African Cichlid Tank Questions

Hi.
I have a 5 g tank with white cloud minnows and ready to upgrade.

I'm starting an African Hap and peacock Cichlids tank. Its 40 gallons rectangular long tall and thinish. For the base I bought gravel, have tarentaal pebbles, and 2 pieces of drift wood. Pic attached. Filter is a fluval 404 I got second hand.
Will start cycle this weekend for a month using some of my smaller tanks water.

Have a couple questions I haven't found solid answers for.

Can I put crushed coral in a stocking as a layer in my filter to help with ph? Any advice on how to get my ph right without chemicals?

Don't plan to breed the Cichlids, but read a 1 male to 2 female advise. Can I do pairs rather? This will allow a wider variety

How many cichlids will this tank hold? Also want to add a pleco. Most research has lead me to 12.

I have created about 10 caves. Can put 2 fingers in all the way. Is this large enough cave wise? It will be when juvenile. Read haps and Peacocks like open water more than mbunas so caves might not be as essential as they mature?

Cave wise, do I have to glue them? Haven't built up too high. Lay 2 pepples flat then placed one above as a roof. Kinda did this in a clump so it looks natural. Then added one or 2 to add effect above.

That's it for now. Think I'll have more questions as I go.

Thanks Mel

 

Never had an African Cichlid tank (though I've wanted one for a long time) so I can't answer your questions, but I did want to say I like what you've done with the tank, though you might have trouble keeping the driftwood down until it's saturated.

 

Never had an African Cichlid tank (though I've wanted one for a long time) so I can't answer your questions, but I did want to say I like what you've done with the tank, though you might have trouble keeping the driftwood down until it's saturated.

Thanks. Been months in the making bit by bit.The big one is held tight, but was worried that the small one might pop up. Hmm will put a few rocks on it for the next few weeks.

 

How tall and how long is the 40gal? Ideally you want a longer tank instead of a taller one. The more foot space the better for the fish to create their own little territories.

Because the tanks is on the smaller side in terms of keeping Africans and the foot print appears to be relatively small, the number of species you can add is quite limited. Many haps get large (7in+) and peacocks usually stay around 5-6 inches. I can't say for sure w/o knowing the dimensions, but I do not feel that it will go too well keeping Africans that reach 5+ inches in there. Mbuna are an option but they would need a lot more rock work in there to keep aggression down.

I think it might be best to choose smaller/more peaceful African cichlid species. Though harder to find, non mouth brooding fish from lake Tanganyika might be better. One in particular would do well IMO. Neolamprologus brichardI is a colony type fish. A single pair in that tank will lay eggs and rear their young quite happily. Over time you will have a small colony of different sized/aged fish.

You can also look into the shell-dwelling species and other substrate spawners. Most are on the smaller side, many staying under 4 inches or so. I think it would be best to have a single species tank though, in larger tanks you can get away with mixing species but in smaller tanks mixing doesn't go as easily.

Edit: forgot to add that yes you can add crushed coral to the filter media and it will help with the pH. What is the pH now? Also, be aware that driftwood leeches tanin into the water and it can lower the pH slightly.

 

Yah that tank is a little small. You could get away with just peacocks though.

Reason you want long is they chase a lot. Mine chase like 4ft.

You could do a little layer of crush on the bottom with fine sand on top. They sift a lot so sand is needed.

 

Hi.
I have a 5 g tank with white cloud minnows and ready to upgrade.

I'm starting an African Hap and peacock Cichlids tank. Its 40 gallons rectangular long tall and thinish. For the base I bought gravel, have tarentaal pebbles, and 2 pieces of drift wood. Pic attached. Filter is a fluval 404 I got second hand.
Will start cycle this weekend for a month using some of my smaller tanks water.

Have a couple questions I haven't found solid answers for.

Can I put crushed coral in a stocking as a layer in my filter to help with ph? Any advice on how to get my ph right without chemicals?

Don't plan to breed the Cichlids, but read a 1 male to 2 female advise. Can I do pairs rather? This will allow a wider variety

How many cichlids will this tank hold? Also want to add a pleco. Most research has lead me to 12.

I have created about 10 caves. Can put 2 fingers in all the way. Is this large enough cave wise? It will be when juvenile. Read haps and Peacocks like open water more than mbunas so caves might not be as essential as they mature?

Cave wise, do I have to glue them? Haven't built up too high. Lay 2 pepples flat then placed one above as a roof. Kinda did this in a clump so it looks natural. Then added one or 2 to add effect above.

That's it for now. Think I'll have more questions as I go.

Thanks Mel
View attachment 351827

Tank dimensions are 50 cm high x 90 cm long x 32 cm wide