# New African Cichlid tank-fish recommendations please



## graysilm (Dec 6, 2016)

So I picked up an Aqueon 125 galllon (72.5"x18.5"x23.75"h) from petsmart on black friday for $330 including the cabinet and lights. I am currently cycling the aquarium with hardy fish (I know this is controversial so I prefer not to hear opinions on this since its already started). I ordered a beamworks 72" 7800 lumen LED light to replace the weak fluorescents that came with the package. For substrate I used 100lbs of pool filter sand, and topped it off with approximately 40lbs of crushed coral. I also ordered 2 300w heaters from amazon-I am currently only using one of them and it is maintaining temps fine but I don't know if it would be more efficient to use both of them. For filtration I have 2 sunsun 304b canister filters-i used all the carbon, bioballs, and ceramic rings and filter media included, and in one of them I added some of the crushed coral substrate, and in the other one I added a 100ml purigen bag. I have plenty of coral, coquina, and other rock structure in the tank. My current water perimeters are :

PH 8.2
Ammonia 0.5ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrates 4-5ppm
KH 179ppm
GH 214.8ppm

So it seems my tank has quite a bit more cycling to do to get the biological filter established. I am currently running the UV lights in the canister filters...is this a bad idea during the cycling process? Any comments or opinions on my setup are appreciated. I will post pictures later.

Now for the fun part, I would like recommendations on what types of African Cichlids I should keep. Ideally I want fish with vibrant multicolors so I am thinking an all maie tank is the way to go. What I am unsure of is whether to go with an all male Mbuna tank, or an all male peacock/hap tank. I would prefer to start off with juvenile fish for cost and aggression reasons. I realize that I run a risk of getting some females if I buy young fish. I am also very unsure of how many juvenile fish to stock the tank with...I would prefer to get them all at once to prevent aggression, but I don't want to buy too many that I have to get rid of some of the fish because they have grown too big. With all that being said I look forward to reading opinions and advice, and would like to thank everyone in advance who has taken the time to read this post and share you knowledge.


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## Mcdaphnia (Dec 16, 2003)

The UV lamps kill free floating bacteria, not the cycle bacteria, which attach strongly to surfaces. They will prevent gray bacterial cloudiness and green algae or euglena caused cloudiness, but should not interfere with the cycle.

I'd avoid the more aggressive species like auratus for a mixed all male tank. One of the drawbacks to a colorful all male tank is that you don't want much decor because it acts as markers for territorial claims. Another is that you need at least one isolation tank for a bad actor since the personality of an individual fish is not always typical of its species. Sometimes finding compatible places for cichlids reminds me of the musical chairs game, and even with over 50 aquariums in my basement, I can be perplexed where to put some of the bullies.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

With an all male of either Mbunas or Peacocks/Hap, I would get 3 Juvies of each and then remove the females and sub-dominate males. You can sell for trade the extras.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Except for peacocks. You don't want to mix juvenile peacocks of different species in one tank...since the females all look alike, you will lose the ability to ID the species and sell them or give them away. Got lots of small tanks to grow-out your peacocks?

I would buy adult males...even if you have to buy six at a time and wait for bacteria to adjust in between adding groups. IME adding them in groups does not add to aggression.

Haps and peacocks are more often manageable in an all-male tank than mbuna. Also there is more variety among colors and shapes with haps and peacocks, enabling you to avoid look-alikes and still get 18 individuals. With mbuna most of the yellow/orange group that look alike and the blue barred group looks alike...leaving you with a challenge to find 16 more mbuna that are not yellow, orange or blue barred.

Personally I would go with mixed gender mbuna, stock 8 each of 5 peaceful species with colorful females all at once and weed out extra males as they mature. Less variety but at LEAST as brilliantly colored as haps and peacocks.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

For a mbuna tank I would take a look at these, they have worked quite well for us.

williamsi north
blue dolphin manda aka giant demasoni
fuelleborni
yellow labs
blue berry
parallelus


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## graysilm (Dec 6, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> Except for peacocks. You don't want to mix juvenile peacocks of different species in one tank...since the females all look alike, you will lose the ability to ID the species and sell them or give them away. Got lots of small tanks to grow-out your peacocks?
> 
> I would buy adult males...even if you have to buy six at a time and wait for bacteria to adjust in between adding groups. IME adding them in groups does not add to aggression.
> 
> ...


Thanks DJRansome. I'm interested in your idea of a mixed gender mbuba with peaceful species and colorful females. Can you suggest any of these species?


