Welcome to cichlidfish!!
IF U do have the maingos, then they are just neat cichlids.. Placing them in a cycling tank can be a death sentence thou so dont' get attached to them..
ONLY feed them ONCE a day to help the bio/cycle out so they have a better chance of survival...
I send ppl to this site as it has the best easy to understanding of WHAT to do when your tank is cycling.. AT the end of this page, their is a LINK to another page to tell U what to expect weekly on your cycle and WHAT to do..
http://www.bestfish.com/breakin.html