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Lookin good . my only concern is the smooth rocks on the left side falling. im sure they are more stable than it looks (pics never do justice) but for peace of mind id putty them in place for a semi permanent hold. Also a black backdrop would be nice imo :P other than that the tank looks great. i would love to see a large group of demasoni in it but thats just me :P cheers

Going to refer back to here
buy some de-encapsulated brine shrimp eggs or Fry starter

As far as survival rate, it should be pretty good as long as you have nothing else in the tank that will eat them. The parents will protect the young, and each spawn will also help protect the next and so forth. As far as the breeding cycle, it takes 6 to 7 days from egg laying to hatching. And they spawn about every 3 weeks in ideal conditions. So expect the next spawn about 3 weeks after the first sighting of little fish. And the spawn size will likely get bigger each time. Hopefully you have something lined up with your LFS or have a way to sell them, unless you plan on getting multiple tanks or just one really huge tank.

Depending on what you have for filtering, I would look into getting something to put on the filter intake if you want to minimize babies getting sucked into your filter. While I've had baby plecos survive and grow to a good size in a filter, I don't believe the same would happen with baby Daffodils. My local LFS sold me some foam like this and I cut it to size to put around the intake. You'll need to clean it periodically as it acts just like an additional pre-filter filter.

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want to the aquarium based subreddits, we all don't mind :) The subs are here to help people be successful with this hobby and to share our love for our fish.


I just wanted to say I'm really happy to see you asking questions now, before you've gotten your fish yet! The reason why most people come to these subreddits for the first time is that their fish is dying and they want to save it, but the damage has already been done if they didn't know about how to cycle a tank, have been over feeding and gave their fish fatty liver, etc.


I really recommend picking up a water test kit like this one, as you will need to check your ammonia/nitrite/nitrate levels (your "water parameters") once a day for the first few weeks of setting up your tank as it cycles. :) Don't bother with the paper test kits, as they're ~$10 for a pack of 12 and notoriously inaccurate. For ~$20, the liquid test kits have 800+ tests in them. Once you can get a cycle established, taking care of your fish will be 1000x easier. I only have to do ~30% water changes once every week or two on my main nanotank now.

> Well, if the husband doesn't want to be Aquarium Robert Smith, just wait.

Cure reference, nice.

> The cheapest way would be to purchase a good HOB filter like an Aquaclear 70 or a fluval C5, though you can get a SunSun canister through amazon at just barely a little more. You're definitely going to want both filters on as you're cycling.

Is this one appropriate? Then to confirm, you are saying run both the 220 that we already have and the SunSun?

> Speaking of which, you've mentioned you're cycling your tank currently--what method are you using to cycle it and do you have a testing kit for your water parameters?

The tank has been filled & there are some cherry shrimp in there right now (We'll find them another home before the cichlids hit the tank.) My husband was in charge of the cycling process, but I can tell you he did some minimal reading & then winged it LOL. He put a used filter from our other tank in there for a week or so in a mesh bag, along with a decent amount of gravel from an active tank. We have since removed all of that so we could put in the sand to prepare for the cichlids. Other than that, cycling has mostly just been waiting (2-3 weeks so far). We tested for ph & ammonia. Ammonia is 0 and I don't remember what the ph was offhand (but it was within range of the cichlids I was considering at the time). We'll need to test that again anyway since we pulled the gravel & put in the sand this past weekend. I also ordered a water hardness test that hasn't arrived yet after reading that cichlids seem to like hard water.

Thank you so much for this info! I actually looked into the aqua clear 50's and also 70's. Another user, MoistDiapers mentioned that I could use 2 or just 1 powerful filter, so I was thinking about using just one, the Marineland emperor 400, what do you think about that?

EDIT: This is the filter I read many good reviews about, along with the 50's that you recommended.

The Hikari pellets are the sinking type - I've never been a fan of floating, as the dominant fish don't often allow the other fish to eat enough. Here's the link

Currently, the fish are only eating 1-3 medium sized pellets per feeding, so no more than 6 or so per day. Normally, they'll happily take 4-6 each feeding, plus some of the New Life Spectrum smaller pellets. Most of my Cichlids are at least 4", several are fully grown adults around 6-8". It's primary a peacock tank, with a Frontosa, Leleupi, Brichardi, and Hap Obliquiden.

I probably don't feed enough for them to eat longer than about 15 seconds right now, since I'm trying to keep things light. Under normal conditions, they'll usually eat all of the food I put in the tank within 1-2 minutes. As you know, they're pigs when healthy!

