# 120 Gallon - Stocking NEED HELP!!!



## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

I'm looking for a few ideas for my new 120 Gallon tank

I'm open to anything and everything but I'd love to get color and make it pop!

Please let me know if you could Male-Female Ratio and how many of each for a total number

Thank you Kindly!


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Which type of cichlid are you looking at, if Malawi I can move your topic over to that forum for suggestions. Also post tank dimensions for better advice.


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## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

Deeda said:


> Which type of cichlid are you looking at, if Malawi I can move your topic over to that forum for suggestions. Also post tank dimensions for better advice.


Thanks for the response 
Looking at the Malawi they are colorful so yeah I think that they would look really nice with a good mixture of them in there.

The tank is as follows
Gallons - 120
Size - 18"L x 60"W 26"H

Thanks
Mike


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Think in terms of 4 species with 1m:4f of each. Which Malawi caught your eye?


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## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

DJRansome said:


> Think in terms of 4 species with 1m:4f of each. Which Malawi caught your eye?


I like the following ones to name a few.
emperor cichlid
Zebra mbuna
Labidochromis

But would love to opinion of some other great fish to create a great community tank.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Emperor a.k.a. Boulengerochromis microlepis is a very large fish, not appropriate to keep in most home aquariums.

There are many different types of mbuna in the zebra family. The most popular one is not a good mix with Labidochromis caeruleus as they crossbreed.

Here is one option:
1m:4f Labidochromis caeruleus
1m:4f Pseudotropheus acei
1m:4f Iodotropheus sprengerae
1m:4f Cynotilapia zebroides Cobue


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## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

DJRansome said:


> Emperor a.k.a. Boulengerochromis microlepis is a very large fish, not appropriate to keep in most home aquariums.
> 
> There are many different types of mbuna in the zebra family. The most popular one is not a good mix with Labidochromis caeruleus as they crossbreed.
> 
> ...


That's a good selection!

With the 1m:4f what is the breeding like? 
Am I looking at a Part-Time job ahaha :lol:


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Just let the moms spit in the tank and no worries. For a breeding operation (break even at best) you would want a bunch more tanks.


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## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

DJRansome said:


> Just let the moms spit in the tank and no worries. For a breeding operation (break even at best) you would want a bunch more tanks.


I love the selection of what you stated above

Do you have any more recommendations for groupings that would look very colorful and pretty in the tank? I love the Peacocks but are they not recommended for a community?

Just trying to get a good selection/ideas what would be great for the tank

Thank you so much


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The problems with peacocks is females are not colorful so you have 1 colorful fish and 4 silver/brown fish. May not meet your colorful criteria. I do like the mixed gender haps and peacocks in spite of females lacking color. Would you?

In general, I would not mix peacocks and mbuna.


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## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

DJRansome said:


> The problems with peacocks is females are not colorful so you have 1 colorful fish and 4 silver/brown fish. May not meet your colorful criteria. I do like the mixed gender haps and peacocks in spite of females lacking color. Would you?
> 
> In general, I would not mix peacocks and mbuna.


Oh I didn't know that!

No I'm not interested in a plain color, I thank you for your time on that.

Another question is this would you recommend throwing a "Mystery Snail" in a 120gal, reason why I ask is my GF has a small 3gal tank that has two small fish and the snail.. Well I guess the fish are starting to push/nibble on the back of the snail. Just don't want it to be killed off in that tank and thought that maybe a 120gal tank would give me him plenty of space to escape and hide around the rocks... Thoughts?

Thank you so much!!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Two reasons I decided mystery snails were not going to work when I researched them:
1-Avoid fish that are going to eat them. Oscars, Cichlids, Crayfish and other aggressive fish should be avoided for this reason.
2-Ideally they like a heavily planted and ideal habitat for Africans is rocks and sand since the mbuna are likely to eat all the plants.

I have tried other snails with my Africans with poor results. The curious cichlids knock them off the glass, they land on their backs and they cannot feed while they are stuck. Even when I turned them over daily, they slowly starve because they don't have enough time grazing to ingest enough algae for food.


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## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

DJRansome said:


> Two reasons I decided mystery snails were not going to work when I researched them:
> 1-Avoid fish that are going to eat them. Oscars, Cichlids, Crayfish and other aggressive fish should be avoided for this reason.
> 2-Ideally they like a heavily planted and ideal habitat for Africans is rocks and sand since the mbuna are likely to eat all the plants.
> 
> I have tried other snails with my Africans with poor results. The curious cichlids knock them off the glass, they land on their backs and they cannot feed while they are stuck. Even when I turned them over daily, they slowly starve because they don't have enough time grazing to ingest enough algae for food.


Thank you for your help it's truly appreciate!

I've never had a tank of this size, with that being said. Do I need air pump or anything to generate the oxygen in the water? I have a FX6 that's moving the top water around in the tank.. Just thought I'd ask


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## Fogelhund (Dec 3, 2002)

mdaniel1984 said:


> Thank you for your help it's truly appreciate!
> 
> I've never had a tank of this size, with that being said. Do I need air pump or anything to generate the oxygen in the water? I have a FX6 that's moving the top water around in the tank.. Just thought I'd ask


You've got a great filter for the tank, but I like to overfilter, so if it were me, I'd add the biggest Aquaclear that I could, to give more water movement, and circulation. It isn't necessary, but I'd personally do it. If the FX6 is sufficiently aimed at the surface, it should provide enough oxygenation.

Some good advice has been provided for fish selection, but that doesn't mean that your local stores will have those exact species. I don't know which Warren you live in, but many areas have good local clubs... and if it's Ohio, there are two big Cichlid clubs, Ohio Cichlid Association, and Great Lakes CIchlid Association... they likely have members, who can help you find good quality fish, that you are have been suggested, or close substitutes.


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## mdaniel1984 (Mar 2, 2020)

Fogelhund said:


> mdaniel1984 said:
> 
> 
> > Thank you for your help it's truly appreciate!
> ...


I live in Michigan, I'd like to go there if it weren't to far of a drive... There's a decent place by me just need to get someone knowledgeable that works there.


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