# finally my 5ft tank is happening**



## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

hi all, i'm over the moon to finally buy my 5ft x 18in x 20 tall with a raw cabinet and hood that my wife insists on painting  and it is still in progress, and will need a second coate.
i have new an fx5, another, aquaone 1400lph, ehiem 250w heater, 2000lph wavemaker, 13w uv as i don't want lots of algae growth, and a full test kit etc.

i'm shopping around for a rocky b/g from universal rocks here in oz. because of my tank with 3 large glass braces across the tank i need something flexible to roll-up to get into the tank.
yes i know about panels but personally love the look of the one piece that universal rocks have available. i bought one only have to take it back as it was sold to me as 20in high but was only18in :-? 
i have also bought some u/v rocks to go into the tank as i live in a raised home so as to reduce some weight, but will fill more genuine rocks for an mbuna tank.

it has been around 5+ years since i had a 240l tank that i had yellow labs, blue cobalts, yellow tail acei and maingano.

i would love to have maingano again and i'm seeking suggestions for other tank mates  i have read the fish profiles and to be honest i'm getting myself confused.

all suggestions welcome...many thanks,

ozman :thumb:


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## NJmomie (Jan 17, 2013)

Wow, congratulations on the new tank. You can certainly have alot of options in the 90 gallon tank. Are you still in the mbuna state of mind?


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks, yes i am that way inclined, i loved the action of them. but i'm open to suggestions


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

In a 5" tank you could probably have up to six species and 35-40 fish. I would say that six species with six fish each and a 1m/5f ratio would do good unless you choose something like demasoni which need more females.The key is to choose species that don't look to similar. Here's what I would probably do in this sized tank:

12 demasoni
6 yellow labs
6 yellow tail acei
6 maingaros
6 white socolofi or white labs
6 rusties

These fish all look different enough and would make a cool tank. With the demasoni you will probably have to get at least 20 fish and weed out all the excess males to you narrow down to one.

Universal Rocks are awesome and I would love to have some in my mbuna tank!


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks clhinds78, i did'nt realize i could have so many species and numbers in my tank  
i was thinking 4 species and around 30 in total :roll: so thats great news. i'm not to sure about the dems, i have read many stories of tank disaster with them. perhaps if i was to be fair they were in smaller tanks.

re: the white socolofi or white labs, would'nt white labs and yellow labs cross breed?

would a elongatus specie work with maingano instead of dems? i have done the yellow lab and yellow tail acie before so i was thinking of trying to have a different look this time around.
white socofoli, rusties and maingano sounds good to me at the mo, can you please reply re the elongatus and something else that will work. :thumb:


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

anyone else with some imput would be greatly appreciated.

thanks all :thumb:


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

You know what I think. A large colony of Tropheus :thumb:


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Hey Oz... Congrats on the big tank.

I'd do 4 species, or 5 if choosing all mild species, but that's a challenge. What do you have available by you?


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

JimA said:


> You know what I think. A large colony of Tropheus :thumb:


Also an awesome idea


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks jimA and iggy for your suggestion.

so tropheous, never considered that. i know that some varieties are available over here. are they very active in the tank, and by the way jimA yours looks awesome. what species do you have?
do they move sand around spitting etc.
i ask because i've told my new wife of 21 months of the mbuna i used to keep and she's facinated and on board ( so long as she enjoys and i do the work :lol: )


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

There is actually a really good Tropheus forum down there Tropheus Fanatics. I know they are not the cheapest fish there but then most any fish there is probably high priced? 
Mine are Kasanga Red Rainbows. I raised them from fry. I had Mbuna for quite awhile then made the jump the Trophs, and yes they do move the sand around but not like Mbuna. Some are fast and steady breeders and some like mine produce fry but not like Bemba's (black with orange stripes) do, they are like rabbits.. Anyway thought I would throw it out there and a 5ft tank would work great for a colony, so it may be worth while researching them and see what's available in your area, the thing I like is there are so many different species to check out some more rare than others.. Either way you go will love to see the progress!!

And congrats on the marriage!


