# 90 gallon tank stocking suggestions (Mbunas)



## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Hello,

Long time cichlid keeper here (20 years on and off). For the past 5 years I havent been able to keep a fish tank due to moving from one place to another and I am pretty excited about getting back into the hobby. Im looking for suggestions on how to stock a 90 gallon tank.

Dimensions of tank: 60 length x 18 width x 20 height (90 gallons) and a 44 x 12 x 18 (44 gallons) sump.

The requirements for the tank inhabitants would be 1) colorful males and females, 2) no overly aggressive or large fish (cabro, kenyi, auratus, you know the rest of usual suspects), 3) no standard red zebras or yellow labs.

This is what I am thinking so far:

a) 10 metriaclima msobo magunga (this is the species I really want to keep)
b) 10 labidochromis chisumulae
c) ??
d) 5 synodontis lucipinnis

Some groups I am considering so far:
- A group of 10 OB labeotropheus fuellerboni, although they might be too aggressive and large for the tank but they would be ideal otherwise - nice colors, no interbreeding
- A group of 15 demasoni although I dont know how well would they get along with the male msobos and even with the chisimulae which have vertical lines, also high aggressiveness.
- A group of 10 OB zebras but I am not sure how well will they get along with the msobos and the chance of interbreeding
- A group of 10 cobalts, acei or even rusties

If you guys have any ideas for another group which has colorful females and would get along with the groups I mentioned, I would appreciate your feedback.

Jim


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Another alternative would be:
a) 10 msobo
b) 10 white labidochromis caraleus 
c) 15 demasoni or 10 OB labeotropheus fuellerboni
c) 5 synos

All help is appreciated!

Jim


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

You don't want aggressive but include demasoni and want to have nonstandard cool stuff. Unfortunately that brings your options down to near nothing.

Venustus or red fin boreli are great looking but they are large haps.

elongatus chailosi nice but is fairly aggressive

Elongatus usisya ditto

maybe one of these three will do:

Lupingu Purple Afra is nice

Marmalade Fuelliborni

Williamsi Makonde Blue Lips


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Hi Fish Jerk,

Thanks for your suggestions. Fair enough I did probably narrowed down the list too much.

Do you believe either of this groups would work, or which would work better ?

Group 1:
10 Msobo
10 White labidochromis caeruleus
15 Demasoni
5 synos

Group 2:
10 Msobo
10 Labidochromis chisimulae
10 OB fuelleborni
5 synos


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Group 2. Chisimulae females are drab, and OB fuelleborni females as well IMO.


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Hi DJR,

Thanks for the input.

Do you think 3 groups of msobo, callainos pearl and demasoni would interbreed, get along well?

Jim


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

JimCS said:


> Do you think 3 groups of msobo, callainos pearl and demasoni would interbreed, get along well?


They are unlikely to interbreed and will get along as well as any mbuna. Be sure you are ready for the extra work of demasoni. And I'd stock at least 15 demasoni even after removing fish that are rejected from the colony. Thus 1m:4f of the msobo and callainos to keep from overstocking too much.


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Hey guys,

Just a quick update on my tank. All is set up and will start the fishless cycling today.

Specs:
Dimensions of tank: 60 length x 18 width x 20 height (90 gallons) and a 44 x 12 x 18 (44 gallons) sump.

Equipment:
-Wavermaker: 1150g/h
-Water pump for sump: 800g/h
-UV: 18W
-2 150W thermometers connected to a digital temperature controller

As far as fish goes, Im set on a group of msobo, leaning towards pearl cobalt as the second group. As for the third Im thinking either demasoni or OB labeotropheus or OB Macropthalmus. I like demasoni the best but I am hesitant due to their aggression.

Here a few pics.

































Regards

Jim


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)




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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I wish we could get cool rocks like that here.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

I have a kinda off topic question. 
How does your sump work? 
Is that ceramic media or k1 in the bottom of the middle chamber?
Does the water just flow over the top of the middle chamber on its way from the left to the right?


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Hey Somebody,

The tank is drilled on both ends. The outlet is on the upper left corner and the inlet on the upper right. I have a water pump that roughly circulates water 8.5x per hour. I have ceramic as the biological filter, will probably get some more one of these weekends though.

I made the following sump design.






Hope that helps

Jim


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

O ok I see now. Just a IMO, your pictures deceived me as to how it worked, thanks for the clarification. :thumb:

Well not that you were looking for help with your sump but seeing as you want to add more filtration capacity I would do the remaining part of that chamber a fluidized bed filter and if you did the "bubble trap" put fine foam in there to polish the water before it returns ot the tank. Or, add a layer of egg crate on top of the ceramic media and put gradually increasing foam in there 10ppi in the bottom,25ppi above that, and 30 ppi on top.

Rocks look great BTW


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Hey Somebody,

Thanks for the tips. I will look into the foam in the "bubble trap" section to polish off the water. As of right now I have cloudy water, typical for a new tank, so I will wait until it subdues and look further into any additions to the sump.

Jim


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

JimCS said:


>


Is the white PVC in this picture the pump return to the aquarium? If so, I would be concerned with what looks like silicone connecting the elbow to the piping. I would suggest either replacing the PVC with hose as it eliminates vibration or using PVC cement to make the connections tight. You don't want these to come apart and pump water onto the floor.


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Hey Dee,

Thanks for the heads up. I used cement to glue the tubes, ran the return pump for a day and then put sillicone on top just to have more ease of mind.

Jim


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## Als49 (Jul 11, 2014)

I wonder if you have the pics of the inlet and outlet of the show tank? I'm curious because I didn't see the piping in the show tank


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## JimCS (Apr 14, 2016)

Some updates on the tank after 5 days of cycling:
Ammonia: 4.0
Ph: 8.0
Gh: 17
Kh: 13
Water temperature: 82F

The water is pretty cloudy. UV filter up and running.

Als49 some pics of the tank and inlet/outlet


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