Help on Setting up a Cichlid Breeding 55g?

[matt123]

Hello everyone, and thank you for checking out this topic. I would like to get into fishkeeping a little more seriously and I have been thinking about setting up a 55g to breed. The thing is, I don't have a ton of room, so I would like to put 2 breeding pairs (trios possibly?) of different species sectioned off from eachother in the tank.


I would like to stay with small types of cichlids, and maybe use the 55g to house some fry also. Since I only have a couple years of experience, I would think it would be easier to maintain 1 larger tank than to have two twenty gallons and few smaller fry tanks. So basically, I'm asking what type of smaller cichlids would have very similar water conditions, and that could breed nicely in a split 55g. Would the sectioning of the tank cut down on water circulation? Thanks for any advice on the idea.

[emc7]

pH 8+

I think you could keep one Julidochromis sp. and one Neolamprolus. Give the julies a big pile of rocks and give leave an open area with shells. You wouldn't need to divide the tank.

pH 7-8
You could keep one type of mouthbrooding Malawi Psuedotropheus or Labidochromis with one kind of Victorian Haplochromis.

A divided tank with small jewel cichlids (Hemichromis Thomasi, Cristatus or Lifililli) or Kribs

pH >7.5

You could divide the tank and keep two pairs of angels, but you'd have to be lucky enough to find pairs that raise their own young to keep fry with parents.
An egg crate divider won't hurt circulation. Also two pairs of apistos with divider or just with many, many plants. Or Laetacara (planted) or Aequidens (divided)

[matt123]

I was thinking one of the pairs could be an Angelfish, they don't seem too hard, and are also very good looking. I also like the Golden Ram, but it seems as though they like a lower Ph, the ph of my tap is about 7.4. How would a pair of Angelfish and a pair of Yellow Labs (ph may be too high?) or Kribs do, I'm also pretty sure those fish are available in a LFS. Thanks for the help.

[Gourami Swami]

Some people would disagree with me, but i would stay away from mixing the africans and south americans. When breeding fish, pH can play a factor, and with their preferred pH at different levls of the scale, it might get tricky.

And also, the golden rams and the angefish both like a lower pH, so they would actually do nicely together. You could do something as simple as adding peat moss to your filter, and end up with a good pH for the both of them.

[matt123]

Oh, Angels and Rams sound very good. To get a good pair, should I get 4+ younger ones and have them pair off themselves? Thank you.

[emc7]

should I get 4+ younger ones and have them pair off themselves

Thats a good way to do it. Unless you want to spend more for a "mated pair". Even though research shows that angels mate for a season rather than for life, just getting any male and female has a much lower chance of success. If you get young ones, don't divide the tank until 2 pair up and drive all the other fish to the opposite side of the tank.

[matt123]

How about the Bolivian Ram and Angelfish compared to the Blue Ram and Angelfish? On Fishprofiles.com it states the Bolivian ram is easier to keep, and prefers a ph closer to the Angelfish than the Blue Ram(it says 7.0 is optimal for both). I'm just worried about constantly trying to keep the ph down to 5.5-6.5 (according to fishprofiles.com) to breed the Blue rams. Or should I not worry about the ph and just use peat like what Gourami Swami said? Thanks for any advice.

[JustOneMore20]

Bolivians breed pretty readily and are hardier than Blues, so they'd be better if you've never kept Rams before.

[Gourami Swami]

Dont go for blues, they are twice as hard to keep and breed In my experience, than the bolivians (golden). And plus, i personally like the bolivians' appearance better.

while pH plays a factor, most fish you buy from a local pet store or LFS will have been bred and raised in similar water, so I think that regular water with some peat moss in the filter woulb be very acceptable for breeding rams and angels.

[Apotheosis]

IMO, bolivians are just as beautiful as the GBR's and more resilient, too.



Side-by-side comparison. The bolivian is on the left and the GBR is on the right.

[shade2dope]

I would go for something that selles alot like yellow labs blue ali they would do fine in the 55g and you can make some money off them