african tank..... hmmmmmm

Fishckabibble

Fishckabibble

Large Fish
#1
Jan 13, 2006
792
2
0
Colorado
#1
ok so i have been talking with hubby about future tank plans.... he said i could get another tank if i downgrade, so i may give up my 10 gallon (or keep it for a breeder tank/ q.t. tank) but the problem is he wants cichlids because of the colors (he hates bland fish) so im thinking of going african and i have picked out a few (well alot) that i like and that hubby likes and need to know which ones are compatible and agression levels, C-man im sure you can help me on this one lol. im planning on getting a 75 gallon tank for all my community fish and my rainbows so that will leave my 55 gallon open for the cichlids, im going a few houses down to the landscape place and getting a ton of rocks to put in for caves and whatnot, and im thinking i want to go with the carib sea african cichlid mix substrate, and the magnum 350 filter, ok so the fish we have picked out so far are as follows we arent planing on getting them all just the ones that are compatible out of the list,

Steveni taiwan
Ngara flametail peacock
albino eureeka peacock
psuedotropheus scofoli
otopharynx lithobates (zimbabwe rock cichlid)
psudotropheous polit
venestus
o.b. peacocks (my favorite)
sunshine peacock
red empress
ruebescens
stuartgranti maleri
leleupi
and thats it so far... so any help here would be great (going to be doing all this when tax returns come in)
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#2
Jul 9, 2003
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Columbia, SC
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#2
Personally i'd use a 75gal for the cichlids....but thats just me. ;) Especially because some on your list are haps and can grow kinda large. 75gal just has a better footprint, i wish i had gone 75 instead of my 55. BUT, a 55 will work.

All i would really rule completly off that list is the leleupi. Everything else you could make work. The one other questionable species would be my all time favorite Mbuna...the Pseudotropheus polit, they can get a bit pushy sometimes. But i wouldn't rule them completely out of the picture just yet.

All the others are pretty much Haps and Peacocks which on paper should mix fairly well.

I'd suggest keeping males of the species. You could probably get some females of some species, but they are rather drab and more "calm" if you will, for lack of a better term. So they might get picked on.

I'd like to refer to this article: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/all-male_malawi.php
It says try to get fish without the same color, but i think you would be ok to get possibly double males of something like the peacocks and the
Steveni taiwan, they seem to be a bit more peaceful then the others. However like in the bottem of that article, the subdominant male might lose a lot of color. But it looks like you've complied a good list.

If it were me stocking a 55-75gal with that list i'd probably go for something like:

Steveni taiwan - 2-3
Albino Eureeka peacock - 1
Ngara flametail - 1
Otopharynx lithobates - 1-2
Stuartgranti Maleri (Which is a sunshine peacock) - 2
Aulonocara stuartgranti (Rubescens) "Ruby Red" - 1-2
Red empress - 1

Not a fan of these myself but they could be worked in:
Venestus - 1
OB Peacock - 1-2

Be sure to get them young, and try and eliminate any problems you see asap. Males will fight i'm sure, no getting around it. But you can minimize it.

EDIT: I didn't add the Mbuna to my stocklist because i'd personally leave them out, but if you really want them then....well not sure yet haha. Possibly sub them in for an extra male or two of some species.
 

Last edited:
Fishckabibble

Fishckabibble

Large Fish
#3
Jan 13, 2006
792
2
0
Colorado
#3
sweet thanks matt, and on the albino eureeka, is 30 bucks for 3 of them too much or is that a good price, they have some on ebay, thats why im asking, and i really like the ob peacocks because they remind me of a calico cat, and hubby liked the polit because it looked like it was scowling with the line on its forehead lol but all the info you gave me is awsome!! i will be finalizing my plans soon and i found a 75 g for 150 bucks just the tank and light and hood but its still a good deal. and also if im getting the cichlid substrate will i still need to add the chems to get my ph up?
 

C

Cichlid-Man

MFT Staff
#4
Jul 9, 2003
8,866
14
38
38
Columbia, SC
www.youtube.com
#4
Fishckabibble said:
sweet thanks matt, and on the albino eureeka, is 30 bucks for 3 of them too much or is that a good price, they have some on ebay, thats why im asking, and i really like the ob peacocks because they remind me of a calico cat, and hubby liked the polit because it looked like it was scowling with the line on its forehead lol but all the info you gave me is awsome!! i will be finalizing my plans soon and i found a 75 g for 150 bucks just the tank and light and hood but its still a good deal. and also if im getting the cichlid substrate will i still need to add the chems to get my ph up?
Click to expand...
Price sounds good to me, albinos eurekas arn't usually cheap or easy to get a hold of.

Unless your pH is insanly low out of the tap then no you shouldn't have to add anything else. Stable is the key.
 

Fishckabibble

Fishckabibble

Large Fish
#5
Jan 13, 2006
792
2
0
Colorado
#5
yah my well water come out around 6.0- 6.5 ph from the tap so i would need to adjust it, unless they could be ok in that, i know my jewels bred and thrived in it but they are pretty hardy cichlids.....
 

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