# I Need Help With My Tank!!!



## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I have a 40 gallon tank and i am not sure what to do. Here is my stock list:
Male yellow Lab
Male Super Red Empress
Male Saulosi
Male Peacock
Male Lemon Cichlid
Female red shoulder peacock
Female electric blue johanni 
Female sunshine peacock
XL Tiger barb 
Female Pink convict cichlid
Male Fire mouth Cichlid
I think I need more females, eventually( no aggression is shown yet all fish are under 4 inches), I plan on getting a bigger tank when i get enough money for the African's and keep the american cichlids in my 40. is this a good idea? How many More female do i need to get? I have been offered breeding groups of Acei And yellow labs should i buy them to help even out the balance?


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

What might happen is most female peacocks are dead and gray so interbreeding will most likely occur. Also your are noticing more aggression due to the male peacocks probably fighting over the females. I would suggest one peacock species to avoid hybrids. Also you better hurry up with the bigger tank, is say in a month or a month and a half. If not u may have to relocate most of them i go with an all male peacock tank with ur stock, a 75 would be good. Keep the C.A in the 40 and get rid of the mbuna and females and keep the males.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Well I haven't seen any aggression, yet. I only have one male peacock and two female peacocks. I aslo dont really want to get rid of the mbuna.


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

Alright the mbuna would be okay on a bigger tank, have there been any fry from the peacocks because one of your peacocks on your list is labeled peacock? Any ideas on what it is!


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

No i havent had any fry yet, i got it from my lfs when is was one inch, it was in the assorted african cichlids. it has a red/brown neck, blue jaw and grey on its body It is about 3 inches and is chasing the red shoulder female peacock lately.


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

Are you sure there females? Meaning have you vented them or your 100% sure they're females?


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Yes the female red shoulder is a little more than 3 inches and is grey with a couple black bars. the sunshine is showing the same marking as the red shoulder and is about 2 and a half inches, the electric blue johhani is yellow orange and is about 3 inches


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Don't add anything until you get a larger tank, which you needed yesterday. If wanting to keep what you have now, go with a 6' tank.

Assorted Africans should be avoided. You never really know what you're getting.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Why do i need such a big tank. i thought it is best to over stock. im gonna get a 55- 75 as soon as i get the money.


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

Peacocks are more open water fish and tend to get bigger than mbuna. Mbuna also are
Rock dwelling so a 3ft tank limits having enough space for two environments that have enough space. Also most peacocks are
Carnivorous while mbuna are herbivorous. Two different diets. Though new life spectrum 1 mm pellets are good for both.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I do use NLS for my fish, I have plenty of rocks right now for the mbuna and the peacocks have open water. If i get more fish should i get more females?


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

Yes, when u get a bigger tank get rid of the "peacock" and keep 1 male of a species and get more females for him. The mbuna should be fine provided a few caves.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Ok thanks


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## Cichlidman14 (Jul 17, 2013)

No problem


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## k7gixxerguy (Jan 12, 2012)

Also most mbuna are way too fast and rambunctious for peacocks. The peacocks will not get as much food and will likely always be somewhat stressed therefore not display as well as they would in better situations. there is a reason people very rarely do complete mixed malawi, and your tank is way too small for it. My two cents.


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

adevoid1 said:


> Why do i need such a big tank. i thought it is best to over stock. im gonna get a 55- 75 as soon as i get the money.


True with Mbunas...but peacocks and haps need a bit more swimming room, need more space to swim away from aggression.

As peacocks and haps are in your list....will hold off adding anymore fish till you get a bigger tank.


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## k7gixxerguy (Jan 12, 2012)

I also wouldn't have a red empress in any less than a 75 gallon, too big for a 55 imo.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Right now the red empress is about two inches, i'm getting a bigger tank in about a month


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

What are the dimensions of the 40G? The correct level of overstocking for a 36" tank would be 1m:4f of a dwarf mbuna or small, peaceful peacock.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

The dimensions are 36x12x19 inches


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## Michael_S (Aug 18, 2013)

Sounds like the 35G my LFS carries.