I've always avoided feeding on the weekends as I've heard it's wise to give them a fast day or two in order to clear out their bowels.

They lock in pretty good on their own, but I have holes drilled with plastic dowels and some aquarium safe silicone holding them all together.

These are the rocks I have: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F8DVAO4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I have 80 pounds.

Yes, anti ich medicine should work.

This book is a good overview of fish diseases and how to cure them:

Manual of fish health, amazon link

I have a 12 Gallon Mr. Aqua with 7 similis.

I'd get a pack of 36 escargot shells from Amazon for about $17.
https://www.amazon.com/Roland-Snail-Shells-Extra-Large/dp/B004Y18ANU/ref=sr_1_1_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1499669502&sr=8-1&keywords=escargot%2Bshells&th=1

Get 20 lbs. of Caribsea for $11.

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/caribsea-super-naturals-aquarium-sand

I'd use 1 to 2 sponge filters to keep it cheap and safe for the fry.
https://www.amazon.com/Hydro-IV-Sponge-Pro-Filter/dp/B0002602SC/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1499669556&sr=8-7&keywords=sponge+filter

They never look mangled, they were swimming around like normal not hiding or anything.
They looked like bones which ive never seen before.
I am feeding them https://www.cobaltaquatics.com/collections/flake-fish-food/products/cichlid-flake-food and yes they were eating before death.

They are fed 3 times daily by 2 EHEIM Automatic food dispensers and they do not leave much if anything behind. https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B001F2117I/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I was looking at flakes and I found that fluvial makes some that read very good. What's your thought on these?

140gm Fluval Cichlid Flakes, 4.94-Ounce https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DHH079C/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_JMP5ybAACVGCQ

This should do nicely:

https://www.amazon.com/SunSun-HW-302-3-Stage-External-Canister/dp/B00892EN22

Also for food, I use New Life Spectrum Cichlid Formula 1 mm sinking pellets. I get 250g at a time, and it usually lasts a couple months at least.

https://www.amazon.com/New-Life-Spectrum-Cichlid-Formula/dp/B0002E7IRW

The biggest problem illness-wise that Cichlids can get is what's called "Malawi Bloat". It causes their digestive systems to swell, and they usually die quickly. No one knows precisely what causes it, but poor quality food or overfeeding can be to blame. There are a number of other good foods that will work, but I've had this recommended to me by a number of big aquarium keepers as the best, and I've never had a single issue with my fish being sick. It's a bit hard to find though, so I usually just order in the mail. PetCo and Dr. Foster's and Smith both carry it. This formula also has ingredients in it that encourages brighter colors in cichlids.

This one from Amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07NV6GLXH/

The built in battery charges with USB and goes for several months between charges. Been using it for about a month and I love it. The only tricky thing with these style of feeders is adjusting the quantity. I found by making very small adjustments and using a piece of tape to hold the adjustment flap in place I can get it where I want it.

Escargot shells appear to be the common choice.

I got these:

https://smile.amazon.com/Roland-Snail-Shells-Extra-Large/dp/B004Y18ANU

There are plenty 6ft lights. Or get two 3ft lights.

BeamsWork EA Timer FSPEC LED Aquarium Light Freshwwater Plant Extendable (180cm - 72") https://www.amazon.com/dp/B019YXYNRY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_3o7VCbXX2D5YF

It was this one

I have two Penn Place Cascade Cannisters 1000s.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002DJ9NY?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf

If he's kinda vibrating/spinning around then you gotta get ready for some eggs! And also some fights. Pretty much any other males that are in the same type (red Jacob deathmatches vs firefish/strawberry Cichlid happened in mine) are gonna want to go after those females too. Even if the males simply look the same, they're most likely gonna go at it. Don't know what else you stocked in there, but you might wanna get another tank to separate some of them, or to even just grow the babies in. My females fought amongst themselves too enough to stress the hell out of one to the pt where she would just sit at the top corner of the tank while she had the eggs in her mouth. You could just leave them be but keep an eye on them to see if any fins look bitten or they start acting funny, then you gotta add more hiding spots/separate the ones fighting. It'll be very easy to tell if it's getting bad by just sitting and watching them charge mouth to mouth at each other. Hope this helps haha because I was panicked when it happened to me. Currently doing well with 2 separate 55 gallon setups, one having 2 of these set up for the fry. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B005QRDCP2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_m7IAzbQB54RT5