# New Tank - Need Help Stocking



## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

I'm starting a new African Cichlid Tank.

Let me know if you have any suggestions on what to stock it with.

It's a 55 gallon with:
H.o.t magnum 250
aquaclear 50
and penguin power head

Thanks


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

Start with the 55 cookie cutters here.

Do you want breeding or just pretty fish? Is aggression fun or stressful?

Do you want a: 
Tanganyika community
Malawi mbuna tank 
all male Malawii Hap/Peacocks
Victorians
Mixed

Time to do some research on what _you_ might like and we can help from there.

The profiles section is a great place to look, searching for '55 stocking' on each area specific board will give you plenty of reading.

Good Luck, please post more questions as they come up.


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## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

Malawi mbuna Tank

1.Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Lab, Electric Yellow)
2.Metriaclima Estherae (Red Zebra)
3.Pseudotropheus Saulosi

1 male to 3 female ratio for each of the above

Is that a good plan?

I'm planning to get the cichlids (small), so how do I know their genders so the ratio's are right?


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> Malawi mbuna Tank
> 
> 1.Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Lab, Electric Yellow)
> 2.Metriaclima Estherae (Red Zebra)
> ...


Very yellow/orange tank - you will only have one blue fish.

The Yellow Labs and Red Zebras will hybridize so you cannot save fry.



> I'm planning to get the cichlids (small), so how do I know their genders so the ratio's are right?


You buy 6-8 juvies and re-home extra males as they cause a problem.

Other fish you might want to look at for non-yellow/orange options.

Cynotilapia sp. "hara" 
Iodotropheus sprengerae 
Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos 
Metriaclima callainos
Pseudotropheus demasoni
Pseudotropheus socolofi

I would search the Malawi Board for '55 mbuna stocking', '55 mbuna stocklist', etc to get plenty of reading.

Good Luck.


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## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

How about 4 yellow labs, 4 acei, and 4 of something else?

What would be a good 3rd group to add?


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> How about 4 yellow labs, 4 acei, and 4 of something else?
> 
> What would be a good 3rd group to add?


Going from low to higher aggression.

Iodotropheus sprengerae would be a great low aggression option.

Cynotilapia afra (Cobue) - only the male will color up, but it would be worth it, not very aggressive.

Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos - another great option with lower aggression concerns.

Pseudotropheus socolofi & Metriaclima callainos start to up the aggression a bit, the dominate male of either will be top fish in the tank, larger good choices.

At least 12 - Pseudotropheus demasoni - they will just pound on each other, can be brutal. Less than 12 and you will end up with one, that kind of conspecific aggression. Way pretty with the Yellow labs however! If they work out will be the best looking choice, IHMO.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

6 yellow labs

3-4 acei

12-15 demasoni

:thumb:


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

steelers fan said:


> 6 yellow labs
> 
> 3-4 acei
> 
> ...


Not trying to hijack the thread, but I'm also setting up a 55 and thinking about a dem+lab mix for my tank... 12-15 dems + 6 labs just seems like a lot of fish for a 55, let alone with 3-4 acei... would all those fish still work in the tank as adults without being way too many fish?


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> Not trying to hijack the thread, but I'm also setting up a 55 and thinking about a dem+lab mix for my tank... 12-15 dems + 6 labs just seems like a lot of fish for a 55, let alone with 3-4 acei... would all those fish still work in the tank as adults without being way too many fish?


They can work together. Depends how crowded you like your tanks, and only you know that.

Good Luck.


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

not only will it work but work well...yeah youll have a crowded tank but with good maintainence habits there will be no problems. the more fish there are the more they will be out and about


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## Rhinox (Sep 10, 2009)

steelers fan said:


> not only will it work but work well...yeah youll have a crowded tank but with good maintainence habits there will be no problems. the more fish there are the more they will be out and about


How quickly do the nitrates build up with so many fish? I would want to make sure I wouldn't have to do water changes more than once a week.


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## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

dems would be cool, really great color! but I don't really want that many fish and i don't want anything that aggressive.

So.. I'm thinking about adding 3-4:
Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos,
[2nd option if i can't find them for sale: Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)]

then 4 yellow labs
and 4 acei

How's that sound?


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> So.. I'm thinking about adding 3-4:
> Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos,
> [2nd option if i can't find them for sale: Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)]
> 
> How's that sound?


Either sounds great.

You will want at least 3 girls for a male for either of these species - to end up with 4+ Adults, 1M:3-5F. If you buy them as young juvi fish you will need to get more than 4 as you can't reliably sex them.

Looking at the cumulative binomial probabilities for getting at least 3 girls out of a group of random juvies:

6 Juvies - odds of getting at least 3 girls 65.6%
8 Juvies - odds of getting at least 3 girls 84.6%
10 Juvies - odds of getting at least 3 girls 94.5%
12 Juvies - odds of getting at least 3 girls 98.1%

So it depends on what odds you are comfortable with.

Male to female ratios for labs isn't nearly as important.

Good Luck.


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## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

What am I suppose to do with the extra fish once they grow up?

Will pet stores take them back? - what if they don't?
Sell them on craigslist? - what if no one wants them?
pawn them on friends? - what if friends don't want them?
sneak them into a pet store and dump them into a tank when no one is looking?

-buying 12 fish of each different type = 36 fish, thats three times the amount I want. Is it really worth it to get that many just to get rid of them when they grow up a bit? It isn't very cost effective, thats for sure.


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## GoofBoy (Jul 3, 2007)

> What am I suppose to do with the extra fish once they grow up?
> 
> Will pet stores take them back? - what if they don't?
> Sell them on craigslist? - what if no one wants them?
> ...


Pretty negative today are we? Wow.

Let me try this again - Labs and Acei male to female ratios really don't matter - *buy 4 of each*.

I would buy 8 of your third choice - males show the best color, fish stores will almost always take them as trade in for _store credit_ as they are very easy to resell.

We are trying to help you get a successful long term tank - our collective experience is proper stocking, e.g. male to female ratios, will save money in the long run.

You could always buy sexed adults for about 5 times the price if you prefer, or just buy 4 of the third species as well - the chances of getting 1M:3F are 31.25%, the choice is yours.

I kinda feel sorry I tried to help.

Good Luck.


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## CichlidsTank (Sep 27, 2009)

I must of misread then. I thought you were saying get 12 of each kind.

I'll get 4 random labs/acei then

and buy more/weed out aggressive males of the third kind

thanks for the help


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

dems will only be aggressive towards each other and if you get 12-15 no-one usually gets hurt and its cool to watch them squabble. nitrates are really nothing to worry about as long as you do regular weekly water changes of 50% with substrate vacuuming.

i still say:

6 labs

3-4 acei

12-15 demasoni


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## steelers fan (Jun 26, 2009)

oh yeah and nitrates can reach 80ppm before you would start to worry


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