# will African Cichlid in a planted 55 gallon tank work?



## Fishwood (Feb 1, 2008)

I've never kept cichlids, but I've always understood that they love to destroy plants. That's why most cichlid tanks are always elaborate rockwork scapes and not much more. 

I read once that if you're insistent upon plants in a cichlid tank, the best way to do it is to get those veggie wafers that fish like to munch on and clip them to the sides of the tank--basically encouraging them to go after those instead of the plants. I don't know how well that works, I've just heard it done. 

Personally, I think you'll find this totally frustrating and should either decide to do a cichlid tank, or decide to do a planted tank, rather that mix the two.


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## arndogg (Mar 24, 2007)

what kind of African cichlids are you thinking of? Most Tanganikyan species would be fine in a planted tank. Malawi cichlids on the other hand, will most likely not be compatible.


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## fishstoregirl (Feb 19, 2009)

There are quite a few Africans, as well as other cichlids, that would do very well in a 55 gallon planted. Africans: Kribensis (_Pelvicachromis pulcher)_ and the rest of the _Pelvicachromis _group, Buffalo Head/ Block Head (_Steatocranus casuarius_), possibly Brichardi (_Chalinochromis brichardi _and the common _Neolamprologus brichardi_) if there are no other fish as they will take over the tank, and probably any of the _Julidochromis _group. I have heard of Yellow Labs (_Labidochromis caeruleus) _in planted tanks as long as a portion of the substrate is left bare. Supposedly they will dig in the bare portion and leave the rest of the substrate and plants alone. I have not heard anything about other Malawi however, and most of the other Malawi are far more aggressive and should be housed only with other Malawi if you learn they may be ok with a bare area and plants. 

As far as South Americans, probably ok with plants: Firemouth (_Thorichthys_ _meeki_), Severum (_Heros severus_), and any fish of the _Geophagus _group (these guys are “Earth Eaters” but they act something like cories searching the substrate for bits to eat- they scoop up sand and spit it out, but I still think they’d be fine with plants and they’re very peaceful). S. Americans definitely ok with plants and also pretty peaceful are: Rainbow (_Herotilapia multispinosa_), Keyhole (_Cleithracara maronii_), Nicaraguense/ Nicaragua/ Spilotum (_Cichlasoma nicaraguense), __Dwarf Flag (Laetacara curviceps), _Redbreast Acara/ Red Flag (_Laetacara dorsigera_), Golden Dwarf (_Nanacara anomala_), Festivum/ Flag Cichlid (_Mesonauta festivus _and_ insignis_), Checkerboard Cichlid (_Crenicara punctulatum_), Lyretail Checkerboard Cichlid (_Dicrossus filamentosus_), Checkerboard Cichlid (_Dicrossus masculatus_) and of course the Angelfish, Rams, Apistogramma, and Discus.

The small Asian cichlid, the Chromide (_Etroplus maculates_) is also ok with plants, but it prefers brackish conditions which will limit your plant choices. 

I really like cichlids, particularly the more peaceful ones, and have done tons of research on most species because I was asked at work to become the “cichlid expert.” If you have any other cichlid questions I will be happy to try and help you as best I can! I currently have a heavily planted 10 gallon with a pair of Kribensis (_Pelvicachromis pulcher_) and they are great with the plants and don’t dig at all. If you provide caves such as flower pots or rocks, driftwood, etc, many of the diggers will usually not dig, which would expand the list above to just about all cichlids as long as their tankmates are chosen very carefully. If I had another, larger tank, I would love to try some Buffalo Head and Nigaraguense, both very unusual looking and entertaining fish!


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## Nix (Mar 7, 2006)

I second fishstoregirl's opinon here:
In my brain-fried youth I had Julidochromis and Bricardis in a planted tank - it worked fine, at least for the plants.


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## moogoo (Dec 7, 2007)

you should be ok with african cichlids if you stick to java ferns and anubias and attach them to rocks or driftwood. Mbuna cichlids WILL dig up your substrate and any plants that are there. They are also algae eaters and may damage plants if they are not kept well fed.