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Michael is correct.
http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/convert ... ulator.php


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Even if you get a 75G I'd stick with fish that mature at 6" or less which leaves out the empress. If you are doing mixed genders, limit to 4 species (1m:4f of each), so if the mbuna are #1 I'd just go with mbuna.

If you want to consider all-male shoot for 12 fish, no look-alikes. You could do a breeding group of labs in such a tank, but that would take up 5 of the 12 fish.

Which fish is your favorite, must-keep fish?


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I really like my lab and saulosi the most. the tank is 40 gallon i measured out the gallons when i got it o


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

OK but we are not talking about thed 36" tank because you are getting a 75G in January. Don't add to the 36" tank.

In the 75G (48 x 18 rectangle) I'd do 1m:4f of the labs, 3m:9f of the saulosi and 1m:7f of the maingano (I'm assuming the electric blue johanni is really cyaneorhabdos maingano).


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I got a 55 gallon tank today. when it gets established i will put one male of the species and get the females as i get the money, since i'm only 15 and i have no steady income, the only 75 gallon tanks in my area on craigslist are 4x out of my budget and those didn't come with a stand . i paid $100 for the tank i got today it came with stand and alot more


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## Michael_S (Aug 18, 2013)

adevoid1 said:


> I got a 55 gallon tank today. when it gets established i will put one male of the species and get the females as i get the money, since i'm only 15 and i have no steady income, the only 75 gallon tanks in my area on craigslist are 4x out of my budget. i paid $100 for the tank i got today


I know your struggle man! I am also 15.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Yea it sucks this hobby take every penny out of my pocket.


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## chopsteeks (Jul 23, 2013)

Search for 'free stuff' and 'need gone asap'. Recently acquired 2 55 gallon for free...


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I did but they were all much smaller than i wanted, like 10 and 20 gallons.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

OK then I would skip the johannii/maingano and just go with the labs/saulosi.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

yea the tank is set up, i put more the recommended dosage of live bacteria and put some water from my 40 in there. I got all of my rock in there and hoping to put some fish in there tonight.


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## albita (Oct 12, 2013)

Are you taking down your smaller tank? Or are you now going to have 2? If you are taking it down, move your filter or filter pad from your old tank and substrate to help your new tank establish the bacteria colony. Right now, your 55 is an uncycled tank, and that's going to be hard on your fish. If you are leaving them both up, at the very least scoop some of that substrate into your new tank.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I'm not taking it down i just moved the rocks, i put logs fake rocks and some plastic plants. I'm leaving the the smaller male african's in the 40 until i get more females. I am also leaving my firemouth cichlid and my pink convict in there and i am adding some of my bigger convict fry, almost 2 inches, from my 10 gallon.


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## albita (Oct 12, 2013)

Ok...so you are dealing with an uncycled new tank. Is it urgent to put the fish in there, or could you take the time to do a fishless cycle? Without doing a fishless cycle first, you are going to need to do LOTS of water changes and monitoring of the water quality while it cycles. So, unless your fish are going to be killed in their current location, I would cycle it first. Adding media from your cycled tank will help to cycle it a little faster.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I already added the filter media, but haven't added any substrate from the old tank yet


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I second albita's advice on cycling your new 55 first. Some media will help for sure. But you need to be sure. I would add ammonia to the new tank(with no fish in it of course) to at least 1 ppm, and test the water as if doing a fishless cycle. Rushing things gets you into trouble. You may cycle really fast with the rock and media, but it's best to be sure.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

ok thanks i'm gonna test my water now


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Well if you test it now it will look good since you added old tank water, and you'll show nitrates. You need to give the new tank and bacteria a source of 'food' in ammonia. Read up on fishless cycling articles here on the forum for more info. Post back any questions.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Bacteria breaks down fish waste, if i put some of the fish waste would that provide food for the bacteria?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

It will but you won't know how much of a source of ammonia you're adding. Did you read the articles?


