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Originally Posted by ptaneja Dont know what is LPH. But the filter is normal water submersible pump with foam in the lower and upper section. Nothing external of aquarium. |
Get a canister filter. Other than a sump filter, a canister filter is the best filter you can use.
LPH is litre per hour. A rule of thumb that you should follow is the water turnover in the tank. For example, if the flow rate of a filter is 1000 LPH then it can filter 1000 litres of water per hour. When this filter is used on a tank of 250 litre volume, then the water turnover is 4 times per hour. It is good to have a water turnover of 4-6 times per hour for an ideally stocked tank. What is an ideally stocked tank? I will respond to this a little later in this post.
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Originally Posted by ptaneja [*]How many cichlids? What type of cichlids?
I just bought looking at them together with the seller ...didnt knew their separate names.
As pointed out by another poster, the fishes were following -
Convict [Central American Cichlid]
Salvini [Central American Cichlid]
Blue Mbuna [African Cichlid, Lake Malawi]
Jewel Cichlid [African Cichlid]
Tiger Barbs |
This was your mistake. Never buy fish before learning about their behaviour. The least you should know is their names.
You had a combination of African and American cichlids. African cichlids are from the African Great Lakes while American cichlids are mainly river fish. African cichlids are hard water fish. American prefer softer water. American cichlids like Oscars can grow to over 10-12 inches. African cichlids usually grow to 4-5 inches. I guess you know what I am getting at. Their environment and behaviour are greatly different. Obviously, they are not exactly compatible with each other.
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Originally Posted by ptaneja Normal Tap Water, hardness must be around 600-700 range (RO servicing guy came yesterday to test ! ) |
Get a chlorine test kit. Tap water is treated with chlorine. Chlorine is toxic to fish. Ensure your tap water is free of chlorine before filling your aquarium.
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Originally Posted by ptaneja Hard water !
Temperature was at 28 - heater was installed. |
26 is a more comfortable temperature for cichlids in my opinion. Keep the heater on 24x7, even in summer. Its thermostat will ensure it only turns on when the water temperature drops below 26. So don't worry about overheating the water.
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Originally Posted by ptaneja Oh yes, nipping each other ! No patches on them, no rashes, all died with their fins nipped off.
And the only fish I could locate which was after them was the following - dont know the name ! And this is the ONLY fish left now in the huge 4" tank ! |
Already answered above. Compatibility issues.
That said, how many fish did you have in the tank? Let me now explain to you the stocking density.
Each fish needs a certain space to itself for optimum conditions. Discus need about 10 gallons per fish. African cichlids need about 5 gallons per fish. A kind of thumb rule is 1 gallon of water for 1 inch of fish. Otherwise the tank is over-crowded.
You have a 250 litre tank, which is roughly 55 gallon. Keep 11-12 African cichlids in it at the most. If Oscars, then don't keep more than 6. These guys grow.
Overstocking stresses the fish out. It is better to err on the side of understocking.
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Originally Posted by ptaneja Bought chiclids Flakes, Blood Worm dried etc - normal regular stuff I have been feeding since last 3/4 years to other fishes (starting from goldfish) |
All this is fine, but ensure you only feed as much as can be consumed by the fish in 5 minutes. If uneaten food remains after 5 minutes then please scoop it out. Feed adults twice a day. They will be happy.
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Originally Posted by ptaneja Chiclids were the costliest I have purchased so far, and by far the experience with them was the worst - never knew that I would loose such wonderful so quickly. |
Costly yes. But the pleasure a well-kept cichlid tank gives is priceless. Please read up on cichlids, tank maintenance, etc. It is a learning experience and your fish will thank you for it.
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Originally Posted by audioholic ...Get small fish, grow them together and they will stay together especially oscars, cichlids etc. |
This is the key. Usually, fish that are grown together tolerate each other better than those that are not. No guarantees, though. You only improve chances of compatibility. That's all.
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Originally Posted by ptaneja ...
This time i'll be going for a complete revamp.
- New Filter - which one to buy ?
- New Substrate - Will throw existing one out. Looking for black colored gravel...
- Water ? Normal tap water with high TDS(hard water) or half of tap + half of RO ?
- most important - which fishes ? Hard breeds, which wont die so soon.. |
I have already answered your query on filter and water. There is no need to throw out the existing substrate unless you are bored of it. Give it a good wash in some hot water and it would be sterilised and clean.
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Originally Posted by deathwalkr ...for your 4x1.5x1.5 tank dwarf cichlids are a good choice. Convict and Salvini's are good choices. I would suggest you get one Oscar and one Convict for your tank. |
Get fish in groups. Don't get one of each. Better to have, say, 4 fish each of 3 varieties than 1 fish each of 12 varieties.
I had 4 types of African cichlids in my 5x2x1.5 tank. Gave them enough rocks to hide behind, and they were all very happy. My tank was overstocked in a way - I had 12 each of Strawberry, Banana, Albino Ice Blue and Electric Blue. But, and this is a big but. I have the knowledge necessary to keep such large number of fish happy. I would not suggest a beginner to have this many fish. But it is always good to have 4-6 fish of a variety in your tank. This keeps the fish happy and less stressed.
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Originally Posted by deathwalkr ...get an external filter and an internal power filter. your tank volume is approx 260 liters so look for filters with a LPH [liter per hour] of 1600-1800. |
Get a canister filter. That is all you need.
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Originally Posted by deathwalkr read up on filtration methods. you need the internal filter to trap the junk and debris. you need the external filter loaded with ceramic rings and bio balls to provide biological filtration. |
Very good advice. One needs to understand how an aquarium filter works.
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Originally Posted by deathwalkr |
Bala Sharks may be endangered, but all the Bala Sharks sold today are captive bred. In fact, 99% of all ornamental fish are captive bred. In a way, this hobby is keeping species alive that would otherwise have died due to habitat destruction. We can all debate on the ethics of keeping a species alive this way, but to me it is better to have a species alive than to have it go extinct.
That said, I am not fond of Bala Sharks or Tiger Sharks or Rainbow Sharks.