# New Guy Any input???



## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Hello all. I've been lurking for a while and finally decided to pull the plug.... I'm a big fan of the forums. There are always people smarter than me that can answer my questions. =D> And I'm wiling to help when I can. :-?

Anyways, I'm finally setting up Cichlid tank and I'm pretty excited. I've been keeping fish for years. I have 90 gallon community that is great. I have 2 Cichlids in there. A Green Severum (Heros serverus) and a Red Parrot (Cichlasoma). It's a great tank. everyone gets along great and it's in the main portion of my house for everyone to goo goo over. This was formally a 60 gallon. The 60 needed to be re-siliconed from the inside. So I bought a 90g and transfered the family to it.

I'm making my 60g a Cichlid tank. I had a 30g that is now gone. The 30g had 4 Electric Yellows that are now in the new 60g. I just put 4 new guys in there and *I'm looking for any stocking suggestions. And for that matter any advice*. But I don't want fish that eat fish. And I'd like it to be as colorful as possible. I'm a bit overwhelmed with the who can live with who. It didn't seem so difficult with my community.

Added
2 Sciaenochromis (electric blue)
1 Idotropheus (rusty)
1 Aulonocara (sunshine peacock)
I have a filstar xp2 and a whisper 60
sand bottom with rocks and caves
80 temp
I have hard water out of the tap about 180gh
ph around 7.7

I added my tanks to the "my tanks" but I don't think they are approved as of now 11/24/08 7:30 PST

Thanks in advance....Looking forward hanging a bit in this Forum, learning and helping when I can.....Lata....BA


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Welcome Baraccus, kinda new here myself.
Same history, same feeling of being overwhelmed, who can be with who, latin names, etc.
That`s why I started lurking here.
Have no doubt between, looking in the forums and people answering your more direct questions, what you need to know will come.
BTW..it was the dumb purchase of a Mono Sabe for my tank that got me into chiclids..that is the only good thing I can say about that fish.


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Yeah it's crazy. The whole latin thing is tough but makes sense.

I can't find Mono Sabe?....Did you buy it and it didn't get along?

I've just been looking for an excuse to get a Cichlid tank. I have the 2 Cichlids in my community and I love them. They have a ton of personality. I've been looking for fish to put into my new cichlid tank but when I look on the chart 1 always seems to conflict with another....


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

I would first decide if you want to do mbuna or peacocks/haps (I'm naming those because that is what you already have). Most mbuna are to aggressive for peacocks. Your rusty may be an exception because it is a pretty mellow mbuna as are yellow labs and acei :lol: Yes, it sure can be confusing. Those are the only 3 species of mbuna I would try with peacocks though.

Once you've decided on what *type* cichlids you want to keep, it will be easier for others to advise on species.


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Dewdrop...thanks for the input....
The only Peacock I have is the Sunshine (aulonocara) right? So It looks like I'm more committed to Mbuna than Peacocks. The Acei are Pseudotropheus right?...I was looking at those at the LFS but they didn't mesh on the compatibility chart.

From what I was reading too...I'm not supposed to mix more than one type of species cause of hybrids crossbreeding etc. So only 2 of each species....Aulonacara...Idotropheus...etc

Am I getting this all correct????

Thanks for the help...BA


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

So can I add...

4 Pseudrotropheus Acei
1 More rusty to make a pair
1 more Sunshine to make a pair

Thanks...


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## Dave (Feb 9, 2003)

Hello Baraccus,

Welcome. Since we are dealing with Malawi fish the first thing to understand is that these fish do not pair. They are harem breeders and should be kept 1 male to 3-5 females. Secondly, it isn't a good idea to mix Sc. fryeri and Aulonocara because the females are very similar. There is a potential for crossbreeding there. Also, Sc. fryeri can be boisterous, so the footprint of your tank is important. What is the footprint of your tank (length x width)?

With your rusties (Iodotropheus sprengerae), again you will want more than just a pair.

You should be careful with compatibility charts, they are often misleading.

Acei is Ps. sp. "Acei", but for the most part Pseudotropheus is a place holder Genus. Once fully described, this fish will most likely be moved to a different Genus.

As far as the number of species in your tank, 4-5 is max if you want groups. The only other alternative is an all male tank, but these can be difficult to setup and maintain the peace if the foot print is not sufficiently large.


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Dave...Thanks for the response...

My tank is about 48 long 15 wide 18 tall....there is about another 1/4in on each end.