You may be safe with peacock cichlids as they are not known to dig like the mbunas and are less "hyperactive". kribs are definitely a safe bet.


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## masroberts9 (Oct 14, 2008)

i third, but i have had some success with malawi mbunas also. basically they dont like plants being in their typical hide spots. there were certain spots of the tank that I could put anything i wanted. I ran the co2 as close to those plants as i could and kept the co2 flow low. africans like higher ph, but can adjust to lower, so i ran the flow low to not disrupt the ph too much. I had the tank fully decorated from side to side with holey rock and crushed coral which helped other areas of the tank to stay more alkaline. I eventually went to fake plants, but thats because i moved them to the other side of the house were i dont have co2 run. I have black angels in 1 planted tank, kribs and cacatuoides in another.


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## marcus0655 (Feb 24, 2009)

I really do want chilids in my new tank and I was really woried about the plant cichlid relationship. I really welcome everyones ideas and I thank everyone that has posted. i think I would go with the south african group cause I have some cories in my 10gallon right now.


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## moh614 (Mar 4, 2010)

*Cichlids and plants*

Well if you really want a planted aquarium and cichlids I would have to suggest Dwarfs. Kribs and Rams will most likely do well with plants. As far as the larger Africans go I would not waste my money on plants. There are some beautiful artificial plants you can use for color and that provide hiding places but Africans like to rearrange their tanks the way they like. I have 2 tanks. One planted tank wth dwarf cichlids and one African tank with Texas Holey Rock, Lava Rock and other assorted caves and rocks. I also have some artificial plants in there. They will work tirelessly to dig the gravel and form their own caves underneath the rocks. They are facinating. Just read up and make sure you know what you are getting into. At least if they dig up the fake plants they won't ruin them. Just my opinion.


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## Left C (Nov 15, 2003)

_Pseudocrenilabrus nicholsi_ are dwarf (2 1/2" to 3") African cichlids that do well in planted tanks. They are hardy and do well in soft water like we used for planted tanks. They do not require the hard water that the rift lake cichlids enjoy. They're mouth brooders and they breed like rats. Really neat fish!!

MALE


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## pmd5700 (Oct 27, 2007)

I have a 55 with with some Electric Yellow, Acei, and Rusty Cichlids. I put some vallisneria in there and they destroyed it. I put in some java ferns at the same time and they are growing like crazy. It's just a giant ball of java fern now. The cichlids love to swim through it and hide in it.


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## Edenwolf (Jan 12, 2013)

This is an old thread but since I am also planning to keep african cichlids in a planted tank, so I am hoping to get some advice from those who had tried before.

Fishes - a mixture of different type of African cichlids
Plants - Java ferns, US fissiden, java moss, sword plant

Thanks in advance!


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## mikluha (Dec 4, 2015)

This is very old thread, however, here is my tank - Male only mixed peacock/haps (Malawi/Victoria) African cichlids. They nibble on Wisteria (Hygrophila) but the rest is left alone. I'm using CO2 + extras, so it grows fast enough to be able to cope with it. Large image is kinda old, everything is much larger now. Vals is huge now.

Cichlids are fed mostly by homemade vegetable diet, so it helps to "tame" them as well


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Yes, it is an old story and old thread but then old info can be good or it can be bad. When I see folks ask this it is often as this poster did it. without saying WHAT African cichlid, it's like asking what a dog does or worse. There are so many different African cichlids, such a general question is really missing the point. 
And then the answers seem to be much the same. Some who do keep African cichlids and plants and other who say it can't be done. 
Congrats on being among those who do rather than those who say it can't but don't try. Like many things, it takes thought but it looks like you have done A NICE JOB.


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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

just want to say that kribs are congo river cichlids, not great rift valley. This means that they do better in an amazon-type tank, they are more peaceful africans, therefore should not be kept with species larger or more aggressive.


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## mikluha (Dec 4, 2015)

Thx. 

