichlids come from Lake Malawi in Africa, where the water is very hard, high in pH, and with lots of rocks and sand. And other cichlids are from South America, where the pH is low, the water is soft, and there are lots of plants.

I would not use any household items to decorate the tank. Some items might be okay, like glass or plastic items, or natural items, but many products are treated with chemicals, paint, fire retardants etc and would not be safe for your fish. Instead, take a trip to your local fish store and get some decorations that are safe for fish.

Don't feed them goldfish as a treat. Feeding them live fish is okay, but the goldfish you see at petstores are NOT quality food. They are unhealthy, poorly fed fish that are often rife with parasites. I wouldn't want my fish eating that!

You're probably getting some aggression right now because the tank is simply too small to accommodate four cichlids. You may have to move the smaller one so the larger one does kill him, even if you get a bigger tank.

EDIT: Yeah, if you can't get a bigger tank, then you should swop your fish for something smaller. There are some terrific smaller cichlids out there, if that's your thing, like brevis and apistogramma ; just look them up before you buy them. Otherwise you could go with a school of neon tetras and a dwarf gourami or something.
Oh, someone mentioned that cichlids don't like driftwood. That's not necessarily true. I wouldn't put driftwood with malawi or tanganyikan cichlids, but South American cichlids would do well with driftwood in their tank. But anyway, your wood is pertified, which is like rock, so you can use that even if you have malawi or tanganyikan cichlids :)