CichlidFish.com - Fish That Think.

Hi my name is Meghann, I am new to cichlid fish (not just the forum
About six months ago i brought to my husbands attention that i would like to add an actuall fish tank to our home, we had recently lost our forever old beta. He was fine with the only stipulation that he get a placo...Well the search began.
At first i was thinking of just a basic schooling fish tank then went a little deeper and thought tetras may be fun, then a friend at work brought up cichlids. I honestly never even gave them a thought during my rounds at the fish shops, when you see "tropical" and "aggressive" and your a first time tank owner, was just a little too scarey for me. My friend assured me i would love these fish and told me to start researching. well after a month or so i had my tank and it was time to get started. Being that i never had a real tank before i did make the mistake of not having my tank cycled, so my first cichlid frys did not make it. More research in and a cycled tank later i now am a full blown lover of my cichlid. i only have my one guy Fuego an African Red Zebra, and of course my husbands placo "Pedro".
If someone would have came to me two months ago and said that a fish could have a personality i would have had one of those "spit my drink out" laughs...Now i am the crazy one telling them about my fishes "personallity". Fuego makes every morning easier to get going as he swims and plays in his "feeding time corner" asking for his breakfast, he makes my afternoon the same as he does the same for his lunch when i get home from work. I love watching him play peek-a-boo with me or my kids in the afternoon, and his random pebble throwing always makes me smile.
I currently have a small tank at only 14 gallons, due to renter rules that is my limit. I would love to add another friend to my tank but i think we may be too small at the moment. we are looking to buy a home this summer and my goal is to get at the least, a 50 gallon. I am here to learn more about these wonderful fish and how to better care for my fish friend. I am hoping this is a forum that will allow me to do such.

here is a picture of my tank with Fuego
[img]http://i262.photobucket.com/albums/ii88/meghannmay/DSC07877.jpg[/img]

Welcome to Cichlidfish and Great that U are getting into African cichlids. they are colorful and very playfull as U have found out. (begging mostly for food!) As U just have one, he is fine alone in the tank with a Pleco?? We call them pleco for short as Plecostomous is to long to type!!

As U only have a 14 gal tank, that pleco if not small wil out grow it pretty fast.. U need to feed him too, just in case U didn't know that.. One veggie disk at nite when the Zebra is asleep or he wil eat it! Also that Red Zebra is fat and that is NOT good.. U need to cut back on feeding him or he could die.. WHAT are U feeding him?
Red Zebras need a more veggie diet, meaning more spirulina based food as in flakes is best to feed him. Any kind of food with a protien of more than 38% could be fatal.. So watch that.
U should feed him ONLY ONCE a day,, he won't starve and start to slim down.. Or a flake or two in the morning a few for lunch and some for dinner. Just not a lot at one time..

A good size tank to get if U want to stay in the African cichlids is a 55 gal and bigger if U can swing it.. Do a sand tank right off. Gravel is not practical really and U hvae to clean it when U do the tank.. I have a 125gal with my larger american Midas cichlids and two 75gal and they are just awsome to have more cichlids and more deco than what a 55 gal will hold.. Get what U can afford and keep up with.. the 75 gal is no more harder than keeping a 55 gal but more water out/in.. I do 30 Gal every other week on mine. 15 to 20 on a 55 gal tank. U stil have two filters to maintain unless U go canister then that is cleaned once a month.. Easy..
I hope this helps U out some.. Some pics of my TOP 75gal tank. I have double stands..
My TOP 75gal OLD look, U can change it as U like:
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/Barbokla/African%20Tank/75galtanksfishDec232010001x10c.jpg[/img]
Looks like now after redo with texas holey rocks:
[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v47/Barbokla/African%20Tank/75galNEWFeb222010015x10cc.jpg[/img]

You are like a mentor to me, I have many ideas.