This is 300 gal tank. Originally I wanted to use it as reef but it's narrow and deep, so it's extremely hard to do any "bottom-activity". I wanted to have planted tank (used to have it long time ago). Since life gave me lemons (AZ hard water, not so hard as Pflugerville, though - used to live in Austin) I decided to make a lemonade (=cichlids). Discus, probably, would look better but I did not want to deal with huge amount of RO water.

I used LED lights from my reef tank (kinda unnatural high color temperature but plants love it and nobody complains). 
Used a pool filter sand - before I used to put laterite/gravel/etc. But it's very difficult to vacuum such deep tank, so pool sand is ideal. Poop stays on top and moves to the corners, where it can be vacuumed. Plants were put in pots (was afraid of digging). Now they send roots out, so it looks like pots are not a problem. 

Since I have reef tank with calcium reactor, a CO2 wouldn't be a problem.

Water is automatically changed daily (approx, 50 gal is pumped out to water my backyard trees). Homemade fertilizer is dosed daily.

Tank is 6 month old. 

I added manzanito driftwood. I did not have large tub to soak it, so put it right away. Of course, it dropped my pH to almost "discus-keeping" level, so I had to start dosing sodium carbonate. I still do it, so I don't have to worry about adding lots of CO2. 

I have about 100 or so nerite snails. They keep everything clean. Driftwood is shiny. Anubias plants are cleaned as well.

I noticed recently nerites shell erosion. Started to dose calcium. Vallisneria responded immediately as well with extra growth. 

Started with nitrates about 20 ppm. Without weeks of active plant growths they were down to zero. I'm dosing KNO3.

Most of plants are doing well in hard water. They're constantly bubbling with oxygen.


Anyway, my point was to show to myself it's possible to keep African cichlids and plants


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## PlantedRich (Jul 21, 2010)

Yes, I would say you have proven that you can do it and very nicely. Maybe a bit perverse to want to try what we are told can't be done? But then if this is not a hobby to try things, I would likely quit. I started fish many years ago and have quit several times but then some time back in the mid 70's I was bored and drifted into a fish shop who had the "new" African cichlids!!! Maybe keeping the cichlids and then when we have the hazards somewhat under control we can move into adding plants with a better chance of making it work. At this point, I'm beginning to work back away from plants as the plants are a bit of problem for what I really find I like. The cichlids have such interesting breeding/ social life that I can't resist letting them breed. They certainly are willing and able to breed in the planted tanks and really love the cover but that is part of the problem. When they breed, I want to catch select fish who are holding the eggs. I have all mouthbrooders where the female holds the eggs and fry. But if I want to keep a good bunch of the fry, I have to catch the female and that is where the planted tank is not good! Some of the mbuna are okay with the fry being released in the main tank and some do survive but my main interest is in some big fish at the moment. Protomelas insignus are a big (9"?) open water fish who has no idea of how to hide when they are fry. Only about 5 survive out of each batch. So now my tank is going away from planted and back closer to open water and rocks. I'm kind of torn between keeping the plants and doing the full out breeding so the tank is a bit confused looking. Nice to see a tank as well done as you have. At the moment, mine is neither here nor there but this is the big guy that I want to grow out a bunch more to keep.


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## vaibhav (Apr 18, 2016)

trick is first let's plant settle and after 6month or year add cichlid


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## Dan65 (Mar 28, 2016)

I saw some nice heavily planted african cichlid tank ; my question is at what pH and KH you keep the tank? I have pressurized CO2 and my tank is at pH7.5 and KH 20 and I would love a lower KH and higher pH....is there a way to achieve those conditions?


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## mikluha (Dec 4, 2015)

pH is 7.5 with some variation due to CO2 concentration in water. I turn on aeration during night time to avoid pH drop and
KH is 12-13


You can't arbitrary vary KH/PH/CO2. They're related, google for table showing max co2 concentration as function of both KH and pH. 

KH=20 seems to be too high. You may need to check your test.

If you want to lower KH, then start adding RO water (after checking KH reading). However, water KH won't allow to "hold" as much CO2 and high KH

In reply to previous post - cichlids were added at the same time as plants


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