Stocking African Cichlids

mwomack

New Fish
Sep 26, 2011
5
0
0
#1
I had my heart set on a S.A. Ram tank and due to high ph w/ hard water we decided to go African. I want happy fish! I found a stocklist w/ a video of the tank and fell in love with it. Wanted to get some opinions before proceeding.

36g bowfront - 5x demasoni, 3x kenyi, 3x yellow lab, 1x auratus, 1x acei, 1x johani,

I have a Aquaclear 70 Filter in case you were wondering
 

KcMopar

Superstar Fish
#2
You are going to need at least a 75G for this many Africans. Those Acei's are beautiful blue fish, I have one in my 75G African tank as well. You can pull this off if you do not add the 5 Demasoni. This amount of fish will dedicate you to weekly water changes of 40-50%. Africans are very beautiful fish and make a spectacular attraction. You will also have to be sure you have a bunch of hiding spots for these fish to call their own. You will be very happy with Africans they are lively, friendly, and beautiful Fish!!!!
 

phin

Large Fish
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#4
I respectfully disagree with the above posters. I think in a 38 with good filtration the 5 demosani are not going to break your tank. They are relatively small cichlids and with 5 gal water change 2x week you should be fine. I would rather stock 14 Africans before 9.

I have 12 saulosi in a 29gal and do a 5gal change every 1-2 weeks and my fish are happy healthy and breeding. Nitrate levels stay <25ppm.

My planted tank never has water changes, well maybe 3x a year I will change 5-10 gallons and I can't get nitrates above 15ppm. But of course the plants are consuming the nitrates in there.
 

KcMopar

Superstar Fish
#5
I have had great success with keeping Africans at 25% over capacity to keep the temperaments in check. Sure you can do more fish but you might want to upgrade to two aquaclear 70 filters, Phin is right you need GOOD filtration for this amount of fish, and be sure you have good surface tension to oxygenate the water as more fish will consume a lot more oxygen. With the equipment you have your tank might me overwhelmed with 14 Africans as the fish reach their mature length. This is why I only recommended going 25% overstocked which would be without the Demasoni's. You could even start out with 9 and see how your system handles it and add more in a few months. You need to be very cautious with overstocking so you do not harm or stress your pets. Just take it slow and adjust as necessary.