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## Dave (Feb 9, 2003)

That is an odd footprint, I was expecting 48 x 12 or 48 x 18. At 48x15 you might be fine with Sc. fyeri though. Just besure to keep an eye on them.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

You might want to consider an all male peacock tank that also has groups (3-5) of rusties, p. acei and labs. The genders of these three groups would not matter. The peacocks should be all male and should not look each other. Your sunshine is fine. You might consider adding some other mild peacocks, including a ruby/german red, ngara flametail and red shoulder. Avoid the jacobfriberghi peacocks as they can be a bit belligerent. With this mix, you'll get good color without (generally speaking) aggression.

You could also add 4-5 synodontis multipunctatus or petricola. They are tons of fun and help clean up the bottom. And they serve as "fry control" should your groups of mbuna have babies.


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Dave...Thanks again. Yeah I've been told that about my tank before.

So you're saying to be careful about the 2 Sciaenochromis (electric blue) that I already have in there. They do seem to be getting along right now. I do think the Aulonocara is a female judging by photos I've looked up.

Now what you were saying about the Acei....Can I Add 4 of them? Then 3 rustys so I have the groups that you are talking about. As for the Aulonocara....Do I add 3 to make a group there too??

Hollyfish.....Thanks for your input also. I will look into the peacocks....Should I do groups of them also or just one of each? Then just have the other groups...rusties, p. acei, and labs...

Thanks for all your help.....BA


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Hollyfish....Just looked into the Peacocks that you mentioned and I really like'em...Also looked at the synodontis multipunctatus ...They look cool. Kinda remind me of clown loaches. I have loaches in my other tank and love'em.


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## KaiserSousay (Nov 2, 2008)

Monodactylus sebae..looks like an angel fish, without the barbles..anyway, when it was small all was well. Then fish started to turn up missing. Drove me crazy trying to find out what was up. One day I just happened to see the big boy, little bigger than a silver dollar, go after one of the tiger barbs, took a pretty good chunk out of him. Did a whole bunch of Googleing and finally found mono`s on http://badassfish.com/index.html. From there I found other sites.
From all the posts, looks like you have some decisions to make.
Good Luck


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Yes Mr. Sousay....that fish looks deceiving...That sucks. I'm not into the whole feeder fish thing. I don't want to buy fish to feed my fish. I have realized how much personality my fish have n my community tank. I will never be without a tank. ...
I definitely have some decisions to make. It's much more confusing than setting up a community tank(which I have 2 cichlids in).

I do like the peacocks....still unsure if I get 1 of each then have 3-4 of all the other groups.

Also like daves input but not sure if I just make what I have into groups then add the Acei group.

I'll take it slow and make sure whatever I do has a good chance of harmony....


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## Dewdrop (Nov 20, 2007)

I'm the most familiar with mbuna so I really can't advise on the others but hope one of the mods., or someone with alot of experience, comes back in to help more :wink: .

As for the acei, I think you will enjoy them. They school together, something most mbuna don't do, and swim back and forth across the tank...usually in the upper part of the tank. For very tall tanks (though yours is not at 18") this adds alot to the tank as most mbuna use the lower portion of the tank. Acei get pretty big (around 6" long) so I don't reccommend many for a tank 48" long. Three or four with only one being male would be fine though.

I think it's great that you are doing your homework and finding out what will work best before running out and buying fish you know nothing about and throwing them in a tank together. Keep up the work and I'm sure you'll end up with a tank you like alot :thumb:


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Yeah I've been looking into the acei, nice temperment nice color. As far as doing all the reasearch...it sure makes life easier. My other tank is so awesome. I love how everyone gets along. I have 2 Chiclids in there and they have made me want to get more. But there seems to be much more involved in putting a cichlid tank together. I'm excited to see this new tank evolve. I just hate putting a fish in and seeing it get beat up or see the the stress spread throughout the tank. .....Thanks buddy


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Well unfortunately my Peacock died. She was the Aulonocara Stuartgranti maleri....She never looked very comfortable in the tank. Tested the water and everything looks good. BUT that really opened up my options. The Aulonocara seemed to be throwing any combo off.

So any suggestions would be great.
Right now I have:
4 Labidochromis Caeruleus (electric yellow)
2 Sciaenochromis Fryeri ( electric blue ahli)
1 Iodotropheus Sprengerae (rusty)

I do want to add a few
synodontis multipunctatus

Thanks...BA


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## Baraccus (Nov 23, 2008)

Well unfortunately my Peacock died. She was the Aulonocara Stuartgranti maleri....She never looked very comfortable in the tank. Tested the water and everything looks good. BUT that really opened up my options. The Aulonocara seemed to be throwing any combo off.

So any suggestions would be great.
Right now I have:
4 Labidochromis Caeruleus (electric yellow)
2 Sciaenochromis Fryeri ( electric blue ahli)
1 Iodotropheus Sprengerae (rusty)

I do want to add a few
synodontis multipunctatus

Thanks...BA


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