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Hello there I've got a 2ft tank just laying there and i was thinking of puttin some dwarf cichlids or small cichlids any ideas on which ones i can keep and how many? how should i setup the tank, feeding and activity?
i have never kept any dwarf cichlids before. I have got a 4 ft aqaurium currently housing 4 severums (2 x 6", 2 x 3" a pictus catfish, a sailfin plec and a bumblee bee catfish so i have some experience dealing with cichlids. Any comments on any kinds well be very much appreciated... I would like preferably some from SA but Africans will be nice too

The two possibilities that immediately suggest themselves are the entertaining shelldwellers of lake Tanganyika and the lovely Apistos of South America. Do you know the pH and hardness of your water? You can, of course, adjust to for either group (or some other) but it's usually easiest to pick fish that will do well in your water.

-Molly
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well my water straight from the tap is somewhere betweem 7 - 7.2pH and general hardness between 120 - 140 ppm shellies sound intresting

Shellies are great, but with your water parameters you can either go with SA or Tanganyikans with minor adjustments.

If you want shellies, I'd recommed crushed coral/argonite that is fine - fine like sand - so the shellies can dig. This will buffer your water, raise the KH and GH, and increase your pH a bit.

With a few pieces of driftwood, nearly all SA apistos, Microgeophagus, Nannacara or Laetacara (I'm sure I've forgotten some great dwarfs there) all would do great.

For pure enjoyment, the shellie Neolamprologus multifasciatus (or similis - they're very similar fish) who live in colonies like brichardi, dig and bury their shells all day, etc, are amazingly fun little fish...plus, the fry are easy to sell/trade at the LFS.

Eric

id consider Neolamprologus Brevis. they r very cool. my favorite shell dweller. u could put a pair in that tank.
read this Brevis r awesome. http://www.cichliddepot.com/african/brevis.html
ocellatus r cool common shellies also. u could do a pair maybe a trio depending on the width of your 2 ft. tank.
here is an article on them http://www.worldcichlids.com/fotm/N_ocellatusaug2004fotm.html
shell dwellers r awesome.