cichlids in 33 gallon

[tom]

Hi, I am new to this forum, as u can probably tell. I wos wondering if there was any way I could have cichlids preferably african in my tank. I have currently got a couple of tropicals in there but am getting rid of them as they always seem to die for no  apparant reason.  

Any help would be appreciated

cheers Tom :)

[Hypancistrus Zebra]

If you want to set up an african tank but dont know where to start, the best thing to do would be research. Figure out what sort of fish you want (i.e Lake Tanganika, Lake Malawi) and set the tank up accordingly, i.e water parameters, filtration, lighting, tank furnishings, etc. One of the biggest mistakes you can make is just going out and buying a fish without knowing what it needs only to find it dies shortly after(personal experience). Find out what food it needs, ph level, other fish it is compatable with, etc and once the tank is set up, then go out and buy the fish.

There are plenty of people who can answer your questions or sell you different Africans on this forum but GOOGLE is a very usefull tool as well.

Wilson.

P.S. Here is a few links to some good african sites
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/
http://www.tropheus.info/riftlakes/index.html

Some of these fish are a lot harder to keep than others so find out about that too.

[tom]

Thanks I would like lake malawi, but would i be able to keep them in a 33 gallon tank??
Thanks

Tom

What are the dimensions of the tank? Some of the Lake Malawi mbuna, like Electric yellows or Pseudotropheis saulosi or acei, do not grow very big and can be kept in a smaller tank.

Cheers, Doug

[tom]

Hi, the dimensions are 80cm L, 36cm D, 45 H. Thanks Tom

Hi Tom

You could keep some of the smaller Lake Malawi cichlids in that tank, probably some of the mbuna. eg Pseudotropheus saulosi, Pseudotropheus acei, Electric Yellows, Pseudotropheus demasoni and many others. Just make sure your filtration is up to scratch and you do regular water changes.

Cheers, Doug