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

yea i read some, most said wait a couple days or add waste to start up the cycling.


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## albita (Oct 12, 2013)

Please tell me you didn't take ALL of your filter media out of your current tank. Because if you take it all out, you are going to have a new cycle start in that one too.... The best place I found to find pure ammonia was True Value & Ace Hardware. Everywhere else it wasn't pure. If you decide to do the fishless cycle first.

Look...I didn't do a fishless cycle because I didn't know better. I cannot properly describe the volume of WORK involved to keep the numbers low enough to keep my fish healthy. 25-50% daily water changes with a bucket for over 3 weeks gets old. The next tank I did, I did a fishless cycle (and used some media from my established tank to kick start it). OMG...I will never do anything else ever again. It was SO EASY compared to the fish-in cycle. Waiting is hard, but it is really, really worth it in this case. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Here check this out: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/fishless_cycle.php


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

albita said:


> Please tell me you didn't take ALL of your filter media out of your current tank. Because if you take it all out, you are going to have a new cycle start in that one too.... The best place I found to find pure ammonia was True Value & Ace Hardware. Everywhere else it wasn't pure. If you decide to do the fishless cycle first.


 No, i only took the media from one of the filters. I have two filters on my 40.


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## k7gixxerguy (Jan 12, 2012)

If you have a yahoo account, check out freecycle. Its people donating things that they no longer want. Please read the rules, no sob stories or anything allowed. Very simple easy system. I have acquired a couple of nice things through this, a lot of junk there too. I hope that it helps. Keep your eyes on craigslist though. I just scored a 125 that needs resealed (big deal, five dollars and a little time) for $65 and a very nice 75 for $60. Stands are easy to build if you are not wanting furniture or cabinetry grade results, verse just something to hold a tank.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I'm gonna try that thanks.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I went to my LFS to get some food and the owner asked me about my fish and we started taking and i told him about my new tank and he told me the fish would be fine with the dirty filters and some live bacteria. So i added some of my fish including a breeding trio of yellow labs ( my neighbors he is moving next week so he gave them to since he sold his tank)So in the 55 there are :
1 male yellow lab
2 female yellow lab 
maleRed peacock
Female red shoulder peacock
female sunshine
female johanni
My plan is to add my original male yellow lab when i get more female yellow labs, get some females for my red peacock and get a bunch of females for my saulosi.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

You may not want johannii with peacocks. And definitely only one species of peacock per tank if you have females as they crossbreed.


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

I'm considering getting rid of the peacocks and turn the 55 into a 2m: 6f yellow labs and 1m: 5f saulsoi. does this sound like a good plan?


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## pancakeloach (Feb 4, 2008)

I would not do yellow labs with saulosi, you might as well just do a species-only saulosi tank and hope to have at least two males color up to break up all that yellow!


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## albita (Oct 12, 2013)

I second the no yellow labs with saluosi


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Would white top afra's or hongi work with the saulosi


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## amcvettec (May 11, 2012)

White top afras may work but Hongi definitely would not. You have to think about the barring. You want species that are different from each other to avoid territorial aggression and crossbreeding.

What about a Socolofi or a Metriaclima Callainos instead of the White Top Hara?


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

well is there any other species that are good with saulosi?


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## pancakeloach (Feb 4, 2008)

People recommend rusties but I'm not too fond of mine. Going to get in some perlmutts after Christmas!


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

What's that?


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## pancakeloach (Feb 4, 2008)

Malawi Mbuna Species List
It's long, so use ctrl-f to search for terms "rusty" and "perlmutt" to locate their profiles.

I just wish "search by species characteristics" had an option for "adult size." XP


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## adevoid1 (Sep 16, 2013)

Cool thanks, I might look into getting some.


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