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks jimA for your reply and your congrats on our marriage.
can you give me some compitable ideas with maingano . i have looked at the tropheus in the library and read most of the posts there and i think i need more experience before i go there :wink:

i have said above what *** stocked before so something else would be desirable apart from maingano.

thanks :thumb:


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I think you need to pick a blue barred species. Apart from Cynotilapia and P. Saulosi, most are high on the aggression scale. Maybe look into an 'Acei' as a more mild mannered fish. Several variants. Possibly a Labeotropheus Trewavasae variant. A solid colored fish like your classic standby yellow labs or red zebras can add some bright color.


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## Pseudeotropheus BB (Jan 24, 2013)

Whats available in your area? It would be a lot easier to offer recommendations if you could provide a list of fish available or are you open to mail order. If you plan on centering your stock around maingano I would tend to agree with Iggy that either the Red Zebra or Yellow Lab would be an excellent choice especially since they are readily available everywhere. I would than look at adding one of of the mild mannered afra's. Jalo Reef is readily available or if you can find some Cobue they would also be an excellent addition. You state you have kept Yellow Tail Acei however have you ever seen White Tails. They are a gorgeous fish and I personally believe they are a nicer animal.

A couple readily available options. Again better recommendations can be provided if you give fish available to you.

Maingano
Red Zebra or Yellow Lab
Jalo Reef or Cobue Afra
White Tail Acei

or

Maingano
Red Zebra or Yellow Lab
Perlmutt (if you choose Red Zebra not Yellow Lab).
Trewavasae or Fuelleborni


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

Good info! As far as the trophs go, I read all the stuff as well about them being tough to have. Bloat was my biggest fear and knock on wood they have been no problem. Mine are F1s vs wild caught. From what I have read I think the F1s tank raised are less prone to it. Good food, water changes and consistency are the key for them. I find them no harder than any other fish I have kept. I had Acei, Rusties and Labs all were good combos, a school of Acei looks really cool and the breed fast! Same with Rusties which can have some amazing colors once grown.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

many thanks everyone for your replies,

we have available around here my suggestion of maingano,then red zebra, cobue afra, white tail acie, perlmutts, rusties, most regular ones that you have, but so many beautiful species available to you guys i have not seen in the lfs or on the net over here. bearing in mind that i live in Western Australia we are very isolated in many ways from the rest of the country because of distance and time.....the rest of the world for that matter, hence sometimes i sit up till 2am our time to talk to most of you  anyway im thinking of the following:

maingano 
red zebra
perlmutt
cobue afra
white tail acie

perhaps around 7 of each hoping i get the right m/f ratio.....how does that sound??????

cheers ozman :thumb:


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## clhinds78 (Jul 27, 2012)

ozman said:


> many thanks everyone for your replies,
> 
> we have available around here my suggestion of maingano,then red zebra, cobue afra, white tail acie, perlmutts, rusties, most regular ones that you have, but so many beautiful species available to you guys i have not seen in the lfs or on the net over here. bearing in mind that i live in Western Australia we are very isolated in many ways from the rest of the country because of distance and time.....the rest of the world for that matter, hence sometimes i sit up till 2am our time to talk to most of you  anyway im thinking of the following:
> 
> ...


Usually you start out with 10 fish of each species and weed out excess males unless you are able to get ahold of pre-sexed fish. Are you ordering juvies or sub-adults? Seven per species would be a good number, as long as you only have one male.


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

Get about a dozen or more Maingano.

My C. Afra cobue male was brilliant until he no longer was dominant. I was warned about their rep of coloring down when not the top dog.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks guys, hey iggy your suggestion to stock a dozen maingano. 
what are your thoughts behind this please. 
and the afra cobue i may reconsider with your eperiences of them. nothing is set in concrete yet but a very close tank list for me


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

I don't want to turn you off that cynotilapia. I've sent some tanks online that we're crazy stocked and they had a fully colored Cobue. You could certainly go with them. My male was drop dead gorgeous.

The maingano are aggressive. They're always suggested 1 m/7f by certain mods(past and present). If you were shooting for those numbers then you would get 16 to start. That seems to be the norm for a 4' tank. You have a 5' tank that you're aiming to have 5 species, so perhaps the overstocking will allow you to keep a smaller group. I believe the 1m/x amount of females advice gives the hobbyist something to shoot for and the best chance for success.