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

graysilm said:


> I'm interested in your idea of a mixed gender mbuba with peaceful species and colorful females. Can you suggest any of these species?


Saulosi, Yellow Labs, Cyno Hara, and Lab. Perlmutt comes to mind.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Also rusties, acei. Metriaclima estherae and Pseudotropheus socolofi are not as peaceful, but still suitable.


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## graysilm (Dec 6, 2016)

Thanks everyone. Here is a picture of how my tank is currently setup. Sorry its kind of blurry, I am a terrible photographer. 2 questions....does this setup look like it-

A. Has enough rocks/hiding places for a mixed gender Mbuna tank?
B. Has too many rocks/hiding places for an all male Hap/Peacock tank?

Thank you for your advice


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd say good for haps and peacocks and not enough rocks for mbuna. Be careful with the shells, as fish can dart in and get stuck/die.


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## graysilm (Dec 6, 2016)

If I end up doing a mixed gender mbuna tank would it be a terrible idea to have a few Malawi haps and or peacocks in the same tank?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Depends on the mbuna and the haps/peacocks, but for most species it can be a bad idea. Most mbuna are more aggressive than most haps and peacocks.


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## graysilm (Dec 6, 2016)

Would it be a bad idea to put one or two juvenile nimbochromis venustus in a mixed mbuna tank? I really like those fish


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Depends on the mbuna. Yellow labs and acei would work. At least until the venustus becomes large enough to eat them.


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## graysilm (Dec 6, 2016)

So my 125 tank is fully cycled and stocked. I decided to do a mixed gender Mbuna tank and intentionally overstocked it with juvenile fish knowing that in the future I will have to remove and trade/sell some fish and make changes. My tank is stocked with the following:

8 2.5-3" unsexed Williamson Makonde blue lips. These are my biggest fish

7 Giant Demasoni unsexed 1.5"

2 yellow labs 2"

8 electric yellow 1-1.25"...Not sure if the are the same species as the other yellow labs I have

8 Saulosi Taiwan Reef 1.25-1.5"

8 1.5" Rustie's

8 1.5" Red Zebra's

8 1.5" Red top Zebra's

8 1.5" yellow top Mbamba's

1 1.5" nimbochromis venustus

All of my fish have been in the tank for 24 hours and seem full acclimated with no signs of aggression yet. Anyone have thoughts on my fish? Any of the fish I listed should like they could be a potentially volatile combination?

Water parameters on day 2 after stocking are:

Ammonia 0.0
Nitrite 0.0
Nitrate between 5 and 10 (trying to get this down 
Ph 8.3
GH 22 drops
KH 13 drops
Water temp 79.7°F

What are your thoughts on my fish selection, as well as my water parameters? Thanks for taking the time to read and respond


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## james1983 (Dec 23, 2007)

I would pick one zebra species, preferably not the red zebras since the easily cross with labs. Also post pics of the electric yellows. If they are different than the labs I would replace them.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

8 2.5-3" unsexed Williamson Makonde blue lips.
7 Giant Demasoni unsexed 1.5"
2 yellow labs 2"
8 electric yellow 1-1.25"...Not sure if the are the same species as the other yellow labs I have
8 Saulosi Taiwan Reef 1.25-1.5"
8 1.5" Rustie's
8 1.5" Red Zebra's 
8 1.5" Red top Zebra's 
8 1.5" yellow top Mbamba's

Too many species IMO and some look-alikes which could result in crossbreeding and/or fighting (you may not see this for 8 months or more).

Choose one solid yellow fish (labs or williamsi). With estherae I would choose williamsi.

Choose one Metriaclima (estherae and red top zebra). Since you already have a blue barred fish with giant demasoni, I would choose estherae.

Choose one blue barred fish. Since you already have giant demasoni, I would eliminate the mbamba. That gives you 5 species. If you want another consider white labs.


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

DJRansome said:


> 8 2.5-3" unsexed Williamson Makonde blue lips.
> 7 Giant Demasoni unsexed 1.5"
> 2 yellow labs 2"
> 8 electric yellow 1-1.25"...Not sure if the are the same species as the other yellow labs I have
> ...


Not sure what you are talking about here. Williamsi are not yellow at all and look great with yellow labs.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

This guy. What color are yours?
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=929


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## BlueSunshine (Jul 13, 2014)

DJRansome said:


> This guy. What color are yours?
> http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/s ... php?id=929


They're not yellow.


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