laurie.os

Hi!!

We introduced our first fish into our tank last night, a male and 2 female hongi's. They're beautiful fish but unfortunately I think we did TOO good a job with the set-up for them as they've just hidden in the various caves!!!

They seem to be alot more active once the aquarium light is turned off but you can't appreciate their beautiful colouration!!

Would you guys recommend that I leave the light on all the time for the first few days so they can adjust to it

What will I do?? I'm beginning to forget what they look like!!!!!

Also, how long should we leave it before we introduce more fish??

Charmaine

Do not leave yor lights on all the time. Your fish are still adjusting to their new surroundings and after a while they will become more active. It is in their natural behavior for them to hide in caves, mine hide away alot and mostly come out at feeding time. I would suggest that you wait a week or two before introducing more fish at this time.

laurie.os

Thanks!!!

platy ben

When i set up my cichlid tank i put all of them in at the same time because then they cant establish territories and have to fight off the new fish

HatchetHaven

I find my Panda apistos where shy at first (Even hiding in the filter and... Well, you know...) but they started to come out more often as time passed.

laurie.os

Thanks everyone!!!

Ben- did you not have a problem with the bio-filter if you put in 6-8 fish?

Also, does anyone have any ideas as to which other species would mix well with these little guys!!

L

laurie.os

Also Ben...... How long did you leave your tank before you added the angel catfish?

platy ben

Ive had no problems at all yet, i added the angel catfish at the same time as the cichlids

laurie.os

It's been a week now since we established our tank, I was thinking that there probably isn't enough algae for him yet.

Do you feed your guy algae wafers or does he eat the cichlids food?

Thanks for all you responses too BTW!!!!

platy ben

Surprisingly they dont eat much algae, mine feeds 3 ways,

He goes around under all the rocks during the day and eats anything he can find

At the 1 o'clock feed he grabs some flake food i make sink for him,

this way he feeds is the best,

When i do the evening feed i break up some cichlid pellets and put them in, put the light out 10 mins later, then when its dark, he swims up the side of the glass , and swims along the surface of the water upside down getting any left over food.

No problem, i like helping

laurie.os

Awwww thats so cute!!!!

I fed my little guys (the hongis) this morning but the poor things are just petrified and wouldn't come out from their caves!!! We have the light on a timer and it went off at 9oc and suddenly there was a scurry to the surface and they savaged the food.

I really want to get either a catfish or a pleco this weekend but boyfriend says no.

I think it would be better for the catfish to establish himself while the hongi's are still a bit wary...... whatta ya think

platy ben

Yeh, add the catfish before the hongis can establish their territory.

Get a catfish, a pleco wouldnt hold its own against cichlids where as my catfish is like, boss of the tank

laurie.os

Awwwww.....

platy ben

beware though, angel catfish can get nearly 8 inches long, 7 and 3 quarters to be exact, i have a 65Gallon i can move mine into if he gets to big.

laurie.os

Ours is 50 gallons or 190L. Do you think that would be ok?

platy ben

Yep that should be fine

laurie.os

Great...... I'll leave you know how it goes!!!!

Allie

Common plecos do fine with Africans.