I need help caring for African Cichlids!?

Question

I just purchased a couple of African Cichlids for my 28 gallon tank. I was told that I can get up to 12 of them in there. Basically I need help on how to properly care for them.
That includes feeding them, keeping the tank clean, breeding information, I used to have goldfish and they used to eat their newborns, and I want to be able to get them to grow at least to 4-6 inches and keep them for many years. Also, does anyone recommend any African Cichlids that are nice to have? I currently have a yellow one and a black one with 6 light gray stripes. And finally, does anyone know how I can tell the difference between a male and a female african cichlid.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks everyone!

Answer 1

Great fish- South Americans! Get yourself a book on Chiclids, it will be really beneficial. Oscars have plenty of personality and I like firemouths. Chocolates gain an affinity for oscars and they have such a wide range of coloration changes depending on their mood that they are fun to watch - gentle too. Red Devils can be mean and may pick on other fish to the point of death.

Head and tail shape is the indicator of sex. In a tank your size I would limit the number of fish so that they would grow to a reasonable size without having to get rid of fish you may grow quite fond of. You will also want some garbage fish to clean up the tank for you. Green humpbacks are good in pairs. I'll get the spelling wrong but a "pla-coss-a miss" has a sucker type mouth that will aid in keeping the glass clean.

Find a knowledgable expert at a local pet store (most likely NOT a chain like Pet-Smart etc.) and tap their brains. These folks were always a great help for me. Always remember too, even freshwater tanks need some salt in them....follow the manual I think I used to use 1 teaspoon per 5 gallons. Salt will deter some diseases. and keep medicine at hand just in case - get some "ick" remedy and oscars can get head worms. Keep meds at hand there is nothing like seeing your fish get sick quickly and the store is closed. Most remedies work pretty quick.

Food- frozen brine shrimp - just break off a hunk - keep it in the freezer.

Answer 2

Caring For Cichlids

Answer 3

Hello! I am leaving you a link, as there is a lot of info you want to know and that would be a lot to type. I could cut and paste a novel, but I find that to be irritating when people do that, so this way you can bookmark the site and read at your own leisure. :-)
I can say that a 28 gallon is too small for 12.
"African cichlids" are often grouped together, and includes different types with different water preferences. You need to find out what you have ( yellow one sounds like an electric yellow) and find out what their natural environment is. If you find your cichlids to be , say Lake Malawi cichlids, then I would stick to that group. They all need lots of rocks and hiding areas, and it is best to move these around regularly to help with aggression and territorial behavior. They also like a very high PH. Sexing young Africans can be difficult. The mature males usually have lots of "egg spots" on their anal fin.
Anyway, hope that helps a little, here is that link. Read the articles. Lots of good info.

Answer 4

It is true that african cichlids do better being slightly overcrowded in a tank, for there is less room for them to establish territory. By overcrowding the tank however also means added filtration and keeping up with testing the water levels. 12 adult africans will be a bit much in a 28 gallon tank to handle waste wise. i had 14 africans and 3 african synodotis cats in my 80 when i was keeping them. For filtration i used two hang on back filters from Marineland one 75 gall and one 80 gall. I had undergravel filter set up with reverse flow powerheads on each side to push waste back up through the gravel. Make sure you use plenty of filtration, and i would recommend for your tank which i believe is around 30 inches long? (length matters in amount of fish) you could house 1 catfish, and 6 africans and be crowded enough. Sounds like you have a male Auretus (blk w/ stripes) the female to him is yellow w/ stripes. Your other fish you stated as Yellow. Sometimes Red zebras have more of a yellow color, or you could have a yellow Lab. (they have black stripe on dorsal fins). Some fish are differant colors f/m. Others can be sexed by the spotts located on the anal fin. Males will have multiple spots females should not have any, although due to inbreeding sometimes you will have a female with one single spot on her anal fin. Male auratus are one of the more aggressive of the africans so beware, he might end up being the one fish that keeps killing the others. If you have anyfurther ? 's you can email me, i could write a book typing misc. stuff about them, so feel free to ask anytime.

Answer 5

African cichlids are typically aggressive and territorial fish (some more than others). Because of this, they require 55gal tanks minimum (which has more to do with their behavior rather than their size). Less aggressive african cichlid species can sometimes (but not always) be kept in smaller tanks.

If you have mbuna, they do best on low protein foods (nothing over 45% protein content unless pure spirulina). High protein meaty foods can lead to the malawi bloat which is often fatal. If your african cichlids aren't mbuna (such as peacocks, haps, etc) they'll thrive on high protein diets.

Determining gender depends on the species. The genders of some african cichlids are near identical (yellow labs, acei, demasoni, calvus, etc), while others are dimorphic (for example male saulosi are black/blue striped while females are solid yellow-orange; female peacock cichlids are drab brown while the males are very colorful). Knowing exactly what kind you have will help you to determine males from females.

Lastly, most african cichlids do well in large groups. Trouble is often found in small tanks (less than 55gal) containing small numbers (less than 5) of cichlids. On the other hand, you don't want to cram a small tank full of cichlids, they require space (and might make space in small tanks by killing off competitors).

Answer 6

I am going to repeat a post, just to enforce its importance:

www.cichlid-forum.com

There is so much to learn about these wonderful fish that are so misunderstood, that you are better off discovering everything for yourself - you'll never get everything you need out of a simple yahoo post.

For starters, 28 gallons is considered a tiny tank for these guys - you are very limited in the species you can keep and will get nothing but aggrivation if you randomly stock this tank. Don't buy fish without knowing about them first.

Look up "Labidochromis Caeruleus" and see if that's your yellow one. These are one of the best ones for a small tank like this, and if this is him you should start off by getting more of them. It would be best to keep them as a species tank with perhaps one other type, 8 fish at most in this tank.

But trust me, go to that web site and start learning first!

Answer 7

When you get aggressive cichlids they tend to kill other less aggressive fish. The most aggressive fish are usually brighter, however. Whatever you do, just make sure to add all of your fish at the same time so they can establish a pecking order. Make sure to give them a lot of hiding spaces too! They love that.

Answer 8

Everyghing you need to know is at http://www.cichlid-forum.com/