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I have an empty 38g tank (36" long, 12.5" wide, 20" high). I will be setting up another 55g planted soon and if I can talk my parents into it, I'd like to have a 38g Cichlid tank.

I don't know much about Cichlids so I don't have a clue as to what would fit in a 38g tank. This project will be months down the road of course, but it doesn't hurt to plan way ahead.

I would love to have some really colorful fish. I have tetras, cories, angels, rams, and such now...but really none are quite as colorful as some other cichlids are.

Any ideas?

*Kristin*

What type of cichlids are you interested in?

South American or African. There are a numbe of colorful varieties from both types that would fit into a 38 gallon.

I'm assuming you're probably thinking more in the line of African's. Many of the Tang's are colorful and don't get too large for that size of a tank.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

You could do a few various zebras... I think 4 or 5 would be okay in there.

Inky

Can you all give me some fish suggestions to check out? Like I said, I don't know anything about cichlids...so when you say Zebras...I have to look them up in the profiles.

Could you give me some names of Africans that would fit? Then I could tell you which ones I like.

By the way, I like yellow labs. I think they will fit in a 38g tank. Can I keep anything else with them or are they better in a species tank?
Thanks for the suggestions!

*Kristin*

Take a look at this link. There are cookie-cutter setups for various sized tanks. Each has a link to some info and pics of the cichlids listed for potential stocking.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Theresa, I checked out the cookie cutter setups. For some reason, I couldn't access the 40g setup though. That one would be closest to my 38g. I did look at the 29g and 55g setups though.

The 55g setup had: Iodotropheus sprengerae (Rusty Cichlid), Cynotilapia afra (Cobue), Pseudotropheus saulosi (another list says it needs a 55g or bigger though), and red zebras listed with yellow labs. All of these are 5 inches or under, so maybe one type would work in a 38g with labs. And someone suggested P. Demonsoni to go with the labs.

Or, I had some Tangs suggested to me: N. Lelupi, N. pulcher, J. transcriptus or J. ornatus. Any thoughts on those? Theresa, I know you keep alot of tangs. What do you think about these? Do you know anymore that would work? I'm just looking at different types now. I'll have to figure out which ones would work together later.

*Kristin*

Ps. Saulosi are nice fish, peacocks, yellow labs, kribs, brichardi and the list goes on. When dealing with a 38 gallon I would put up to 6-7 africans in there that get 4" or smaller. If you like the yellow labs you could go with 6 yellow labs, but try to get one male and the rest female. If they are too small when you get them just buy 10 and pick out the male and females after they get a little older. But you can mix them aswell, zebras can go with them, but make sure with what ever combination you go with, have lots of rocks in there.

I have a 55 gallon that has only yellow labs in it. And I have to agree that it's best to have 1 male and several females. My problem is I don't and even though they are suppose to be less aggresseive than other the dominant male constantly beats up on the other males.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain