Getting back into it!

[Jpayne74]

Hello! I’m Jason and I’m getting back into fish keeping after taking some time away. I got into aquariums in the mid 90s when a coworker gave me a pair of Angelfish (We were in the Air Force and he couldn’t take the fish with him after reassignment). Had those In a 10g for a bit, until I killed them in a rookie mistake... I’m sure I’ll tell that story one day. After that I upgraded to a 20 high and kept Jack Dempseys up until about 2005 (divorce and work made it hard to keep). Funny thing about Jacks is I didn’t want them at first, thought they were boring. I wanted Oscars because they looked cool. But when I was ready to stock I couldn’t find oscars so I bought Jacks.... and loved them! My daughter got me back into fish a couple years back after a trip to the New England Aquarium, which is close to us. So we set her up a 10g with some Silver Dollars and a couple Danios. It’s been a good tank but I’ve got the bug for Cichlids again! Just set up a 39g with a riverbed environment and I’m sure I’ll have tons of questions. Look for to meeting new folks and talking fish!

 

[Dennis57]

Hi Jason Welcome to Fishlore and welcome back into the hobby.

Just to let you know a 10 gallon tank is way to small for Silver Dollars, and the danios will become a mid afternoon snack for the Silver Dollars. Silver Dollars can get as big as 6"

 

[Imthatpeep100]

Welcome back to the hobby!
Unfortunately, silver dollars are not suitable for a 10g. Depending on which ones we're talking about, they could reach up to 10 inches! These schooling fish need very, very large tanks. I would highly recommend finding out which kind you have and follow the care on https://seriouslyfish.com/

Unsure which danios you have, but depending on the species, a 10g is manageable for the meantime if you keep up with water maintenance and such. If it's a larger species, may want to look into upgrading or rehoming/surrendering too

There A TON of cichlid species out there, and some that can work for a 39g-- although could you provide dimensions of this tank? That would help me give options!

 

[Mikedick77]

Welcome back to the hobby, and to the forums!

 

[Ssnaaiil]

Welcome back into the hobby! And welcome to fishlore!

 

[Leeman75]

Welcome Jason! Warning: It's so addictive!! I also got back into the hobby a bit over a year ago. Now I find myself with 8 tanks and wishing I could start another tank to try out African Cichlids!

 

[mimo91088]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Jpayne74]

Welcome back to the hobby!
Unfortunately, silver dollars are not suitable for a 10g. Depending on which ones we're talking about, they could reach up to 10 inches! These schooling fish need very, very large tanks. I would highly recommend finding out which kind you have and follow the care on Seriously Fish — Feeling fishy?

Unsure which danios you have, but depending on the species, a 10g is manageable for the meantime if you keep up with water maintenance and such. If it's a larger species, may want to look into upgrading or rehoming/surrendering too

There A TON of cichlid species out there, and some that can work for a 39g-- although could you provide dimensions of this tank? That would help me give options!

Thanks for the advice! I’ll admit to a mistake... it’s a standard 37g tank, not a 39

 

[Jpayne74]

Welcome Jason! Warning: It's so addictive!! I also got back into the hobby a bit over a year ago. Now I find myself with 8 tanks and wishing I could start another tank to try out African Cichlids!

I can totally understand why. My wife, who was against tanks at first, is now saying we should have gone bigger

 

[Ssnaaiil]

I can totally understand why. My wife, who was against tanks at first, is now saying we should have gone bigger

GO BIG OR GO HOME!!! Hahaha I started with a fish bowl(didn’t know any better at the time), then got a 10 gallon like 2 weeks later, then about 4-5 months after that got a 37 gallon, then about 5 months after that I got a 55g and I’ve had that one going for 6.5 months and I want a 125 gallon now. Hubby promised me once we move into our own house and get all settled that he will get me a huge wall sized tank.

 

[Imthatpeep100]

Thanks for the advice! I’ll admit to a mistake... it’s a standard 37g tank, not a 39

The dimensions I found for a 37g are 121.9cm (48")L * 38.1cm (15")W * 30.5cm (12")D. Let me know if that's right, but I'll list some cichlids that work for this tank size that I know of (btw I'm not the best with cichlids so if you want more specific advice on them, I'd make another thread or research on reputable care sites)

One of my favorites is shell dwellers. There are a lot of these out there, but I would recommend going for a smaller species like multis so there's wiggle room in the tank for future offspring. You should plan on what to do with excess fish though

Otherwise, any dwarf cichlids should work: Apistogramma, Apistogrammoides, Nannacara, Ivanacara, Laetacara, Dicrossus, Crenicara, Biotoecus, and Mikrogeophagus. I don't think many have common names but are referred to as dwarf cichlids and their scientific name

hope this helps and happy fishkeeping