# Recommendation for the next few additions to my tank



## Habanero (Nov 20, 2013)

I would love some recommendations of what would be cool to add to my tank. Its really shaping up nicely. I am interested in having more unique looking fish, mostly adult males that are really colorful. I want to stay away from adding more blue colored fish, as I already have enough of those. I am thinking about an Intermedeus next (which my local fish shop says they should have a male for me very soon). I also want to do a Frontosa as well, and another Tropheus (maybe a yellow stripe one). All my current fish get along well (the Snow White is pretty feisty though). The Jack Dempsey is the only non African fish in my tank, but he is doing just fine in there so far, and has been with most of the fish in my tank for 2 years. I have one of each of the following in the tank right now (all are males as far as I can tell):

Zebra Obliquidens
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1556

Venustus
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/n_venustus.php

Deep Water Hap
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1204

Jewel Cichlid
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/h_guttatus.php

Acei
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1460

Bumble Bee
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=845

Snow White
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1786

Blueberry OB
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1464

Moliro
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1910

OB Peacock
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1372

Red Empress
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1369

Jack Dempsey
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=23

Azureus 
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/c_azureus.php

Alhi
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1333

Yellow Lab
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=713

Blue Dolphin
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1061

Borleyi Red Fin
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1009

Blood Dragon
http://www.coburgaquarium.com.au/sheet.php?id=103

Cuckoo Catfish
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/sy ... ipunctata/


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## Michael_S (Aug 18, 2013)

How big is this tank? Including dimensions.


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## cichliddoc (Oct 15, 2013)

A little wild set of fish, just keep an eye on aggression, how big is your tank? We all love pictures. Thanks and good luck.


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## Habanero (Nov 20, 2013)

Michael_S said:


> How big is this tank? Including dimensions.


its 72in x 20in x 20in

125 gallons

I have some Lace Rock across the back, providing plenty of hiding places, as well as a ton of open water up front. My Mbuna's like to find hiding places often, while some of my Haps never really go into the rocks at all.

I have a total of 20 cichlid fish in my tank (I have a male / female bumblebee, and I believe my 2nd acei could be female).

The average size of my cichlid fish are 4". So, that puts me at about 80 inches of cihclid fish right now in the tank. With the 1" to 2" of fish per gallon equation, it would seem to me that I am good to add a few more fish to my setup.

I also took 5 fish in to my local shop last week, and traded them in for some store credit. They were multiples of fish I already have, as well as a Firemouth that was causing problems. So some of my fish will stay in my tank till they are fully grown and remain there, while others may be sold or swapped over time.


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## Habanero (Nov 20, 2013)

cichliddoc said:


> A little wild set of fish, just keep an eye on aggression, how big is your tank? We all love pictures. Thanks and good luck.


Yeah, I am still very new to the world of Cichlids, and when I bought my tank, it came with about 26 fish already, most of them at least 2 years old. They are awesome, but I knew nothing about what types they are, or if they should be together or not.

Since then, I have done a lot of learning, and because of the great support on this site, I have been able to identify some of the fish I could not figure out on my own. Now I am getting much better at identifying fish, and am learning their common names, as well as some of the Latin names.

As far as aggression, I was a little freaked out at first with how they interacted with one another. However, after watching youtube videos, and reading up on them, I realized that cichlids do use methods of aggression in order to relate to one another socially. None of my fish hurt one another. There are no injuries, nor are there any fish that get picked on. I just have to keep aware of my zebra O. because he is the smallest fish in my tank, and I just need to make sure that he eats at feeding time, cause he is a little overwhelmed by the larger fish and food does not hit the lower portion of the tank.

My Snow White is the most aggressive fish in my tank. Its 4.5 in long, and has dug out 2 spots in the sand beneath rocks. He is protective of those spaces, and will often "check" other fish in the tank. His aggression is spread out among most of the fish in the tank, and the Venustus will keep him in check when he gets a little too combative in the tank (the Venustus is around 6in long and is the king of the hill in the tank).

It has been very easy for me to add fish to my current setup. I changed up the rocks, added 3 fish last weekend, and they just dive in, swim to the rocks, and within 10 minutes, are socializing with the other fish as though they belonged. Nobody ever gets picked on or singled out.

I try to make sure that my Mbuna's are smaller than my Haps and Pecocks (my snow white is about the same size though). My new yellow lab is pretty timid actually, and hangs out in the rocks a lot.

My OB Blueberry turned all white in the oxygenated bag on the trip home, and when it hit the water, my Snow White got in its face, and chased it around for about 15 seconds. We were worried, but then it colored up with its blue spots, and the Snow White mellowed out after that.

While I want to add a Frontosa, I am thinking that because its such a mellow fish, I will need to get one pretty big, which is almost impossible to find in my area, or I will have to shell out the big bucks. There is a local store that has a 5" one for $95.

