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I have had a Red Devil Cichlid in a 55 gallon tank for almost a month. He is 3 years old and around 10 inches long. The Ph is from 6.5 to 7, and the temperature stays around 78 degrees fahrenheit. I feed him large cichlid pellets, feeder goldfish, feeder ghost shrimp, and freeze dried plankton. I am just worried that I am doing something wrong. I have read that he will eat lettuce or peas.. I tried lettuce and he hasn't touched it. I want to know how often to feed him and how much, I know Red Devils are big eaters, but I also know overfeeding is a common cause of fish death. I have performed 30% water changes every week, and siphoned the gravel.

I want an expert to tell me is Ph and temperature needs...also his other chemical needs because I do not understand hard and soft water very well. I have read that he should be in temperatures 70-80, 84-94, and all kinds of others, also i have read he needs a Ph of 6.5-7, 7, 7-8, and a bunch of others.

He is an avid digger, and has dug all the gravel out of a corner of his tank. Should I replace the gravel or let it go? One last question.. I understand most Cichlids need caves.. he has a overturned flowerpot and a root and neither completely cover him... I can tell he wants to hide all the way behind something.. What should I put in there for him?

Thank you so much for your advice.

Hi,
This is one site of many that might fit the bill:

[http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile114.html[/link]

It should give you a good place to start. You might also
want to check out this site, Fish Profiles and read the
profile on this fish.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

temperature range can be anywhere between 72-80 F though I'd try to stick to around 76-78. Diet should consist mostly of quality pellet food (hikari, new life spectrum, etc...I get my dried foods from www.kensfish.com). I would stay away from feeders personally unless you breed them yourself as they have little nutritional value (unless you gutload them prior to feeding them) and can carry disease/parasites. I also may give mine the occasional freeze dried or frozen treat of bloodworms, krill, brine shrimp or beefheart. I've never tried feeding peas or lettuce to any CA cichlid I've ever kept.

the cheapest way to get a larger cave for him would be to simply get a larger flower pot. otherwise you can get some rocks and form your own cave or most lfs have ceramic decorations that would also work.

my water is rather hard and alkaline, so much so I'm not quite sure what the ph is but I know it's very high. IMO a consistent ph is much more important than trying to match what they'd find in nature because, unless yours was a wild caught fish, it was most likely raised on a farm and then in lfs anyway so it has most likely adapted to the ph it's currently in. Besides, trying to mess around with adjusting the ph can lead to larger fluctuations which would be much more stressful on him.

as for the gravel, I'd leave it in there. cichlids are diggers so what he's doing is completely natural.