# PLease help a beginnger - Stocking tank, What fish?



## Timcyn7 (Jan 18, 2012)

Good evening 

Im just cycling a fresh 4ft tank. I would like to get together some ideas on some stock for it. I want to go African's. I currently have 2 small electric yellows in a spare tank, 2 jewel cichlids in another and 2 peacocks ( not sure what they are, they are white, pail pink ) in another. Will all those fish live together in a 4ft? If not I want to put the yellows in the 4ft along with some more, but i don't know what ones, i want to make sure i get ones that are compatible. Could someone please help me in selecting some?

Thanks :thumb:


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## Fatal (Jan 15, 2012)

The white, pale pink fish you're referring to, sounds to me like Lavender Peacock Cichlids. Don't mix your Jewel Cichlids in the 4ft tank keep them separate, i already have Jewel problems atm, they're just too aggressive and will stand up to your larger fish anyday. The electric Yellows and Peacocks should be fine together, Iv'e seen it work, you could even throw in a couple others such as Electric blues. Just keep only the 2 Yellows though, they can be more aggressive towards their own species.


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## Timcyn7 (Jan 18, 2012)

Yeah just googled the lavender and yeah looks like them! thanks.
Yes those jewels are nasty little buggers lol, no fear in them! opcorn: 
Electric blues look great too, anything else i could throw in?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

In a 48" tank if you want mixed genders, you don't want more than 3 species. Yellow labs and hybrid peacocks (dragonsblood, lavender, whatever) should work for 2 species. I'd remove the jewels as too aggressive if they spawn.

Note that Malawi are harem breeders. If you currently have 1m:1f and want to keep the mixed genders, I would add 3 female labs and peacocks.

Which electric blue are you talking about? Johannii are too aggressive, fryeri are too big. Metriaclima callainos I think are also too aggressive to be in a tank with peacocks.

What are the dimensions of the tank? 48" x 12" or 48" x 18"? Rectangle?


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## Timcyn7 (Jan 18, 2012)

I can keep the jewels and peacocks in separate tanks. So the yellows will be in there alone. I don't know what fish to put in with them. I really wanted to get them to breed too. So I'm open to suggestions on what else to put in with the yellows. If I can get some names, I can look them up and if I like them I will get some.

Tank is 48 x 16 x 18


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

Well if your wanting to breed them why not go pure yellow? Get 2 males and say 7-9 females. Will be a striking tank.

Or if you want a mix, Rusty and Acei are nice tankmates for yellow lab breeding tank. Both fairly peaceful for mbuna, and the acei will fill out the top part of the tank.


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## Fatal (Jan 15, 2012)

DJRansome said:


> In a 48" tank if you want mixed genders, you don't want more than 3 species. Yellow labs and hybrid peacocks (dragonsblood, lavender, whatever) should work for 2 species. I'd remove the jewels as too aggressive if they spawn.
> 
> Note that Malawi are harem breeders. If you currently have 1m:1f and want to keep the mixed genders, I would add 3 female labs and peacocks.
> 
> ...


I was referring to Fryeri, but yeah i wasn't 100% sure if they would work, was just a suggestion. I don't think they are too big for a 4ft tank though. Iv'e seen them used many times in 4ft tanks they reach roughly 18cm in length.


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## Fatal (Jan 15, 2012)

Here is an example of what you could achieve with a 4ft tank the names of the Cichlids are in the description.






http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mvvgt4Y_ ... re=related

Sometimes youtube is your best friend  By the way Get a couple Kribensis, i have some they are a perfect Cichlid, they are quite peaceful in nature generally, they are small and have smaller territories and when they breed they're very protective


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

He wants to breed Electric Yellow Labs, any of the other fish in those videos are looking for trouble.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

The trouble with you tube is unless you know the poster, you don't know whether they just put the fish in the tank 5 minutes ago or whether the tank has been working well for 2 years.

On your tank dimensions, is 16" the height or the measurement from front to back?

Fryeri would be good in an 18" deep (front to back) tank...16" is close. Is this a rectangle tank or a bow front?


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> The trouble with you tube is unless you know the poster, you don't know whether they just put the fish in the tank 5 minutes ago or whether the tank has been working well for 2 years.


 :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: Stick around a forum like CF for a while and you'll get to know who's experienced. For all you know on youtube, it's not even their tank.


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## Timcyn7 (Jan 18, 2012)

Thanks for the replies everyone, much appreciated :thumb: 
The tank is 16 deep and 18 high, just a rectangle tank.
I have seen tank with all sorts of cichlids and they look amazing with all the colors, that's what i was aiming for and also breed a couple ere and there, just for the experience lol
Like i said, im a beginner and i have googled and googled and to successfully have a tank full of them seems to be a challenge and if not done right, could be bad!


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Acei could be a decent third species.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

I would forget about whatever else you saw on google and take the advice you get on this forum.



> I have seen tank with all sorts of cichlids and they look amazing with all the colors


To be honest with you, I am a mbuna man, I keep these mostly, but it sounds what you are looking for is a hap/peacock tank. Mbuna can be pretty, but for sheer color, we cannot compete with the haps tanks.

Below is mildly aggressive mbuna (mbuna start at mildly aggressive and get more aggressive) that I would recommend for beginners.

And here is a tank I found on utube of the 3 of them in it, they are only small in the movie and thats a huge tank. But you should get the idea (they will color up more as they grow) 




But Acei are a nice purple color with tellow on the tail.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1460








Electric Yellow Labs are a bright yellow with dark black on there fins. 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=713








And rusty are well rusty, they are a contrast of the two i mentioned bluish and yellowy/orange. 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=707









They are the ones I would recommend for beginners myself as far as mbuna go.


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## Fatal (Jan 15, 2012)

I have to admit even know IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve seen some tanks with lots of Cichlids in it working well, it's always a disaster if i try it myself. Too many fights and deaths etc. It is easier to stick to one or two species alone. And by the way guys I'm just referring to youtube as successful community tanks im aware that they might of JUST established the tank. However IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve been going to Aquarium shops for years and they have the same fish and same tank since i was 10 years old and they have had no problems because the fish are still there.

IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve seen and this is a typical show tank mix, electric yellows, Peacocks, electric blue and Zebras all together in a 8 ft tank. IÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve watched them for 40mins at a time in the shop and not one fight. ItÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s by all means possible, however I donÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t recommend a beginner to try it.


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

8 foot tank is a different ball game. Double the length.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Eight foot tank, and yes, sometimes you just get lucky with individual fish that have an unusually tolerant attitude. Not something you can expect though, and a fishkeeper asking for stocking suggestions might get discouraged with fishkeeping or with Cichlid-forum if the tank recommended here blows up.

If you also read the Illness forum, you become more cautious. :lol:


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## Timcyn7 (Jan 18, 2012)

What about the Cobalt Blue Zebra ( Metriaclima callainos )?
Also i love the Blue Doplhin Cichlid ( Haplochromis moori ) but i think it may get too big for the tank.
I need to find out what my yellows are, when can they be vented? I suppose thats the better way to confirm their sex? so i have read.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Malawi can be vented when they are old enough to lay eggs. I usually just wait until they mature and remove any troublemakers. That's why it's good to buy extra juveniles...so you end up with the right number of females.

Metriaclima callainos will work fine with yellow labs. Not sure if the fryeri are in or out, but I probably would not mix them with callainos.


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