60 gallon tank

Sebastiandacrab

Sebastiandacrab

Banned
#1
Feb 18, 2006
65
0
0
#1
ok i am setting up a cichlid tank for a friend of my dads and was thinking to go cichlid i have crushed argonite for the substrate and some rock in there and i was wondering what to put in it i have already set one up with big ciclids i have a yellow lab 2 frontosas giraffe heads the whole nine yeard but were thinking og going with smaller ones for this tank and want your opininon
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#2
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
37
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#2
Any ideas this far on what the friend wants or what you are going to do?

I'm an african guy myself so if i had a 60gal thats probably the way i would go but they arn't all that small.

You could looking into community type settings with Angels, Apistos/Rams, and various other smaller schooling fish.
 

straitjacket

straitjacket

Large Fish
#9
Mar 21, 2004
495
2
0
Los Angeles, CA
www.freewebs.com
#9
Sebastiandacrab said:
thx yeah there all great its gunna be an awsome tank
Click to expand...
No fronts. They get too big for a 60. So do giraffe cats. Stick to more peaceful mbuna. Labs, rusties, cobalts, red zebras, greshakei (red top cobalts), afras.
Stay away from Melanochromis (johannii, chipokae, auratus) for now. Life's a lot easier when you don't run into one of these right off on your mbuna venture. No bumblebee cichlids, electric blues or kenyi. These guys can sour a good learning experience.
I encourage you to do some research and plan the tank out before you go out and just pick out some random fish to make sure they're even compatible. Gender ratios, how many species, show or breeding, food, water, current, etc. are all things to consider.
 

Orion

Orion

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#10
Feb 10, 2003
5,803
3
38
Kentucky
www.thefishcave.net
#10
I hope that elmers site is a joke by someone! My gosh that's the worst thing I've read in a long time, no wonder people are running around with bad information if they take advice from someone like that. Gezz.

So according to that site I can get a 90 gallon tank, put about 20 fronts in it and feed them algae wafers? If that doesn't work out, then will the site owner give me my money back?

YOU CAN'T WRITE A GENERAL ARTICLE LUMPING 'AFRICAN RIFT CICHLIDS' TOGEATHER LIKE THAT. The absolute ignorance of people who maintain websites amaze me sometimes.
 

homebunnyj

homebunnyj

Superstar Fish
#11
Jul 13, 2005
1,299
4
0
Western NC
#11
Orion said:
I hope that elmers site is a joke by someone! My gosh that's the worst thing I've read in a long time, no wonder people are running around with bad information if they take advice from someone like that. Gezz.

The absolute ignorance of people who maintain websites amaze me sometimes.
Click to expand...
Elmer's Aquarium is a big fish store. 'Nuff said. *laughingc *laughingc *laughingc Just like a local fish store, take anything they say with a grain of salt... or a BOX!!!*DRUMMER* :p *twirlysmi
 

straitjacket

straitjacket

Large Fish
#13
Mar 21, 2004
495
2
0
Los Angeles, CA
www.freewebs.com
#13
A year isn't long enough to tell whether or not your fish are fine. At a year your fish a not yet full grown (the front and cat nowhere near it) and are not yet showing sexual maturity related aggression.
You should know that fronts are gregarious and prefer the company of their own kind and to maintain such a group (of 8-10 14-16" adult fronts) would require a 125gl tank minimum.
If you've never seen a large full grown giraffe cat then you probably never will since it will stunt and die prematurely in that 60.
 

straitjacket

straitjacket

Large Fish
#16
Mar 21, 2004
495
2
0
Los Angeles, CA
www.freewebs.com
#16
Sebastiandacrab said:
actually yeah i have sen a giraffe and it would do fione becuz i have one and its full grown doing fine and yeah fronts ive seen do good too and i dont want 8-10 i want like 2
Click to expand...
So you've got a 3' giraffe cat in a 60gl and it's doing great. LOL, ok.

Again, fronts do better in groups.
One front is capable of reaching 16 inches.
Too big for a 60 gallon tank.

You don't have room in that 60 for one front, let alone 2.

Orion said:
So in other words you don't really care about the long term health of the fish, so long as everything looks pretty and your happy with it?
Click to expand...
Rung clear as a bell over on this end. :rolleyes:
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#19
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
37
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#19
One thing you must remember though, is fronts may take a while to get full size but bad water conditions as well as a tank to small will stunt the fish's growth from the begining.

So i believe a standard 65gal tank would be about 36x18x24, a 55gal being aprox. 48x13x20. A 60gal would be somewhere inbetween. Giraffe Cats can grow to what...36"? There is no way a cat would be able to turn around in that tank with those dimentions.

Mbuna, Peacocks, or some haps would be a much better choice for you're tank.
 

straitjacket

straitjacket

Large Fish
#20
Mar 21, 2004
495
2
0
Los Angeles, CA
www.freewebs.com
#20
http://www.planetcatfish.com/catelog/clarotei/auchenog/149_F.PHP

Yeah. I've seen them this big too. So 7" is nowhere near full grown.

Smaller (and easier) African cichlids was what I was suggesting in the first place, as your previous post had suggested what you were looking for.
I have a 60gal. I keep Africans. I know that there are limits to what I can keep when it comes to Africans and Malawi cichlids in a 60. For breeding, 2 decent sized groups of different (but not similar looking) species gave me the best results. For show, all males. Not trios or pairs of this and that. Nothing that gets larger than 6" either. Yeah sure...it'll fit. You'll fit in a closet but I doubt you'd want to live in that for the rest of your life. It's just not enough space for such a robust and active fish.
And instead of buying the fish and saying "I'll upgrade later" it's much better for the fish if you'd hold off till you started off with a tank big enough to keep those fish in permanently in the first place. Since upgrading when the time is right doesn't really always happen, I'd even go so far as to say that it's, in fact, not very often.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.