# stocking help



## dmclean2001 (Mar 6, 2016)

I bought a 125 gallon tank that came with some fish. 1 green terror, 1 frontoso, 1 convict, 2 red jewels, 1 yellow lab, 1 red zebra, 1 blue zebra 3 clown loaches (small still), 1 pleco and 2 Victorians. I love the green terror and think I want to go in that direction. Right now they all seem to get along just fine. What can I keep and what else could I get to have a nice thriving tank. The tank had no décor at all and before I fix that problem I thought I should figure out what tank mates to get and or get rid of. Jack Dempsey fish also look great but would it just be a big fight. Any help would be appreciated.


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

I like jack dempsey too but it probably won't work out with the green terror. I think you can probably keep all that you have and even add a few more africans, but you of course will need more hiding spots in there so they can avoid the green terror. You may have to take him out eventually or else basically remove every other fish, but with you can usually keep one guy like that in an african community as long as there's enough fish around to distract him and enough cover.


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## dmclean2001 (Mar 6, 2016)

I will likely try that thanks for the reply. I love the mixture but worry that one day there will be carnage


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

IMO and IME, I think your stock has decent chance of working out. But the one I would be most concerned with is the frontosa. Though I have never owned this fish, I do know of others who have kept them. Usually kept in primarily species tank, they are very laid back. It is my understanding they often do not thrive with other aggressive cichlid tank mates. I think it is very hit and miss whether or not a frontosa will do well with these tank mates.
As far as JD and GT in the same tank, I never had any problems between these 2 fishes. Had them in the same tank at least a few times. At least the larger JD were a little higher up in the pecking order then the male GT. Though there are some people who have encountered problems between these 2 fish. The claim by some is that the bright blue coloration makes them too similar in the eyes of the fish. I really don't buy it, and I think when there is friction between these 2, there seeing each other as competitors because they are fishes of similar size, have potentially fairly similar ability, and could often find themselves in a similar position in the pecking order.


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## Granamyr (Dec 16, 2015)

I agree with bc that the green terror and Dempsey have a good chance of being ok together and the frontosa is the odd man out more likely than the others


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

They might be OK forever or immediately kill each other, that's just kind of how it goes with the tougher SA cichlids.

Frontosa will be OK so long as there is lots of cover to make him feel comfortable.


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## Granamyr (Dec 16, 2015)

Have you ever had a Dempsey fish jerk??? I would highly doubt it based in that. If they have their own cave to go back to they can be with lots of different fish.

I highly doubt you've had one with a statement like that


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

Granamyr said:


> Have you ever had a Dempsey fish jerk??? I would highly doubt it based in that. If they have their own cave to go back to they can be with lots of different fish.
> 
> I highly doubt you've had one with a statement like that


Well, you are wrong.


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

There's no guarantees with any aggressive cichlids that is just the way it is. I would MAYBE keep ONE large SA/CA ciclid in with various africans. Having a bunch of africans mixed with SA and CA cichlids usually doesn't work out well.

And frontosa...I "highly doubt" you have any idea what you are talking about in that regard. You have a tank with a bunch of africans and your problem is the frontosa not the green terror or jack dempsey? :lol:

As long as the dopey skittish frontosa has some cover which hopefully is the case in ANY african tank, then he will just kind of derp around aimlessly for his whole while. They have no real aggression at all compared to mbunas or even SA cichlids.

Convicts and jewels will probably get mostly ignored if there's enough cover, but they are kind of trash fish anyway so if you have to take them out no big deal.

If you took out all the africans instead then the tank might be OK, but there's no guarantees for green terrors or jack dempseys to play nice.


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## Granamyr (Dec 16, 2015)

I admit I know nothing about Frontosa's. Don't think my comment said anything about them just that they would be the odd man out in regards to a green terror and jack dempsey.

