AF cichlids with tank mates and food problems

W

Water

Small Fish
#1
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#1
I have a total of ten AF cichlids,one lonely loach and six Otocinclus in a 55gal rock tank.

All is well so far(crosses fingers) but I am worried about my Otocinclus and loach not getting enough food(wafers) and I know their algea eaters but I'm not sure that there is enough algae in the tank for them to eat,not at this moment.

When the light is on,a total of 8 hours a day I see little to no movement from them but that could be do to the cichlids now who doesn't bother them much but are completely pigs when it comes to food,scavengers but I do have rocks with small places the cichlids can't fit in that maybe why the loach is still alive.

I may not have to worry about it but sometimes I just like to ask to make sure all is well.

thanks.
 

exhumed07

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
#2
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#2
Feed algae wafers at night. to big for the cichlids to eat and gives the other fish time to get the food. its hard to find tank mates for cichlids besides other cichlids.
 

W

Water

Small Fish
#5
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#5
FishDad said:
I tried to keep cichlids with otos and they all got eaten. How long have they been together in this tank?
Click to expand...
A week,I've had the Oto's before I got the cichlids.They all are there from what I've seen an as long as the Otos stay out of range of the cichlids main area which is the stacked rocks their ok.

Ha,ha Feed them at night,that idea had popped up in my mind but for some reason I figured that Oto's would ignore it and be hiding like the cichlids would be.But that's what I will do....thanks for the help guys.

I added 2 bubble bee cichlids to the tanks yesterday,one the same size as the biggest blue stripped cichlid in the tank who has a serious case of bullying and controlling things like food but I notice that he only gets after the smaller bubble bee and the bigger one his size they kind of avoid each other as if they don't want a conflict.Lol these are the most interesting fish that I've had besides a male Betta .

Thanks
 

FishDad

FishDad

Superstar Fish
#6
Mar 4, 2012
1,218
1
38
Cleveland
#6
Cichlids are great, there personalities are huge. I hate to say it but I have doubts about those otos. If your looking for glass cleaners I was able to keep a group of bristlenose plecos with out any trouble.
 

O

OrangeCones

Elite Fish
#7
Feb 27, 2009
4,395
0
36
#7
I also would agree not to keep otos with cichlids. They often do not take to algae wafers immediately (if ever) and are often outcompeted by more aggressive tankmates.
 

W

Water

Small Fish
#9
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#9
Thanks guys....here's a terrible picture of my cichlids and if you pay close attention you can see an oto


Look at the bottom between the rocks,that's one of the smallers one.


They seem to like the camera,maybe it's the flash....


Here's a bubble bee,along with the two orange ones checking out an oto attached to the side of the glass
 

FishDad

FishDad

Superstar Fish
#12
Mar 4, 2012
1,218
1
38
Cleveland
#12
Peacocks change a lot. Most of those are mbunas which for the most part are don't change. I saw there was one kenyi in there, if that's a male he'll fade to yellow as he matures. Those peacocks are popular right now with pet supplies plus, but I think they're hormone. They're color is extremely vibrant for juvees.
 

Guanchy

Guanchy

Medium Fish
#15
Jul 17, 2013
93
0
0
New York
#15
i agree with what everyone is saying, i feed my pigmy cories after i turn off the lights at night. While the lights are on they do not move much at all and once the lights are off i see them movies and eating right away
 

W

Water

Small Fish
#16
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#16
Hey,guys and gals.

A update on my cichlids and otto's situation,well two of the otto's were murdered (Friday) so I fished the rest of the out of the tank and put them in a ten gallon tank.Cichlids should only be housed with cichlids of the same kind and nothing else.

Thanks
 

FishDad

FishDad

Superstar Fish
#17
Mar 4, 2012
1,218
1
38
Cleveland
#17
Water said:
Cichlids should only be housed with cichlids of the same kind and nothing else.
Click to expand...
I remember being very frustrated in the same way about cichlids. For me it ended up being part of their charm, sort of like having a big bad dog.

Their are some things that you can house with African cichlids. As stated earlier I had success with BN plecos. Red tail sharks do fine as well. And you should research synodontis catfish. They come in a few varieties and IMO are some of the very coolest freshwater fish you can buy. Some of the big box stores sell the feather fin syno cat.
 

W

Water

Small Fish
#18
Apr 25, 2006
44
0
0
USA
#18
Hello,myfishtank.neters this just an sad update about cichlid tank also my ten gal Tiger barb tank too.

Sept 11 I had surgery,oct 20 my house had a small electrical fire that started in the attic of my house.Which left my tanks without electric and as I returned to my house today 10/23 my Africans Cichlids,barbs are all deceased do to the temp dropping down to as low as 40-30 degrees at night.I tried my best to help them by placing a planket over the tank before I was instructed to leave and not return by the fire department but as I found out today it didn't help and I kinda knew they wouldn't have survived this long without any food or heat. I'm down about the whole ordeal but I'm also thankful that I still have a place to call home to return to when it gets fix by the insurance,yadda yadda.I don't know when it will be returning home as of yet but when I get settled in I will be getting back to one of my favorite new hobbies and that's fish tanks.

Keep me and my family in your prayers and I shall be returning to the forum hopefully with good news.

Thanks....
 

FishDad

FishDad

Superstar Fish
#20
Mar 4, 2012
1,218
1
38
Cleveland
#20
That's terrible, Water. Fish aside, its extremely fortunate that no one was hurt or worse. And like you said you still have a home. God bless and good luck with getting everything back in order.

Were you actually in the home during the fire?
 

You must log in or register to reply here.