# 46 Gallon Tank Stocking Ideas ?



## noeltoms (Sep 11, 2015)

Hi Guys,

I need ideas to stocks my 46 Gallon tank with *Lake Malawi Cichlid*. I want it to be as much colorful as possible, obviously keeping all the fish compatibility factors into account. My tank has a lot of rocks and hiding places including caves made of terracotta pots. Pool filter sand is the substrate and i have already started the nitrogen cycling
It would be great if you could also point the appropriate male:female ratio for each of the species. I also wanted to know how many algae eaters like the *Bristlenose Pleco* or the *Upside down catfish* i can keep along with the cichlids
Thanks for your attention..! :fish:

Thanks,
Noel


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## Fishandpitbulls (May 20, 2015)

Hi Noel. I have a 46 gallon cichlid tank and posted something similar before I stocked it. I am by no means an expert, but you can learn from my mistakes. I recommend you stay away from an all-male tank as it can be pretty rough in a tank this size. I lost half my fish in a month because the aggression was so bad. I scrapped the all-male tank (rehomed the survivors) and restocked with pseudotropheus saulosi and that has gone much better. That was what most people on this site recommended to me, and I didn't want to do it because the only colors are blue and yellow. But the size of your tank is somewhat limiting. (I'm assuming it's a 36 inch tank like mine.) I would recommend 3 males: 9 females or even 3 males: 12 females. As far as the catfish and pleco I will defer to others. I wouldn't do a bristlenose pleco because they prefer lower pH than cichlids and I tend to like to keep fish at their ideal water parameters so they thrive. If you ask most breeders or people at LFS they will tell you that you can cram the tank full of peacocks and all kinds of aggressive mbuna. They are trying to sell fish. Don't listen to them. Listen to the people here. They have a ton of experience and their only goal is to help you have success with your tank.

Saulosi are AWESOME fish. They are like little puppies...they get excited when you come up to the tank, they'll follow your finger in a school, and they're just crazy active and fun. Could not recommend them enough, especially to someone who is new to African cichlids. They're a good beginner species and do great in smaller tanks like yours. Good luck!


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

My tank too is similar in size, but Fish&Pitbull said it all. If you are looking for diversity (and I am not recommending it) you can try Ps. Saulosi and Rustys. 
1male and 4-5 females each.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd do just the saulosi 3m:9f and one bristlenose.


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## noeltoms (Sep 11, 2015)

Thanks for the suggestions. How about the Peacocks ? Are they good enough for a 46 Gallon tank and compatible with any of the earlier listed cichlids ?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

For many peacocks and especially those good for a 36" tank they could be unhappy with mbuna.

You could do a single species of a timid peacock like Kandeense in a 36" tank but females are not colorful.


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

If you don't want any headaches go with Salousi, you can't go wrong!


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## noeltoms (Sep 11, 2015)

I guess i will stick with Salousi's. And I was wondering if I can add Pleco's or catfishes and how many would be ideal ?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

One BN pleco or a trio of Synodontis lucipinnis.


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## Mudkicker (Apr 2, 2003)

DJRansome said:


> One BN pleco or a trio of Synodontis lucipinnis.


I vote for the Synodontis.


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## Fishandpitbulls (May 20, 2015)

noeltoms said:


> I guess i will stick with Salousi's. And I was wondering if I can add Pleco's or catfishes and how many would be ideal ?


I was bummed at the prospect of only doing saulosi because I wanted more color variety. So I did an all male tank with crazy beautiful color variety and they got so stressed and died off one by one. It's so much more fun to have fish that are happy, healthy and active even if they don't have the variety of color you want. And I think you'll be surprised by how beautiful a saulosi species tank is in person.

Plus they are a good African cichlid to start with and learn the ropes. Trust me, after 6 months of your awesome saulosi species tank, you are going to start shopping for a larger tank to get MOAR African cichlids anyway. There is no cure for multiple tank syndrome, so I wish you luck!


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