[F] Keeping cichlids from digging
Carol Ann Webber
cichlids, each about 4.5-5". One is a jewel cichlid, the
others I'm not sure of. The only other fish is a pl*co, about
6" long. There are plenty of rocks and plants for
territories. Only one of the fish seems to be territorial.
This fish is constantly digging and rearranging the gravel.
Does anyone know an effective way to keep the fish from digging
down the bottom? There are parts of the tank which have no
gravel left. I'm sure this affects the filtration, not to
mention the aesthetics. Is there some kind of screen that is
safe to use to limit their access to the bottom?
Also, we would like to add more cichlids to the tank. However,
the stores here have very little selection. Those fish which
are available are much smaller. Would they have much of a
chance with the bigger fish?
Any advice is appreciated.
Carol Webber
U. of Virginia
Microbiology
William Cizek
>My fiance has a 55g African cichlid tank. He has three
>cichlids, each about 4.5-5". One is a jewel cichlid, the
>others I'm not sure of. The only other fish is a pl*co, about
>6" long. There are plenty of rocks and plants for
>territories. Only one of the fish seems to be territorial.
>This fish is constantly digging and rearranging the gravel.
>Does anyone know an effective way to keep the fish from digging
>down the bottom? There are parts of the tank which have no
>gravel left. I'm sure this affects the filtration, not to
>mention the aesthetics. Is there some kind of screen that is
>safe to use to limit their access to the bottom?
If there are only a few places he digs, try burying a flat rock in
the gravel. My Africans dig in the caves I made. To keep them from
digging down to the filter plate, I put a thin (1/4" - 1/2" thick), flat
rock (the same kind as the caves are made of) in the gravel. Now they can
dig down about an inch, then they hit rock. They're happy, it looks pretty
good, and the UGF is still intact.
You could also try putting a piece of fiberglass screen (like for your
windows) in the gravel. An inch of so of gravel, then the screen, then
more gravel. This will give all-over protection, but it doesn't look
as nice as the rock, and it is harder to vacume the gravel, not to mention
putting it into an established tank. (A friend of mine tried this and
switched the the flat rock method)
>Also, we would like to add more cichlids to the tank. However,
>the stores here have very little selection. Those fish which
>are available are much smaller. Would they have much of a
>chance with the bigger fish?
I added some smaller fish (Johanni) to my tank full of Kenyi cichlids,
The Kenyi are about twice as big, and the Johanni aren't doing as well
as they could be. They are still alive, and I think they will survive
until this summer when I get my 75g, but if I had it to do again, I would
have gotten something bigger (or waited for the bigger tank).
In general, for African cichlids you should have three or four females for
each male in the tank. Males will fight with each other for territory more
than females.
Bill
ci...@uiuc.edu
Bret Kramer
: Also, we would like to add more cichlids to the tank. However,
: the stores here have very little selection. Those fish which
: are available are much smaller. Would they have much of a
: chance with the bigger fish?
Well, Carol, I have a 30 gal. Cichlid tank in which I had 7 fish.
I had 5 African Cichlids (various types and sizes .75 to 4.5 inches),
a Firemouth (South American Cichlid), and a Convict (South American
Cichlid). Recently I went to 5 different area pet stores and spoke
with various people about purchasing some new fish. Needless to say,
I didn't get the same answer anywhere. One guy said don't buy anything
because it can't survive. Another said Africans are OK but never put
any South Americans with them. Another said that I had to buy fish that
were bigger than the average of my fish. Another said that although there
are lots of opinions on what goes with what, there really aren't to many
rules without exceptions.
I ended up buying two African Cichlids (1 Peacock and 1 Frontosa) the
Peacock was rather small (under an inch) and the Frontosa was much larger
(3 to 4 inches). They are both doing excellent in my tank. As a matter of
fact, the little one even seems to be beating up on some of the larger
ones.
I guess my 2 cents worth would be to listen to everybodys opinion, and then
take a look at your tank and the agressiveness of the fish therein.
When you buy your fish make sure to rearrange or remove any rocks plants, etc.
for a day or two and leave the light on at night. This will remove those
territorial boundaries which have formed.
Hope something in there helps. :)
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APA...@maine.maine.edu
Sherry) says:
>
>> Also, we would like to add more cichlids to the tank. However,
>> the stores here have very little selection. Those fish which
>> are available are much smaller. Would they have much of a
>> chance with the bigger fish?
>
>are. I currently keep two 2" gouramis in 55 with a 10" Dempsey with no probs,
>as he ignores the smaller ones...I think it depends mostly on the temperament
>of any one given fish. At least that's my experience.
Gouramis aren't cichlids, and that makes ALL the difference. I have large
cichlids that leave tiny little killies, barbs, loaches, etc alone -- put
in another (esp. small) cichlid and it's dead in a day. I've quit trying
to add cichlids to established tanks.
Cary Penington
Carol Ann Webber <ca...@dayhoff.med.Virginia.EDU> wrote:
>My fiance has a 55g African cichlid tank. He has three
>... There are plenty of rocks and plants for
>territories. Only one of the fish seems to be territorial.
>This fish is constantly digging and rearranging the gravel.
>Does anyone know an effective way to keep the fish from digging
>safe to use to limit their access to the bottom?
>
the bottom edges of the tank. You may even connect the pipe with
90 degree elbow connectors to connect the pipes and keep them in place.
Now, you need a thin plexiglass sheet that fits into the tank resting on
the pipe. You might even drill some holes in the sheet to improve water
flow to the underlying filter. Place some gravel on top of the sheet
to allow them to continue digging. Digging is in many cases a pre-spawning
ritual that is instinctive, you don't want to take that away from them.
