Blazesto Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 I'm going to get rid of my pair of breeding convicts and use the 250l for probably, african convicts. What sort of tank do they prefer, at the moments there is some gravel, a big piece of drift wood and a big bell. Would this be suitable? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 Rocks, lots of rocks. Make caves and territorys for them and they will be happy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazesto Posted October 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 ah cool thanks. What other fish can I keep with them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camtang Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 Bristlenose go well, some synodontis, other african cichlids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 Convicts aren't African Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazesto Posted October 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 Getting rid of convicts and going to get african cichlids... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 19, 2013 Report Share Posted October 19, 2013 Your first post states African convicts. You need Ph of about 7.2 or higher. I wouldn't recommend wood as it alters that You'll need filtration of around five or six times the tank volume per hour and heavily stock and feed them. As for what species, decide what your favourites are and post what you think and you'll get help on what goes with what due to there temperament and behaviours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazesto Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Your first post states African convicts. You need Ph of about 7.2 or higher. I wouldn't recommend wood as it alters that You'll need filtration of around five or six times the tank volume per hour and heavily stock and feed them. As for what species, decide what your favourites are and post what you think and you'll get help on what goes with what due to there temperament and behaviours. be 8.2 for africans. My PH atm is around 7.2.... Isn't it meant to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Isn't it meant to be 8.2 for africans. My PH atm is around 7.2.... i guess this is this what you meant to post?? depending on what species you look at on a species register it might say that but that will be lake conditions and we are far away from that and the fish you get will be many generations from FO fish. Any fish you get will likely come from a tank that has a ph of 7.2 or higher. As long as you have it around that and it is stable they will do well. My ph is around 7.4 and they do extremely well. It is more important to have the conditions near what they need to be and be stable they try to change them to something and run the risk of having it swing and kill the fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazesto Posted October 20, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Oh yeah I was just judging on what it says in my test kit leaflet. I've found a couple of species I want from a website that lists them, not sure if you can even get them or not as aquarium fish but.. A. hansbaenschi C. moorii P. demasoni S. fryeri (Maleri Is.) Heres the website http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/african_cichlid_genus_gallery.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanjury Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 As Smidey said the exact PH level isn't really important, I don't even measure mine but have things to buffer the water in every tank, you want to aim for over 7 and stable. All of the fish you have listed are available in NZ, I am not sure you will find that variant of fryeri but you can definitely get fryeri here, let me know if you need demasoni I have heaps and can ship them down to you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazesto Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Thanks ryanjury once I get everything sorted I'll get in touch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinnadian Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 Oh yeah I was just judging on what it says in my test kit leaflet. I've found a couple of species I want from a website that lists them, not sure if you can even get them or not as aquarium fish but.. A. hansbaenschi C. moorii P. demasoni S. fryeri (Maleri Is.) Heres the website http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/african_cichlid_genus_gallery.php I kept cichlids for a long time. Most people recommend a really high pH, personally I never buffered my water very much. I maintained 7.5 just by having heaps of crushed coral in the substrate and the external filter. Some may crucify me for it but I found no issues nor any sick fish after around 2 years of keeping them at 7.5. Fish are surprisingly hardy, some people will bandy around figures that relate to their natural habitat, but the most important thing about keeping any fish, be it cold, tropical or marine, is consistency. In my opinion, keeping a consistent pH of 8.0 - 8.2 can be quite hard, and swings in pH is far worse for them than having a consistent low pH due to permanent additions like crushed coral. Similarly with temperature, ammonia, etc; they need good consistency more than any "magic" parameter. As per your fish choice, Peacocks are reasonably placid and will fit in to most community cichlid tanks. Electric blues are also quite placid, and they need a lot of caves to hide in (same as electric yellows). I've got no experience with blue malawi dolphin. Demasoni I found to be very aggressive if they start spawning, and if you have numerous Demasoni they will no doubt start spawning. YMMV but I would recommend maybe only getting one, unless you can be guarenteed the gender. Synodontis such as http://www.trademe.co.nz/pets-animals/fish/fish/tropical-fish/auction-651574258.htm are really neat guys, very active and are able to hold their own vs cichlids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smidey Posted October 21, 2013 Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 The best thing about keeping Africans is if you're on town supply that it's much closer to what they like than the soft water of American species, the water it's good out of the tap. I'm not on town supply but my tanks are concrete so that also makes the water near what they prefer, if I had plastic tasks then I'd have to setup another tank just for my fish water and buffer it up before doing water changes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquaboy1 Posted October 26, 2013 Report Share Posted October 26, 2013 I have alot of experience with Africans, they are so easy to keep its not funny! if you have the right stuff in your tank to buff water all you need to do is water changes really, I decided this time to do the planted community which is a change for me but I still miss my Frontosa and Peacocks african tank. They can be some of the most stunning tanks around and remember they Mbuna eat algae what luck! not only could you have saimese algae eaters chinese algae eaters but mbuna too , no more algae~!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blazesto Posted November 2, 2013 Author Report Share Posted November 2, 2013 mhm so I'm thinking maybe more towards south american cichlids now so I can have one or two plecos, is it right the lower ph is better for plecos and south americans? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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