Hello

I'm very new to the cichlids. I keep trying to learn and learn and I'm sure I will get better but I do believe you all are speaking in Latin. There's so much information out there that it gets very confusing to try to figure out who I should be listening to and who I should be ignoring. I'm hoping these forums will be a much better option than the various websites I've looked at or the multiple mismatched answers I've received at the bigger chain pet stores. I've got a 36 gallon bow front aquarium with 8 cichlids. I'm going to give the common names since I'm still learning their scientific names.
2 electric yellow cichlids
2 bumblebee cichlids (these are the largest at 2 inches. The others are all smaller)
2 jewel cichlids
2 that we're simply listed as African cichlids. Any help identifying these would be much appreciated.
Ironically the biggest problem that my husband and I have run across should have seemed to be the simplest: how often do you feed them?? The ph was at 7.5 when we added then to the tank but has since dropped - in less than a week - to 6.8. I don't want to shock them by changing it real fast but am at a loss as to how to change it slowly. Any and all help would be appreciated.
Oh, the "African cichlids" are both orange is color. One has some black splashes on its body, the other is straight orange with small dots on its tail I believe. I will try to post a picture soon. Can you teach them how to stay still for a camera???


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Welcome to the forum.

Hi Dawn! Welcome. Yes, definitely post some pics! As for the ph, several of us add cichlid buffer (seachem product) or baking soda to our African cichlid tanks to help keep our pH up and steady.

The jewel cichlid comes from a different water type than those other African cichlids. They are pretty tolerant of a range of pH but you'll have to keep an eye on it to keep everyone happy.

Welcome to the forum, Dawn. You came to the right spot.

As for your Africans, these are the scientific names for the ones you have. You don't have to use them (not everyone does), but if you're itching to do more research, this will help.

-electric yellow cichlids- Labidochromis caereleus (Lake Malawi)
-bumblebee - Pseudotropheus crabro (Lake Malawi)
-jewel - Hemichromis sp (West Africa)

As Christine mentioned, the Hemichromis are from a different region where the water is typically soft, whereas the Malawi fish come from hard water. If you aren't doctoring the water at all (using treated soft water or adding crushed coral to harden it), they should be ok in the same tank (barring behavioral differences/aggression).

Pseudotropheus crabro (bumblebee) are some bad dudes. They get extremely large - 8"+ and are very nasty. One of the fish that I believe should not be sold at the box stores for that reason. They will be ok for a bit, but don't get too attached to them as they will surely be a problem in 6 months.

The yellow labs are great fish... stay smallish and are lower on the aggression scale for Malawi mbuna (mbuna = rock-dwelling, typically algae-grazing cichlids from Lake Malawi with the rounded faces and bright colors). If you are looking to add more fish, then a few more of them would be nice.

Post up some pics of your other fish and I'll try to ID them.

Regarding your water chemistry, did you cycle the tank before you added the fish? How long has it been set up?

Cheers and welcome again.

Welcome to the forum!

welcome!!!!!!!

Thank you everyone for the wonderful welcome and all of the information. I will do some more digging about the baking soda to find out how much to add. Thank you for the tip. I have no coral and no water softeners. I was told from the box store that they would coexist just fine and that's what I mean by getting bad information. I love the bumblebees (pseudotropheus crabo) but the colors and sweetness of the others are the real draw. I feel bad when I see them being chased by the bumblebees.


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Hello and welcome to the forum. I started with the 36g bowfront as well and was led astray by the big box store. It is of my opinion, that your stock won't work with this size tank for the long run. If they are small then you have some time to find them a new home.

From my experience, a single dwarf mbuna species would work. I chose Pseudotropheous Saulosi, since both the male and females are gorgeous in my opinion. The male is a blue with black barred (similar in color to the Kenyi Female which is one of the assorted mbuna I originally picked up) and the Saulosi females are yellow (similar in color to the electric yellow cichlids- Labidochromis caereleus). With this small tank I chose to have 1 male / 6 female Ps. Saulosi to spread out any aggression. Saulosi have a rep of being one of the more mellow cichilids compared to other mbuna. Iodotropheous Sparangae (Rusty Cichlid) are also considered to be a Dwarf species and might work.

If you want to go Lake Tanganyika, then there are Shell Dwellers that would work with the 35g bowfront.

I learned a great deal from my experience with my original 36g bowfront and have since moved on to a 55 gallon tank to have more fish and flexibility.

Welcome to the forum. There are lots of more knowledgeable members than I on here so ask lots of questions.

I'm sorry. Yes I cycled the tank. It was set up for almost two weeks before adding any fish.


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If any one could help me identify this species of cichlids that would be great.


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The first one looks like a red zebra - Metriaclima estherae.

Unfortunately, they have a track record for hybridizing with yellow labs. :s

If you're not interested in keeping fry, it's not a big deal.. just throw a small syno cat in the tank to keep up with fry. If you don't like this idea, get rid of him as it's pretty difficult to get rid of hybrid African cichlids.

Not sure what the blotched fish is...

OB Zebra

Welcome to the forum


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Okay Tony. Now I admit I already knew what the term fry meant but "syno cat" had me envisioning my tabby cat sitting on my tank and telling all the fish that they "see no cat" so it could eat the fry. After a moment of shaking my head and research I now understand what you meant. Is there a small synodontis catfish that will do well with my African cichlids and won't get very big?I understand there are about 100 varieties and some get quite large.
Thank you Tony and Fishology for the help identifying my other two.


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Cabsmome said:

Okay Tony. Now I admit I already knew what the term fry meant but "syno cat" had me envisioning my tabby cat sitting on my tank and telling all the fish that they "see no cat" so it could eat the fry. After a moment of shaking my head and research I now understand what you meant. Is there a small synodontis catfish that will do well with my African cichlids and won't get very big?I understand there are about 100 varieties and some get quite large.
Thank you Tony and Fishology for the help identifying my other two.


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Click to expand...

LMAO, that's awesome.

Some of the more common small synodontis that I can think of are S. perticola, S. lucipinnis and S. schoutendeni. Though they won't sit atop your tank, but they're fun to watch and will certainly take care of errant fry.

Thanks for the ideas! Off to do some research!!


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