29 gall african chiclid tank?

Question

how many african chiclids can i keep in a 29 gall tank? and are they easy to take care of, or really demanding of ph and stuff? also, could i cycle with some rosy red feeders?

Answer 1

The answer depends on what type of "African Cichlid" you are talking about. If you are talking about the aggressive Mbuna varieties, not more then three or four. Even then, they are very territorial fish and will beat the heck out of each other unless there are a lot of caves and the like for them to hide in. Also, those fish actually tend to get fairly large. Generallly I wouldn't do Mbunas (which is what most people think of as "African cichlids) in less then a 55 gallon tank.

As an alternative, I would go with Lake Tanganyika cichlids. They are smaller in general and, in many ways, more interesting. The shell dwellers are a fascinating group that will do quite well in a smaller tank. Brichardi are gorgeous as well. The only problem is that these are a bit harder to find but worth the effort. You will be able to add a lot more fish to the tank with less aggression abd, in many ways, more interest, unless your interest is in watching fish battle it out for tank supremacy.

Answer 2

A 29 g tank is kind of tricky to make into a cichlid tank because it is tall instead of long. Cichlids are bottom dwellers and that is where they stake out their territories.

The 29 g has the same footprint as a 20 g long tank which is only suitable for about 3-4 of the smallere Africans. The tank height does not add any space for cichlids to claim territories.

I keep many species of cichlids and they are quite happy with the water that comes out of my tap. It is a steady 7.4 pH. It must be OK with them as they are breeding in it regularly.

I would cycle with some giant danios, then you can leave them in the tank as "dither fish" after the cycling is complete. I have giant danios in with a group of red top pseudotropheus zebras (a Malawi cichlid) and they get along fine. The danios stay in the upper area of the tank and the red tops stay in the lower area. It is, BTW, a 29 g and besides the 6 danios I have a bushynose pleco and 5 red tops (1 male-4 females).

Always try to have more females than males if you are going to have a species tank. If you want to keep different species, go with all males, the color will be extra nice and unless they look similar to each other, there should be no real fighting.

Electric yellows are a good cichlid, they are one of the least agressive Africans. A colony of shell dwellers would be great in a 29 with danios as dithers. I have a large colony of around 20-25 (counting all the fry) neolamprologus multifaciatus (max size is about 1.25") in a 20 long. They are fascinating to watch as the males bicker about shells and females (no damage is done). The fry are not bothered by any of the adults and many sizes can be seen in an established colony. I started this one with 5 original fish and have sold 25-30 sub adults in about a year.

Good luck. Email me if you have more questions.

Answer 3

One species is the best input you would want to look at. Ideally this wouldn't be the best sized tank to keep these fish, but you can do one species with limitations. The trick with keeping Africans, is two fold in my opinion. One is spacial area, and two is gender. Spacial area is a big priority with Africans. The aggressiveness is mostly dictated by this. Compress the spacial area, the higher the aggression fighting over a small chunk of space. Increase the spatial area, and aggression will go down. 29 gallons wouldn't give you the ability to effectively employ two different species really, even if they are peaceful. It's just not enough space, but this can be done if you stick with one species. This leads into the second factor. Gender identification is crucial with Africans. Males are generally the higher aggressive, and in 29 gallons, there is no way I'd want to keep more then one male. They will be after each other all the time because there isn't enough space for them not to see each other. You'd want to get one male of whatever species you select, and the rest need to be females. This prevents the male from harassing any one female at a time, and makes it so you don't have to worry about two males having it out, as you'd only have one. I wouldn't get more then 3-4 of any species as it's going to be cramped when they get to be adults if you go higher in count. The difficulty here is knowing the sex early on. You'd want to buy the biggest ones you can find, but you'd also need to know how to accurately sex them. If you select a species I may be able to help you with that.

Answer 4

In that small of a tank, I can only recommend a species tank. 4-5 Yellow labs. Maybe 4 Rusties. Or a trio of a small peacock species. Or dwarf shell dwellers

Unfortunately african cichlids need more territory than a 29 gallon can provide. Sorry but a 4 foot long 55 gallon is really the minimum for most species of African cichlids (and you'd be better off with something larger than that).

Yellow labs are pretty easy to take care of and though they prefer a higher pH (as do all African rift lake cichlids) they can survive at a neutral pH. pH can be dealt with by rocks, crushed coral (especially if you put it in the filter), shells, and plain old baking soda. You can cycle with rosy red, or do a fishless cycle. You just need a source of ammonia (or better yet can you get dirty filter media, or even Bio-Spira and you don't need to get the cycle fish at all, you'll be able to just start your tank).

A couple other types of African cichlid you can get would be a pair of Jewel cichlids or Kribenese cichlids. They require a neutral to soft pH.

Answer 5

any where between 3-6. but use your judgement, they may start to become aggressive so take it slow after 3. they are easy to take care of, just keep up will water changes, keep ph 7 to 7.6 maybe a little higher if you want. Yes to cycling your tank with rosy reds, however becareful because alot of feeder fish carry diseases. try cycling with danios. you cichlids will eventaully eat them. cichlids are great fish, but african is such a broad term so becareful in what cichilds you get because african doesn't mean the species. i get confused sometimes too. like don't mix two aurtus.

Answer 6

I'd go with about 1 per 4 or 5 gal. They are very aggressive and Territorial. If you have too many they will kill each other. And any feeders you put in probably won't last too long to worry about. and they are no harder to take care of than any other tropical fish.

Answer 7

Standard "rule of thumb" for fish per gallon is one inch of fish per gallon (freshwater). Keep in mind that your Africans will grow. Cichlids like hard water and are not hard to keep but they will work out a "pecking order" and kill the ones that are not hardy enough to survive. Rosy reds make excellent food..

Answer 8

No more than 6 chiclids, 2 of each color is best so that they are comfortable and not just a target. Their maintenance is same for most fish. They will eat in ranges from small live fish to fakes.

Answer 9

A 29 is only large enough for the smallest Rift Lake Cichlids. Try some Julidichromis,or some of the shell dwellers,the Mbuna will kill one another as they reach sexual maturity.

Answer 10

about five cichlids and i used serpe tetras to cycle my tank and there still alive and no there not really demanding fish but witching from things like cichlid pellets and stuff should be switched with things like brine shrimp to keep them happy and you need plants and places for them to hide thats pretty much the basics on a cichlid tank

water changes are still the same