Tue Jul 08, 2008 9:54 pm GMT   Reply      

I am in the process of uprgrading to a 75 gallon cichlid tank and was hooping to get some advice from other people. The tank set-up as of right now is as follows...

Round Canyon Rock creating caves and shelter
Artificial plants
Filtration: Rena XP3 and a Whisper 60
Fish kept (African Cichlids):
1 Bumblebee
1 Yellow Lab
1 Lectric Blue Johannii
1 Ice Blue Zebra
1 Red Zebra
1 Albino African
1 Black African
1 Sunshine Peacock
1 Nkhomo-Benga Peacock
2 Plecos

Any suggestions of other tank mates for these guys? Or ideas of how to make the tank better...

Im looking for any and all suggestions, compliments and constructive criticism to help me make the best of my tank.

I plan on posting pictures of the tank when i have all of the fish completely transfered over to the new tank, as that takes time.

Thanks again!

Wed Jul 09, 2008 3:32 am GMT   Reply      

Here are my suggestions:

1) I personally keep some of my cichlid species singularly and others in groups. I like this approach because part of the fun of keeping cichlids is watching the mating behavior and seeing the fry grow up in the tank. Therefore, I would pick a couple of the species and keep like 1 male to 3-4 females (maybe the yellow lab and the red zebra - those are the species I keep in numbers more than one).

2) You have a huge range of aggression and I am afraid it will end in disaster as they grow up and start to mature. You have some species that are just plain nasty (Bumblebee), others that are in the middle (the other mbunas in your list for example), and then others that are peaceful relative to cichlids (the peacocks). It may work out ok when they are young, but I personally would be worried about it as they grow. If you choose to stick to your current stocking then just keep an eye out.

3) I have heard mixed reviews of keeping plecos with African cichlids. Some say they get away with it because they are armored. Others say they do not as the pleco stay relatively still. Just food for thought.

Other than that, your tank looks great. Good luck.

Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:48 am GMT   Reply      

Thanks for that!

*A note on the aggression part... I noticed that when I got all of them together that some of them were really docile and kept to themselves and others were more aggressive and territorial. As of right now, most of the fish are between 2"-3.5". They will chase each other once in awhile but thats about it. This is another reason why I am getting a bigger tank, more room for them to spread out and claim what territory is theirs haha.

My plecos actually go right after the cichlids of the bother them! Althought the plecos are bigger right now at almost 5-7 inches. The cichlids tend to leave them alone...for now haha

Thu Jul 10, 2008 9:11 pm GMT   Reply      

you're going to end up with a huge red cichlid in the end... lol...

get 6-10 of the same species... you could get two groups if your filtration is up to par...