Stocking my 125Gal Tank.

madhippoz

madhippoz

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#1
Jan 14, 2003
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Hey all. I'd originally started this over in Freshwater, but thought it makes more sense to put in here.

Have a 125gal tank I'm starting up again after a year or so. And looking to do a Malawi Community tank.

Here's what I've come up with below. Feel free to comment on the number of fish, and possibly on the ratio of males to females for each type if it matters.

Tank is half full with water and so far no leaks

I'm filling it up a quarter every 24 hours, waiting and looking for leaks.

I've also decided on a Malawi Cichlid community tank. I have to work out the numbers to ensure I don't overstock it, but for now I'm looking at:

6 x Electric Yellows
6 x Electric Blues
6 x Blue Dolphins
6 x Peacock

And upon measuring my tank again it looks to be more around 125gal/575 litres

So while it seems like a lot of cichlids in one tank, its a big tank, and none of those guys should get over 6-8" in size.

Its going to take a few months to get it all prepped how I want. But I'll be sure to take some pics along the way.
 

madhippoz

madhippoz

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#4
Jan 14, 2003
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Here are the scientific names. It was recommended as a good Malawi community setup by my local aquarium societies webpage. Although they were sizing this community on a medium sized tank (120-200 litres).

6 x Six electric yellows (Labidochromis caeruleus)
6 x Six electric blues (Sciaenochromis fryeri)
6 x Six blue dolphins (Cyrtocara moorii)
OR
6 x peacocks (Aulonocara species)

I figured since my tank is slightly over twice as large as this I could do Blue dolphins and peacocks.

I'm planning on buying adolscent fish and having them grow into the tank. But I want to take their adult size into consideration as I don't want to overstock the tank, or suffer from predation once they are adults.

I've not decided on the type of peacock simply because there are so many, and I really don't know much about them. So I'm certainly open to your suggestions there.

If I can get away with more fish in this tank, I'm all ears. But I'd like to know which species I'll have to consider the ratio of males and females with.
 

madhippoz

madhippoz

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#6
Jan 14, 2003
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So looked at N. Venustus. Very nice looking fish. Bigger and more aggressive. What would be good tank mates for it?, and how many N. Venustus would you suggest I could hold as a group in a 125gal tank?

Would I be able to hold any smaller Malawi species without them just turning into food for the N. Venustus? :D

I see now what you mean by overstocking Malawi's, basically forces out a lot of aggression correct? So what would we consider some good numbers of fish for a tank that size?
 

Doomhed

Doomhed

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#7
Feb 11, 2003
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in a 125 gallon you would stock, give or take, I think 25-30 malawi cichlids (depending on species) and 1-3 spined/barbed plecos (the only things the cichlids wont mess with). I would also purposely start a ramshorn snail infestation. many malawi's LOVE baby snails. they would be actively "hunting" in your tank, which is always fun. the shells of eaten snails would also help increase the hardness of the water for you, making it even easier to maintain the water parameters.

mind you, for this level of overstock you would need to have a ton of hiding places and run some serious filtration, but it would totally be worth it. I would also recommend getting fish around the same size to minimize bullying. If you can, pre-order the lot from a local petstore on the deal that you only want to add 5-6 at a time to your tank. Pay them some money to hold the others there so they are all around the same age. most mom and pop shops will do stuff like that for their customers.
 

madhippoz

madhippoz

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#8
Jan 14, 2003
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I'm looking at 24 Cichlids. Here's the final breakdown:
6 x Yellow Labs
6 x Acei's
6 x Peacock
6 x Blue Dolphin (Moorii)

The Moorii are larger, but very non-aggressive.

Adding the Pleco's is a good idea, as is the snails. I have snails in my 34gal tank and they provide a good source of snacks for my Bumblebee catfish.

Talking with my local LFS is a good idea too on ordering them all around the same age.

For now I'm working on the tank prep. Working on a DIY foam background based off of an Aquaterra 3D Malawi background. Has lots of outcroppings for them to hide. I also have a large amount of rocks and driftwood from previous tanks, so I'm planning out the layout to provide plenty of hiding places.

I'm also looking for a local provider to buy some pool filter gravel, sand essentially, rather than paying like $20 each for the little 10lbs bags of gravel/sand from the LFS, as I'll need a lot :).
 

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