[brimac40]

Hello from Kentucky . The name is Brian . I have been into fish for over 10 years now . I have always kept African cichlids , my last ol' girl died yesterday morning and I am now going to switch to a community tank . I used to have several aquariums but do to lack of room I am now down to one 30 gal. . I hope to learn from everyone and maybe even add a little .

 

[gypsyfla]

Hello brian and welcome to the site. There is a lot to learn here .

 

[Sweet Tee]

Welcome! I'm sure you have lots of good advice to give as well!! Any ideas for what types of fish to go in the community tank?

 

[brimac40]

Welcome! I'm sure you have lots of good advice to give as well!! Any ideas for what types of fish to go in the community tank?

Thanks for the welcome . I have been using the link in the freshwater section "Aqadvisor.com" and playing with the different types and numbers along with my tank/filter parameters . As of now I have 6 Zebra Danios and 5 Serpae Tetras . I know that is a little to much in there for recycling , but the tetras were given to me by the owner and friend of the LFS who wanted to empty out the tank .

After the last cichlid died I drained off most of the water but left the gravel submerged so as not to kill off the bacteria and submerged the filters and bio-wheels in the old water until I had everything cleaned up and rearranged , so hopefully I will not have a long recycling process . I hate changing that much water but the pH was to high (cichlid water) for a community tank and I try not to use chemicals in my aquariums to lower or raise pH .

Sorry to ramble , I am thinking of getting some (4) Leopard Corys (later down the road after the water gets "old") and some Cardinal Tetras but I am up in the air about anymore . Using Aqadvisor I put in American Flagfish and no warnings popped up , but I realize that it's not completely updated . Has anyone had any experience with them ? Also , I would like to add a Siamese algae eater ( I like algae eaters) later down the road but have never had them before either , so any advice or suggestions would be greatly appreciated .

 

[Sweet Tee]

I've used the aqadvisor before and it's great. It gets new updates like every week too! I will eventually be getting otos as my algae troop. I've read mixed reviews on aggression with both the Siamese and Chinese algae eaters...
I currently just have 4 Zebra Danios in the tank. They're great. I never imagined liking them as much as I do

 

[petlover516]

Welcome to the site!

 

[susankat]

Welcome to the site.

Got a question for you? How long did the tank sit without the filter running? if more than 36 hours all bacteria will most likely be dead as they need oxygenated water to remain alive and fed.

Flagfish temper depends on the fish. I have had some that got along fine with smaller fish but there is some that don't get along with anything. They are a killie with cichlid traits. In a 30 gal I wouldn't put more than one pair in it. Male and female as two males will probably fight.

Personally I think an sae or cae will get to large for a 30, I would either go with otos or a dwarf bristlenose.

 

[spawn]

hello and welcome to our forum,we glad that you are here.share your aquarium related experience with us...

 

[brimac40]

Welcome to the site.

Got a question for you? How long did the tank sit without the filter running? if more than 36 hours all bacteria will most likely be dead as they need oxygenated water to remain alive and fed.

Flagfish temper depends on the fish. I have had some that got along fine with smaller fish but there is some that don't get along with anything. They are a killie with cichlid traits. In a 30 gal I wouldn't put more than one pair in it. Male and female as two males will probably fight.

Personally I think an sae or cae will get to large for a 30, I would either go with otos or a dwarf bristlenose.

The tank was down for about 2 hrs. tops . I sat and stared at it for awhile debating on giving up on keeping fish or not . Couldn't imagine NOT having fish so I set it all back up as if it still had fish in it . I knew I couldn't it leave shut done for long or the bacteria would die . went the next morning for the danios to keep a bio-load in it while I made up my mind of what I wanted in it . To be honest , I started losing interest in the hobby , but after adding the danios and tetra I am now, in two days , $75 in the whole with new supplies and pondering what more to buy , pouring through my books and hooked once again .

I have changed my mind on the flagfish , but thanks for the heads up . I may just get a few red-eye tetras . I like the those red eyes on the bright silver bodies . After so many years with A. cichlids I am now about half lost .

I doubt I can get a dwarf bristlenose without ordering it through the mail . I have to look into them and the oto and see if I can find them around here also . But thanks for the info .