I had 4 african cichlids donated to me recently. as of right now I have nothing more to put them in than an old 10 gallon tank I had sitting around from when I upgraded to a 29 gal for my goldfish. But, I hope to get a larger tank for them soon. I am rather perplexed about water condidtion, nutrition, and in general the lives of cichlids. my friend that had them thought they looked cool and he bought them and decided now he didnt want them and was just going to let them die so I saved them. I've had goldfish for years and thought it would be kewl to have a cichlid tank too.
im using cichlid pellets for food, and the water is 78 degrees. should I be adding salt to the water, since they are brakish fish? as i understand they like a pH of 8. I have caves and tunnels built out of river rocks this gives them little hidy places. (I have made sure they were cleaned and fish approved) I had a pleco, and a cory cat in there with them. but after a week or so they were not to be found and I found the cory during a water change...well a few bones from him. and right after they went missing I found the pleco behind the tank. I take it they got hungry and attacked them when I was gone for a weekend. I used a weekend feeder, but I guess that wasnt enough. from all that was described, am I doing everything right? any suggestions would be appreciated.

find out whut kinds they are. they arent all brackish fish. they dont all like the same things. They might not even be compatible with each other.

There are many different species of African cichlids so it is impossible to give you an exact break down of preffered water requirements without knowing what species you have.
Generally speaking though, African cichlids are native to waters with a pH of 8.0 to 8.2, dKH anywhere from 15 to 22, and a temp. range of 77 to 80 degrees F.

As for feeding habits and substrates, it really gets down to a matter of what species.

Welcome to the world of cichlids, aka "The Dark Side"

or so says the guy at the LFS who keeps trying to talk me into keeping and breeding nothing but cichs.

theyre aggressive, maybe a small diet of shrimp or feeder fish for them?

most african cichlids are vegiterian mostly, so feeders are a no no ! either post some pics or look them up in books to find out what they are, and we can help you find out more, james hit it on the head with water quality....