The front of my tank does have some scratches that become apparent when you take pictures through it, but are not visible when simply observing the fish in the tank. I have some pictures in the "Unidentified" section. I will work on getting some more photos of my fish. Everyone who sees that tank says they are pretty impressed, and just sit on the couch, and get hypnotized by it. I will also do a video soon, and post it on youtube soon.


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## Habanero (Nov 20, 2013)

Here is my current "wish list" for the next few additions to my tank. I am looking for all males, at least 2.75" or 3" in size.

Aulonocara ethelwynnae
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=635

Lethrinops Intermedius
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1279

Super VC-10
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1217

German Red / Rubescens / Ruby Red
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1313

Alunocara Jacobfreibergi "Eureka Red"
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... hp?id=1377


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I think you are full without adding fish. The first 2 on your list will likely be too shy with your existing stock to color up well.


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## Habanero (Nov 20, 2013)

DJRansome said:


> I think you are full without adding fish.


Could you help me understand your suggestion that my tank would be considered full at this point? From what I have researched so far, I was under the impression that the number of cichlids that would work in a tank was a ratio of number of inches of fish to the gallon size of the tank. Some conservative recommendations are 1in of fish per gallon. Seems like an average is 1.5in of fish per gallon. Then to overcrowd a tank to disperse aggression, you could do 2in of fish per gallon, as long as your tank is cycled, has good bacteria, has good filtration, and you keep up with water changes.

If this general recommendation were implemented in my tank, then I should be able to have the following number of fish in my tank if they average 4".

1in per gallon = 31 fish
1.5in per gallon = 46 fish
2in per gallon = 62 fish

I am not suggesting that I am interested in keeping 62 fish in my tank, however, I have seen many youtube videos of african cichlid tanks that makes mine look empty.

What other factors should I take into consideration when exploring how many fish make sense in my tank?


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## gverde (Mar 3, 2010)

I don't believe those inch per gallons works very well in determining how many fish you can put in your tank. Your venustus will get close to 10", blue dolphin, red empress, and borleyi red fin will get 8". Have you taken that in consideration? Also keep an eye on your mbunas & ob's aggression towards the haps like your azureus, fryeri, and deep water hap. These three will get easily stressed and maybe even killed by the mbunas. I would forget about putting a frontosa in there. The mbunas will have a field day with the long trailers of a frontosa.


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## wharfrat (Sep 9, 2013)

Hehe what I would do with a 6 foot tank is clear out my livestock to my friend at the LFS and get some credit on a group of Zaire Blue Frontosas...talking about a sexy tank right there...I have always wanted a Front tank. I have read that Frontosas thrive in a species tank d/t their behavior. Tropheus as well.

Your stocking kind of goes against the grain of most suggestions on the forums considering some fish are incompatible with each other. There is a reason why people say go Peacock/Hap vs. Mbuna , go Malawi vs.Tanganyika....or SA vs. African. It doesn't mean it cannot work and it hasn't worked before; however, I believe somewhere along the line fish-keepers had some negative results from mixing certain species. I just try my best to stay open minded.


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## Habanero (Nov 20, 2013)

Ok, sounds like if I want some frontosas, then I should start up a separate tank. That makes sense, as they are such a mellow fish.

Although the aggression level of mbunas are higher, my mbunas do not display aggression different from my haps and peacocks. I have a 4in yellow lab that is shy and hides in the rocks all day. My venustus is the king of the tank and keeps things in order. My Snow White is aggressive, but he is more worried about his cave that he dug out and spends half of his time in there. My bumblebees are really mellow and are smaller than most of the other fish in the tank. Nobody really messes with anyone else. They do chase one another around, but it looks more playful than anything.

I have thought about the potential size as all of my fish mature. I am sure I will keep some till they reach that size, and may sell some, or have additional tanks that I will move fish around by then. I am guessing that it will take a few years before some of my fish reach their maximum size, so I figure I have sometime to enjoy my current tank and diversify it for now.

I added a smaller ob mbuna that is all orange. At first he was a little shy, but he is holding his own, and has found his place in the tank. He doesn't mess with anyone, but will let others know he is not for picking on.

Maybe I need to search for some videos showing harmful aggression in a tank, because I don't think I have seen in my tank the dangers of mixing mbunas with haps and peacocks, and want to be sure that I am acting ethical in my fish keeping.


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## Floridagirl (Jan 10, 2008)

The Bumblebees can and will easily take out all your other fish, at some point. Or they will stress everyone so much as to get bloat. I also believe Fronts do better in a species only tank. I have 8 Mikula Fronts in a 220 gallon. It's a stunning tank. The only Mbuna I would try to keep in an all male set-up is yellow Labs, White Labe, and Acei. Others could work, but why chance it, hap and Peacock males are expensive..Mbuna males are a dime a dozen. 20- 25 fish max is a good number for 125 with large haps, IMO.


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