# stocking help for African 90



## jprny (Mar 29, 2014)

Hi, been keeping marine fish for decades, but decided to try Africans (no salt creep) ;-)
I'm working on a stocking plan for a 90g display. I've been reading a lot, but still have some questions.
I appreciate any help you "old timers" can offer me.

1. Seems like I have to decide whether I eventually want a male only tank or a mixed gender tank. If I understand it, mixed gender basically means 1 male and 2-4 females depending on species, true? We're looking for a lot of color and variety, but I'm fine with a bunch of females being around as well. I don't care at all about breeding and will allow fry to be eaten or will remove. Suggestions for deciding? I'd ideally not like to spend a ton of time figuring out pairs (if it takes a lot of time?)

2. Of course, there's lots of conflicting advice about mixing lakes and mixing Malawis. I've read that a couple of Tanganyikans in with Peacocks/Haps should be OK and that some less aggressive Mbuna would also be OK if they are smaller than the others. True, or asking for trouble, especially for a beginner with Africans?

3. At the moment, I'm trying to make decisions about what to rule out since those are irreversible. What I'm left with are (please pardon abbreviations and bad spelling):
Mbuna: Labido, Labeo, Pseudotropheus. Seems like I could include cyno on this list if I drop pseudo. Read mixed things about metraclimas.
Tanganyika: Eretmodus, julido, lepido, and neolamp. Then looks like either alto or tropheus
Other Malawi: Compadichromis, Otolarynx, Placido, Cyrto, Scieano, Protomelas, autoloncara. Seems best to avoid Nimo and Dimidio in a community tank? How about Pundamilia?
Anything jump out as bad ideas on this list (other than too much)?

4. I plan to have some rainbow fish, a bristlenose pleco, and some synodontis cats. I imagine I should pick one species for the cats and have all the same? Also, Irian Red OK as a target fish instead of rainbows?

5. I'm thinking I should plan on 30-ish adults. Anybody on this list that is going to get way too big? If I buy juveniles, should I plan on buying 3 for each one I hope to keep? I'm doing a fishless cycle. Should I plan to put most of the non-Mbunas in right away? Or recommendations for doing this in stages?

7. I've always quarantined marine fish, but obviously they're much fewer quantity. I haven't read much about QT on Cichlids. I assume it's still a good idea. Thoughts?

I know there are a lot of questions. Not looking to get every one answered, but if you have a couple you feel strongly about, please jump in. I really appreciate any advice at this early stage as I'm sure I can avoid a lot of later problems by planning well.

Thanks!
jpr


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## Thalas_shaya (Mar 10, 2014)

Your conclusions on Mbuna are pretty much the same ones I came to. (I'm new to cichlids, myself, also from the marine world...)

Your stocking numbers (30-ish) are more for the smaller fish, I think. If you put the larger (say 6"+ adults) utaka and haps and such in, i think you need to cut that number.

If you're doing the fishless cycle recommended here on c-f, then you can fully stock the tank right away, no need to go in stages. The general guideline is to stock with everything at once as juvies. The secondary advice is, like with stocking marine tanks, to start with your least territorial/slowest guys first and then add new fish at lights out and rearrange your aquascape a bit before adding them, to scramble existing territories.

If you're doing the everyone-at-once-as-juvies method, you can't so much do a QT tank. If you're doing the latter method, you can and certainly should utilize QT. Lots of folks here use hospital tanks, but I have seen less mention of QT than in the marine world.


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## jprny (Mar 29, 2014)

Thanks, Thalas_shaya.
Hope all goes well with your Mbuna.

Appreciate any feedback from others as well. Doing the fishless cycle now and probably buying a bunch of juveniles in a few weeks.
Thanks.
-jpr


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## PiccoloJr (Oct 14, 2013)

It's hard to give stocking advice until you figure out exactly what you want to do. I'd advise sticking with one lake. If you do Peacocks/Haps you're going to want to avoid the bigger haps in a 4 ft tank (I'm assuming it's a standard 90).


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## jprny (Mar 29, 2014)

So, I have now stocked this tank. While I appreciate the couple of comments above, here are some things I learned that I wish some helpful people would have posted about.
Luckily, I learned these things before buying the fish.

1. The advice to stick with one lake, or with one particular "cookbook" setup, is good, but not particularly well explained. There are also lots of posts from people who have these combinations working, so someone new to cichlids can easily get confused. If you want to know *why* to stick with one lake, there are lots of reasons, including some non-obvious ones:
- Water differences between Lakes (not quite as big a deal for many fish)
- Body language and behavior differences between lakes that lead to aggression.
- Differences in food requirements that can lead to fish illnesses (see http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/f ... chlids.php for example).

2. The all male vs. mixed tank and the issue of buying juveniles vs. adults is confusing. Buying juveniles can get you more fish on a budget, but you will end up with a bunch of fish that you do not want, and will want to think about where they will go. I ended up buying mostly "part color" males, which are generally fish showing egg spots. They are almost definitely males, but are less expensive than larger fish that are definitely male. I did buy some trios also. Trios can help to solve mild aggression issues because they distribute the aggression across multiple fish.

3. Compatibility charts for marine fish are pretty much a bible. For example, if you get a triggerfish, you severely limit what else you can ever put in that tank. Cichlid compatibility charts are a a lot more variable and it's worth doing more home work rather than just relying on them. For example, two fish from "compatible" species might be a big problem if they are the same color, but not if they aren't. Also, lots has to do with the size of the tank and the number of fish in it. IMO, it's too complex to understand based on compatibility charts. What I found helpful was to start by ruling out large classes of fish (e.g. I decided on Africans up front and ruled out any new worlds, then ruled out Tanganyikans). Next decision for me was to do primarily Malawi Haps/Peacocks, though I also included some low aggression mbuna and a couple of Victorians. Then, ruled out species based on aggression.

4. I found the various "cookbooks" useful. The description of the "all male show tank" at http://www.cichlidsarespecial.com is what I followed most closely. I liked that this list included compatibility issues at a greater level of detail. The compatibility chart on that site is also more detailed, though you have to select a fish to then see the compatible/incompatible species. The advantage is that the fish on the list are mostly species, not families.

5. A knowledgeable retailer is a huge help once you've done your homework and gotten close. I ended up buying from Jay at ChichlidsAreSpecial and will post my extremely positive review shortly.

Thanks, all, and please feel free to add or correct anything here. I'm looking forward to learning more now that the aquarium is stocked.

List of what I ended up purchasing (all part color males unless otherwise specified)
Aulonocara hueseri (Midnight Peacock) 
Aulonocara ethelwynnae
Aulonocara Rubescens (Ruby Red) 
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi Caroline (Swallowtail) 
Aulonocara stuartgranti Red Shoulders 
Copadichromis borleyi Yellow Fin (6 sex-uncertain juveniles)
Copadichromis trewavasae (Mloto Likoma) 
Otopharynx lithobates Yellow Blaze (Zimbawe Rock) (3 juveniles)
Placidochromis Makonde Yellow Black Fin
Protomelas sp. Steveni Taiwan Reef 
Protomelas taeniolatus (Red Empress) 
Cynotilapia Afra Ntekete White/Red Top
Cynotilapia sp. Lions Cove 
Xystichromis sp. Kyoga flameback (All Red) 
Paralabidochromis sp Fire (Fire Uganda) (3 juveniles)
Paralabidochromis chromogynos (Black Piebald) (3 juveniles)
Synodontus angelicus/eupterus Mix (Hybrid) (3)
Bristlenose Pleco (from LFS)


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## Demasoni1 (Apr 9, 2014)

That is one heck of a mix in a 4ft tank.


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