African Cichlids in 20 G

[beitel]

Hey guys--

I've been keeping freshwater fish for years, and I want to make the leap into African cichlids. I was hoping someone would have suggestions for a 20 gallon tank.

Thanks

[maddog10]

In a small tank like a 20g, I would suggest Mbuna from Lake Malawi. Probably a colony of Cynotilapia afras. If you keep up on the water changes, you could keep 10-12 fish. (Keep up on the water changes)

[DENCIO]

you could also try west african cichlid like kribs and blockheads. many are small and hardy

[Tom Williams]

I'd go for a breeding colony of Neolamprologus Brichardi, start with about 4, wait until a pair forms and then watch them breed and intereact as a family unit. It is absolutely fascinating.
You may even be able to squeeze in a pair of Julidichromis if you pile rocks at one end for them and leave the middle open.

If you don't like tanganyikans, i would suggest a pair of Pelvicachromis Taeniatus and some small barbs or African tetras. You could also plant this tank and it would make a great display.

If you want to try something different you might just get away with a pair of Ptychochromis Oligacanthus from Madagascar. A beautiful and mainly peaceable cichlid with really interesting behaviour and loads of character (think a small Oscar!)

I'd avoid catfish in all setups.

[Marco Arroyo]

The best african cichlids you can get for your 20 gallon tank, are shelldweller, those fish are very powerful besides its small size, and they behavior its amazing, so you can enjoy it more than other cichlids.

[PsYcHoTiC_MaDmAn]

In a small tank like a 20g, I would suggest Mbuna from Lake Malawi. Probably a colony of Cynotilapia afras. If you keep up on the water changes, you could keep 10-12 fish. (Keep up on the water changes)

I'm afraid to disagree there. In my view a 20g is one of the worst tanks you can put mbuna in (10g is worse again) as an ABSOLUTE minimum no tank smaller than 36"by12"(by whatever hight, preferably 18"to24"), with 4foot being the realistical size tank for long term care, should be used to house mbuna.

for a 20g i would go for shelldwellers (for hardwater) or kribs and similar pelvichromis sp (for softwater) remember there isnt a lot of space in such a tank so your choises are limited. personally i would go with shelldwellers as you can keep a fair number of them and therefore see some intresting social behaviour.
however a pair (or trio, not sure how well behaved kribs are) of kribs with dithers should be an interesting tank.

[artemis1]

I must agree with madman. kribs are okay, same with shelldwellers, but most anything else with kiss hte crap out of one another.

[James Shingler]

Not mbuna but a shell dweller colony. I could not agree more with the later posts. Neolamprologus multifaciatus colony to start (they can do well in even a 10g tank) but in a 20 you get to see there real colony biulding behavour. Lots of other shellys are good too but the good old multie is a real fav of mine and loads of folk still want your young.
Its a major fav because its so good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In a 20g (as opposed to a 10g min for any cichild) you can have some dithers as well but you really do not need um, a colony or two of multies is about as much fun as there is in cichlid breeding/keeping but on a small scale and happy in a tank of this size.