# 60 Gallon - How should I proceed?



## S2Cichlid (Nov 5, 2015)

Hi guys!
My name's Eric, and I figured it was about time for me to register and get comfy here  
Had a few questions that you guys might be able to point me in the right direction with.

So i cracked and bought another tank last week, 60gal 48x12. I also have a 55g tropical community that I've had for about a year and a half or so which is wonderful. 
I have pretty hard water where I live, so I figured a Cichlid or discus setup might be worth giving a try. Didn't take long for me to do more research and make up my mind that I MUST have a Cichlid tank. 
The only problem for me is that there are SO MANY different kinds to choose from and it's almost overwhelming to make up my mind lol.

I've read that overstocking helps soften up aggression in the tank, so I wouldn't mind a slightly overstocked tank with a nice variety of colors.
At the same time I wouldn't mind a small amount of slightly larger cichlids. I'm almost leaning towards this after falling in love with the Malawi Eyebiter Haplochromis Compressiceps﻿, beautiful.
I read that the Malawi eye biter can get up to 10 inches, so would my tank dimensions even be able to house him? If so, how many tank mates would I be able to house with him?
I was told it'd probably be best with haps or peacocks. Which ones are most compatible with him?

Tank setup:
60 gal 48x12x24
Penguin 350
200w heater (currently stable at 78deg.)
36'' bubble wand
sand substrate (2-3in deep)

Plan on purchasing another penguin 350 for more filtration
and the uv sterilizer (does wonders in my 55)

Any suggestions? Should I go with something different based on my setup?
Tank is still cycling but I can give some parameters in a future post


----------



## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

The eye biter would be too big. I would look at fish that max out at 6"-7". Look through the profile section and find a few that you like, then we can help build around those.


----------



## Been_away2long (Jul 13, 2015)

For Haps and peacocks you can house them in this size tank but wont be able to keep many in that tank size. I would go with Mbuna, but if your dead set on peacocks/haps I would only look at more docile/timid fish(no hybrids) Go through the specie profiles. Lastly you need to decide if you going with all male or keeping females. Also Compressiceps *** kept one(4inches) in an all male tank it was 180 gal he was very aggressive and chasing everyone all over so a 60gal even if over stocked will not work


----------



## S2Cichlid (Nov 5, 2015)

Thanks for the replies! Originally I was planning on a mbuna tank because it seemed fitting for my setup so I'll probably go that route.

I'm at work right now so I'm Unable to look through all the species but I will when I get home.

I'll probably do an all male tank, hoping with lots of colors. Any suggestions on some good compatible all male choices?

In a nut shell, if you were to do it all over again with the knowledge you have now, which fish would you choose based on my goals?


----------



## Been_away2long (Jul 13, 2015)

Well if I had your tank I wouldn't do an all male Hap/peacock tank in a 60 gal. I would just go with a cool color mix of mbuna the tank will be very lively and can get away with alittle over stocking. With all male tanks especially haps n peacocks the bigger the tank the better bc sometimes one fish can control entire tank. In my 125gal I have an albino male fryeri he's the third largest fish in the tank and my tank barely any aggressive some chasing but only when a fish gets in someone way but they get along very well and no fights. But anyway once in a while the fryeri would get aggressive n protect his rock pile he basically controlled 4ft of my 6foot tank. I wasn't too worried since I already had a tank setup for him with 3 females I just wanted the females to settle in first. But in small ranks u really need to do the right mix in all male tank n a lot of removing n replacing fish. I would either do mbuna tank or pick 3 species of haps or peacocks and try to get 1m/3-4f mix and watch them interact and breed but Hap/peacock females don't look as nice as mbuna also if you want to keep the fry cnt get similar looking fish


----------



## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Because it is 48x12 you want to stock it like a 55G. All male mbuna is challenging because once you have blue barred and yellow orange it's harder to find more fish suitable for a 48x12 that are not look-alikes. I would not exceed 12 individuals...in fact I like 12 individuals even in a bigger 48x18 tank. 8-10 might work.

I find haps and peacocks easier to do for an all-male tank.


----------