I don't know much about Africans and don't comment on those topics. I was trying to correct your incorrect information saying that a green terror and jack dempsey will immediately kill each other. Sure if you stick them in a 40 gallon tank with no cover that's likely to be the case. In a 125 with hiding places I would be surprised if there is any type of issue other than standard posturing between aggressive cichlids

if I was dmclean2001 I would listen to BC's advice it is good


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## BC in SK (Aug 11, 2012)

Fish Jerk said:


> And frontosa...I "highly doubt" you have any idea what you are talking about in that regard. You have a tank with a bunch of africans and your problem is the frontosa not the green terror or jack dempsey? :lol:
> 
> As long as the dopey skittish frontosa has some cover which hopefully is the case in ANY african tank, then he will just kind of derp around aimlessly for his whole while. They have no real aggression at all compared to mbunas or even SA cichlids.


Nobody is saying the frontosa poses any problem for the other fish. Quite the opposite.
Many threads on this forum; many instances where they did not thrive and did not even grow at a typical normal rate when housed with more aggressive species. And that is with tank mates like peacocks. This tank has mbuna :lol: Very few people who have grown frontosa and been successful with this fish, will see mbuna as a suitable tank mate for frontosa. 
IME, even a full grown hap like _Cyrtocara moori_ did not do well at all, with mbuna. IME, to say peacocks did not do well with mbuna in my tanks is an understatement. Both fishes that are generally considered more aggressive and generally considered better chance of doing well with mbuna, compared to frontosa.
2 jewels, maybe a chance of breeding and breeding aggression. IMO, a convict, if its a male, is usually an aggressive fish. GT can be aggressive also. Add mbuna, and yes I think it is likely a very rough tank for frontosa. That there are instance were frontosa do well with rough tankmates, no doubt......but I would think more instance when they do not. Why I said "hit and miss". The fact that successful frontosa keepers primarily keep them in primarily species tanks should give a clue to how most keep them successfully.


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## Fish Jerk (Mar 9, 2016)

BC in SK said:


> Fish Jerk said:
> 
> 
> > And frontosa...I "highly doubt" you have any idea what you are talking about in that regard. You have a tank with a bunch of africans and your problem is the frontosa not the green terror or jack dempsey? :lol:
> ...


You can keep basically anything with mbuna if you have the tank set up right and monitor things. Well, anything except (most) plants. Peacocks, frontosa, buttikoferi, barbs, silver dollars, goldfish, tetras - even mollies, guppies and swordfish I have successfully kept with mbunas. Of course I lost some guppies and tetras here and there but only rarely.

The frontosa actually can go psycho and that would be my main concern in an mbuna tank. Like if you had zero cover at all and were not way overstocked that is what I would expect to happen. Which sounds like the situation here. If you have a bunch of cover and a large number of fish and some dither fish he should be perfectly fine. If you had him in an in between tank you just threw him in he'd be toast. Since he is already in the tank, he should be fine regardless. That is the general case for mbunas, they seem to assume that anything there when they arrive belongs there.

Usually with mbunas I like to have one big fish, a bunch of dithers, a couple male peacocks, then the mbunas. That seems to be the formula to get a nice looking tank without too much chaos. That is still a lot more work than keeping just mbunas and dithers, but then you have lots of activity at all levels of the tank all the time and aggression happens but usually doesn't get serious. And is almost always mbuna-mbuna.

In a tank like that the convicts and jewels are not going to even be an issue, they will be more like dither fish. If they do get aggressive, they will die.

I just am more iffy about the JD and the green terror, especially the terror. Maybe they will be fine, maybe one goes after the other, maybe the GT goes crazy and tries to kill the whole tank. I would probably get rid of the green terror and keep the rest until problems developed. Unless there are particular fish you like/dislike. I can't imagine not liking the frontosa, though - everyone does. A GT and a (regular) JD are pretty dull colored fish in comparison to the frontosa or the mbunas. Actually I would probably toss the JD too unless it's an electric blue. A regular one is too much size and dullness to be worth the effort especially in that tank.


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