Even better would be sheets of slate to rest across the pipe for a more
natural look when they finally dig down far enough.
>Also, we would like to add more cichlids to the tank. However,
>the stores here have very little selection. Those fish which
>are available are much smaller. Would they have much of a
>chance with the bigger fish?
>
It depends on whether there are enough places to hide in the rocks
you have. Build your rock structures high into the tank being careful
to use larger flat-bottomed rocks at the bottom of the structures for
better support. These guys, as you know, will dig at the base of rocks
and if the rock is supported by the gravel thats being dug away, the
rock can come down and trap the digging fish. Also, spreading your structures
higher into the tank will spread your fish out more, and the upper areas of
the tank will be used more by the fish. Doing this, things will seem a little
less crowded in the tank.
As for more fish, you might try the Mbuna, which is comprised of many hardy
species of African cichilds. Look for names like Pseudotropheus, Melanochromis,
and Labeotropheus just to mention a few. These fish are tough with the
potential of getting large and they readily breed in captivity. Not to
mention, they are fairly inexpensive.
Hope this helps, good luck!
--
-- Cary R. Penington | An African Cichlid Lover and Bonsai Enthusiast
pen...@usa.acsys.com | The opinions above are mine and are not necessarily
Los Alamos, NM, USA | those of Applied Computing Systems, Inc..
Paul Chapman
>>Does anyone know an effective way to keep the fish from digging
>>down the bottom? There are parts of the tank which have no
>>gravel left. I'm sure this affects the filtration, not to
>>mention the aesthetics. Is there some kind of screen that is
>>safe to use to limit their access to the bottom?
>
>If there are only a few places he digs, try burying a flat rock in
>the gravel. My Africans dig in the caves I made. To keep them from
>digging down to the filter plate, I put a thin (1/4" - 1/2" thick), flat
>rock (the same kind as the caves are made of) in the gravel. Now they can
>dig down about an inch, then they hit rock. They're happy, it looks pretty
>good, and the UGF is still intact.
From my experience with Kribensis digging is preparation for nesting
and breeding. That means the little guys are happy. Try to choose
where YOU want them to dig by putting in half a flowerpot or making a
slate cave. Then put a rock floor under it with an inch of gravel on
top. This will let them satisfy their need to make a nest and allow
them to get to the next step.
My Kribs spent a week excavating under their pot until they had built
a crater three inches deep and 7 inches in diameter with no sign of slowing
down. once I filled the hole and put down a slate barrier they spawned
that day. By the way the mother guarded the fry for 4 weeks with good
success, however the male initiated breeding behaviour at that point
(cleaning the nest and showing off) wherupon she lost intrest in the brood
and they dissapeared into someones tummy. I suspect the bristle nosed
pl*co.
Paul Chapman
cole...@garnet.berkeley.edu
Paul Chapman <pcha...@mdo.nofc.forestry.ca> wrote:
>>>This fish is constantly digging and rearranging the gravel.
>>>Does anyone know an effective way to keep the fish from digging
>>>down the bottom? There are parts of the tank which have no
>
>and breeding. That means the little guys are happy. Try to choose
>where YOU want them to dig by putting in half a flowerpot or making a
>slate cave. Then put a rock floor under it with an inch of gravel on
>top. This will let them satisfy their need to make a nest and allow
>them to get to the next step.
>
cichlids in the San Marcos River in Texas I was always fascinated by their
digging. Basically, much of the river has a mucky bottom and the cichlids
cannot lay their eggs on the muck. So, they dig. What amazed me was that
I would often find pairs that would have dug down about a foot into the
muck, and there in the bottom of their nest would be a rock. These rocks
were too large for them to have put there, i.e., they dug to the rock, they
didn't dig and then put a rock in the whole, and yet I never saw holes that
had been dug that didn't have a rock in the bottom (abandoned or not). What
puzzled me was how did they know where to dig to find these rocks, because
the rocks were scattered. Hmmmm....
Anyway, in another part of the river, they would lay their eggs on roots
and submerged branches, but when they did this they always cleared a circle
of vegetation from around the laying site. I suspect the purpose of this
is to allow them a clear view all around the eggs so that they can see
potential egg predators and nail them before they get the eggs. This
cleared zone was often a couple of feet across.
If we translate this into an aquarium situation, where the whole tank is
only a couple of feet across, basically, the cichlids are digging down to
a suitable egg-laying substrate and they clear the vegetation around the
nest, which just so happens to be most of the vegetation in a typical tank,
and voila, your typical up-rooted, devegetated cichlid tank!
-- Ron Coleman
cole...@garnet.berkeley.edu
Jill Emily Solek
They're gonna continue to dig. The appearance of the plain
glass bottom is much less of an eyesore than the white plastic
of the UGF...AARghhhh.ce
--
//// //// //// //// **********************************
| |/| |/| |/ | |/ * Jill Emily Solek *
__| |/| |/| |///| |/// * je...@darwin.clas.virginia.edu *
\____/ |__|/|_____||_____| **********************************
J.B. Nicholson-Owens
>>>down the bottom? There are parts of the tank which have no
>>>gravel left. I'm sure this affects the filtration, not to
>>>mention the aesthetics. Is there some kind of screen that is
>>>safe to use to limit their access to the bottom?
In response to preventing cichlids from digging to the filter plate: I
am in the process of developing a product that solves that problem.
It is called the "no dig barrier" I have tried it in my tank and would
like some input from out in the real world. I would send a sheet of
this material free to the first five people who respond by mail to:
John H. Owens, 433 Evergreen West, Quincy, Il, 62301-5929.
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