kingkinn

I have a jack dempsey, convict, and 3 africans in a 55. they have been in this tank for about 6 months together, i was wondering what kind of live plants could i put in with these guys, i want to plant half my tank. Can you please help.

btate617

I would say none. All those fish will either destroy your plants by always moving them around or they will eat them.

Brian

Slug

Go with tougher plants that can be attached to something like wood or rocks. Anubias and Java fern.

Nutter

The JD & Convicts will strip & uproot any plant within days, or even hours. The Electric Yellows would take a bit longer but end up doing the same thing. I don't think you could have any live plants at all with those fish. Have a look into silk plants if you want the plant look without having to clean up the mess & replace your plants every few days.

Alasse

Java fern is pretty hardy, i had some in my maingano tank...yes had It was removed, not because the fish harmed it, but because it didnt do well in the tanks water. (I tested it in a spare tank, Any tank that has the substrate i am using in my cichlid tank, makes it very unhappy)

So i've gone back to adding a few plastic plants.

Nutter

Sounds fairly typical of high pH tanks with hard water. Also fairly typical for mbuna to take thier time with destroying plants. They are mainly algae feeders when it comes to vegtable matter. They really only go for plants when there is a lack of algae to nibble off the rocks.

Toddnbecka

You might get away with Najas or hornwort if you start with a large enough amount. They're floating plants, and may grow quickly enough to stay ahead of the fish nibbling on them.

aquarist48

Hello King. I would suggest getting 1 live plant and see what happens. Cichlids like to move the substrate around a good bit as you may already have discovered. If they leave it alone then add a little at a time. Even from my experience with plastic plants I wouldn't get my hopes to high on having living ones.
Best of luck!
Ken

Shawnie

I agree with brian..especially the yellows..they are known veggie/plant eaters...

Alasse

The water is around pH8 naturally, so i dread to think how high the tanks are. It grows excellently in all my other tanks, bar the ones with this shellgrit/sand substrate. I think it has something to do with this particular substrate.

When i had the maingano on coral sand, the java fern grew no problems, healthy and lush. Nor did the cichlids ruin them, and there was no algae for them to graze

kingkinn

yeah i decided against plants for now, thanks for everyones help. i'm going to build them a rock cave and add some more cichlids for more activity, any suggestions on what to add?

Nutter

First I think you should decide which direction you want to take the tank in. IMO those 3 species shouldn't really be in the same tank. The JD is an american cichlid that would prefer a tank set up to his liking. The electric yellows are african rift lake cichlids that would prefer hard water with a high PH & the convicts will breed like you have never seen before if they turn out to be a compatable pair. You will end up with so many convicts that you can't wait to give some of them away.

Alasse - Probably something to do with how hard the water is in those tanks. That or the KH is probably higher than they handle. The shell grit will of course be slowly dissolving & sending the KH right up. Have you tested your tap water after a day or two of it just sitting there but not in an aquarium? My tap water comes out at PH8.2 but after two days of sitting in a clean tank for water changes the PH will be down to 7.4. Most likely the way the substrate changes the composition of the water though just like you suspect. Check with GH & KH tests & you will know if it is that for sure. Could also be something else entirely leaching out of the substrate that the plants don't like but isn't harmfull to your fish.