how do you set up a african cichild tank?

All those depend on the type of cichlid(s) you get.

 

Won't work in a 29 gallon tank at all. Cichlids need a large footprint aquarium. A 40 gallon long would work, that's a 4" tank.

 

No Africans should be kept in a 29 gallon. You could do a Tanganyika Mini Community though.

 

Doesn't matter if a lot of people do it or not. Fish that get 6" inches shouldn't be kept in a tank that small. Cichlids need a lot of room to swim and a 29 gallon tank just doesn't have enough room.

 

Here are some fish that will work for a 29 gallon tank.

• Pterophyllum scalare - 1 pair
• Rasbora heteromorpha "Harlequin" - 8
-OR-
• Carnegiella strigata "Marbled Hatchet" - 6
-AND-
• Botia almorhae "Yo-yo Loach" - 3
-OR-
• Corydoras adolfoi "Cory Catfish" - 5
____
3 Pairs Of Any Of The Following
• 'Lamprologus' (Shellies) brevis, multifasciatus, ornatipinnis, ocellatus, speciosus, similis, Neolamprologus signatus, Altolamprologus sp. "Compressiceps Shell"
• Neolamprologus caudopunctatus (non-Shellies)
• Julidiochromis ornatus or transcriptus
• Telmatochromis bifrenatus, brichardi or vittatus
• Paracyprichromis nigripinnis,
• Xenotilapia flavipinnis
____
• Haplochromis sp. "Ruby Green" - trio
• Metriaclima livingstonii - 5
• Ancistrus temminckii "Bristlenose Pleco" - 2

 

A freshwater barracuda is a difficult fish to keep. They also require a tank that's much larger than a 29 gallon.

 

A pair of Discus would work, but first you have to have a pair and NO MORE. They are hard to sex till a spawn. There are ways to make an accurate "guess" but it is still a guess unless you have been doing it a while.

You WILL spend LOTS on a Discus as many will die! Expecially if you do not do your homework on them and beware internet advice as there are 1 million "Discus Keepers" that will tell you 1,000 different things. (ie:Keep the water soft and acidic... that is a myth but has some accuracy and others will say keep it hard and alkaline... also a myth but somewhat accurate.)

Truth is not many really know what is true and false with discus as they are relatively new to aquariums (about 30 years or so) compared to say a goldfish (over 1,000 years domesticated)

Oh and 2-3 corys and 4-5 tetras with the 2 discus and THAT IS IT! If the discus spawn you will need to remove the dither fish (corys and tetras)

 

Yes corys and neons are good (cardinal tetras prettier!) about the number I stated 2-3 corys and 4-5 tetras.

Waterchange 25% a week. Keep water within these parameters

PH 6 - 7.5 (I like 6.5... just me though)
Temp 78 - 88 (watch the higher temps especially with neons and I am at 84)
Nitrites and Ammonia - 0 (Run a Bio-Wheel or only change 1 filter at a time)
Nitrites - Keep low to none (Put an Amazon Sword and Java Fern in your tank)
Hardness less than 300 ppm (Mine is too low to measure accurately)

That is about it.... Oh and you would need LOTS of different types of food. I personally buy an assortment of cichlid and tropical fish foods (dry), crush the large pieces and mix them all together.

My food list:
This mix of dry food
{
TetraColor Flake (crushed)
Tetra Cichlid Sticks (Crushed)
Hikari Cichlid Pellets (Crushed)
Goldfish flake (crushed)
Betta Pellets
Freeze Dried Bloodworms
}

And my frozen I keep
Hikari Frozen Bloodworms (the discus go nuts over this stuff)
Hikari Frozen Beefheart (my discus dont really like this, it was more of a test and to push some extra protein into them.... I have to give them only a portion of the cube or else it will spoil at the bottom)

Also watch overfeeding..... it is easy to do with them. I feed 3-4 times a day in smaller portions. This is where the tetras and the corys help.... them little tank cleaners they are prowling for uneaten food.

 

Yes they freak out easy, Yes they can die in 2 weeks if you are not careful and No nobody takes returns on discus.

Acclimation can be done 2 ways:
Bag Float method
Drip bucket method

Bag float you float the bag and add tank water little by little for about 30 min until you have added as much as was in the bag to start. Net the fish out the bag, dont add the bag water to the tank, put fish in tank and turn off the lights for the rest of the day. Next morning try and feed. If they dont eat, you may have problems but dont overfeed.

Bucket drip, Use airline tubing with something to pinch to slow the flow, make a siphon with it and put the fish in a bucket with the bag water and allow about 1-2 hours for the dripping to double or triple water. Net the fish out the bucket put in tank and turn off the lights for the rest of the day. Next morning try and feed. If they dont eat, you may have problems but dont overfeed.

 

No Discus and Angels are MUCH alike..... they are NOT the same fish, but require very similar conditions. If you can care for a Discus you can keep Angels. Just cause you have Angels does not mean you can keep Discus.

About 45 minutes is all you need to acclimate. Again DONT admire the new fish in the tank, turn off the light and even cover the tank if it is bright out. The fish will be much less stressed. With Discus it is all about minimalizing the stress level and reading it.

Discus will tell you they are stressed by getting dark (some varieties dont do this such as pigeon bloods) or showing their vertical lines more than normal. That is what takes time as you have to learn how to read your fish AND pay attention to it.