vwboy53 Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 Hi All! I am planning to convert my standard 2ft tank into a dedicated South American cichlid tank. I know due to the small size I am slightly limitied in choices, but I currently have one Blue Acara (aequines pulcher) and will get another one soon, as the other one died from whitespot I do plan to have a few dwarf cichlids also down the track. What I want to know is if anyone has ideas or suggestions to make that style of tank, as I am very new to cichlids. I am guessing a bit of rocks. What type of rocks are suitable? What kind of plants would be fairly natural to the habitat? BTW I wont be using co2, but maybe some fertilisers every so often. Any advice would be truely appreciated! Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
r.d.m Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 rob, firstly a 2 footer limits your choices ,this tank is too small for 1 blue acara ,it wont grow to its potential imo a pair of them should be in a 4footer or over, and with any of the medium to large americans you can forget about plants, i think the only choices open to you are a bigger tank or dwarf cichlids which im not into so maybe someone else can suggest suitable species, good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 Just a back up oppinion. I agree with RDM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted December 26, 2005 Share Posted December 26, 2005 If you insist on a 2' I'd recommend apistogramma sp., theyre quite beautiful and have fantastic little personalities. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizmo42au Posted December 27, 2005 Share Posted December 27, 2005 One pair of Blue Rams and a Bn would be fine, plant densely with a few bits of driftwood. As stated the Blue Acaras are too big so you would have to stick to the dwarves, cockatoo are good ones, i just cant remember the first name. Agasizz'z Dwarf(i think) are pretty good looking as well. HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy53 Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 Yeah I knew the acara would grow quite a bit, but I suppose i was hopeful I think I will try some of the dwarf cichlids mentioned, but I will keep my lone blue acara for a while. I certainly hope it does not grow too quickly, but when it happens, I will decide whether I can try to get a new tank or give him away. Any recommendations for rocks types and plants to go with the dwarfs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoges Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Definitely go for dwarfs, the tank you mention is not suitable for any acaras, unless they were fry and you planned to move them as they grew! You can have a nice pair of dwarfs (blue rams tend not to be for beginners, but there are plenty of other nice dwarfs - if you like rams, maybe head in the direction of the Microgeophagus (Papiliochromis) altispinosa 'bolivan butterfly', they are much hardier). With dwarfs you can have a beautifully planted tank, put some driftwood in, get some BN and maybe a couple of Corydoras. If you want some ideas on what sort of dwarfs are available a good place to consult with is the picture gallery on http://www.sydneycichlid.com/gallery/ - Do a google search for planted dwarf cichlid tanks - you'll see how great they can look - Java fern looks great in planted tanks, there are many species of plant available, it's really what your personal taste is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy53 Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 I think I will try one of these dwarf species: Apisogramma agassizi or Apistogramma cacatuoides but maybe Microgeophagus altispinosa. Just depends what I can get from my LFS. I wont use any driftwood though, I have a piece I have tried to use so many times for a few years but it still leaches tanin. I tried all the various recommendations to cure it but nothing. I will go without it. On a side note, I had a planaria explosion when I first put the driftwood in my tank, is it possible it was responsible or just coincidence? Thanks for all the advice everyone, it is much appreciated! Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamR Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 The majority of dwarf cichlids love tanin in the water. If the colour bothers you which it does me, try using purigen by seachem in your filter. Its one of the few products Id swear by. Adam Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy53 Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 Yeah the tanin colour bothers me too, but the seachem purigen seems very interesting. Maybe I can use my driftwood after all Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ant Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Your LFS may not stock Appistogramma but they will be able to order them in. Anthony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Theres also a big difference between GOOD apistos and AVERAGE apistos. Take a look at my signature and check out the apistogramma borelli I had Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy53 Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 Theres also a big difference between GOOD apistos and AVERAGE apistos. Take a look at my signature and check out the apistogramma borelli I had ← You have some very nice apistogramma borelli fish. They all look great in a planted tank. Another species I might consider. I recently just read that a. cacatuoides don't have the same parental care as some of the larger cichlids. Do any dwarf cichlids exhibit such behaviour? (Ie both Male and female caring and protecting young fry.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlakeyBoyR Posted December 28, 2005 Share Posted December 28, 2005 Those were wildcaught from Paraguay, hence the quality. I'm not saying you HAVE to buy wildcaught in order to get good quality, but most of the time you get what you pay for when it comes to fish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy53 Posted December 28, 2005 Author Share Posted December 28, 2005 Those were wildcaught from Paraguay, hence the quality. I'm not saying you HAVE to buy wildcaught in order to get good quality, but most of the time you get what you pay for when it comes to fish. ← That makes perfect sense. I will have to talk to my LFS to see what they can do , but today I might head over to Parramatta and see if they have any dwarfs in stock Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vwboy53 Posted December 29, 2005 Author Share Posted December 29, 2005 I thought I will let you all know, I just bought a set of 4 Apistogramma cacatuoides ~ double red variety. They look nice, but they are not as friendly as my acara. But I hope they will breed, cause I really want to see the cichlid parental care behaviour for myself. Also they seem not very active, they just stay swimming in one place most of the time, and I dont think it was the new environment cause at the LFS they acted the same. Hopefully they will liven up a bit, but they do look nice in the planted tank though Thanks everyone for your help, it is much appreciated! Cheers Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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