Here's a question I asked last year. Kinda ties into this....
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?nomobile=1&f=9&t=246207


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks again iggy. i read your link, very interesting stuff


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## Iggy Newcastle (May 15, 2012)

ozman said:


> thanks again iggy. i read your link, very interesting stuff


Welcome oz!


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## B.Roberson (Nov 6, 2011)

very intersting Oz. 
In my 4 ft, 75 gal , all mbuna , i currently have 2 m to six f rusty,,
3 m to 5 f Metriaclima Callainos 
Cobalt Blue Zebra
labetropheous, yell lab, 1m to 3f {lookoing to add a couple more females}
1m to 4 f Cynotilapia Afra "Purple Lupingu

i have NO problems with the xtra males. they are actually brilliant in color. females hold often. just never see fry for long. but i am not worried about breeding.
I am not saying extra males will work in every case but in mine,it does. I got all these fish juvies, 1 1/2 " to start and they are 3" now.

good luck ozman, i hope you can get what you want!!


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks B.Robertson for your reply, hey great to hear how successful your tank is going for you :thumb:

there seems to be so many different expeirences between tank owners with very similar if not even the same tank mates that i'm thinking that the ratios as works for most is a great guideline.
however it seems to me that perhaps the same stock in two different tanks could have totally different outcomes due to the personality of the fish concerned :roll: 
they don't want to conform to our expectations the little %$#&@ so i will have to see when i get them how mine pans out :dancing:

ozman


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## Austinite (Jul 27, 2013)

Hi Ozman, I also have a 5 foot tank with mainganos. I got 12 to start with, to purposefully overstock in hopes of getting enough females. I have 4 species. I have powder blue socolifi, saulosi, pearl zebras. My tank has only been up for a few months, so it's still new, no problems to report yet. I've already had 2 mainganos holding, they are larger in size than my other fish, who are still juveniles (1.5 inches). I love the mainganos, they were one of my stock selections that were a must have for me. (along with the saulosi)


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## spotmonster (Nov 23, 2006)

Oz, if you've never read it, check out "the cichlid recipe". It hasn't been updated by the author in a long time. But I love the way it adds insight into cichlid behavior while reading like a book. Compiled with profile's and this forum among-st others, a lot of good information to look at different species.

http://www.cichlidrecipe.com/


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

hey spotmonster,thanks a lot for your link :thumb:

i will read it through properly and thanks again for this insight. 
never to young to learn and in my case never to old to learn and change :wink:


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## cichlid-gal (Apr 27, 2012)

Hey Oz, sorry I missed this thread so just trying to catch up. I had a tank of mainganos and cynos for a long time. I housed the group in a 75G ... probably 8 adult mainganos and another 8 or so babies/juvies along with a group of 9 cynos. I loved this tank and over time it has probably been one of favorite tanks. The tank was always active and had lots of color even though with the cynos I only had one male (the dominant male) that colored and the rest were kinda a drab brown. Mainganos are magnificant fish...they always raised comments when I had visitors. People are just drawn to them. I have a couple of videos of my old group on my youtube channel...just click the globe under my name on the left and take a peek.

Looks like you are having fun in your search and I know you will find what you are looking for and ultimately stock a GRAND tank.


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## ozman (Sep 7, 2012)

thanks guys for your responces,very much appreciated.

hey cichlid-gal thanks heaps for your reply. yes i did check out your vids and think they are awesome opcorn:

wow i love the one of your led lighting system, that is an amazing piece of kit. i have an led light that i have bought but does not do what yours does.
thanks for your well wishes...my base cabinet is now completly painted with two coates and have moved that into it's home today 

before i put my tank on and start cycling i'm trying to decide wether to get a universal rocks b/g or go with a black b/g with some universal rocks siliconed in black to the back glass, to give the impression of rocks petruding through the glass?
i have 4 resonably large pieces of u/v rocks already purchased.

i will try to find other rocks locally that hopefully will match to give my mbuna list a good home :thumb:


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