Afircan stocking tips

[BIGgourami]

i know absolutley nothing about african cichlids, keep this in mind.

what do i need for a A cichlid tank different from "normal" setup
what are good "beginner" africans
what is up with hardness/how do i maintain
mixing species
# of fish in tank
anything else you can thing of that's important/good to know.

[BIGgourami]

bump. please?

[Ash]

dont mix mbuna with other african cichlids. Try to go for a tang or malawi tank, if you want to though you can mix tangs and malawis, just dont mix mbuna. Look up on the internet which fish you like - post what you are thinking about stocking on here and there are pleanty of us who will gladly tell you if the mix is a good one or not. As for setup did you want natural, or something else? pH isnt to hard to maintain - if needed use sand/crushed coral or limestone rock as buffers. try to keep it around 7.5-8.5 depending on which africans you have. The more towards 8.0 usually is better. How big is your tank? depending on the tank size will depend on how many fish you can get.

[BIGgourami]

75 gallonds
i like kribs and (i don't know what they are called) the all yellow ones and one of the blue and black ones, i'll try and find some pics, i know there are tons of them.

[BIGgourami]

anything that would mix with any of these would be what i'm looking for.

these are the "blue and black ones"
http://www.illinoisphoto.com/pictures/d/25296-8/african-cichlids-n01lr.jpg

the yellow
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/photos/art_neo_leleupi_02.jpg

kribs
http://www.hojleddet.dk/images/thumbnails/p_pulcher_hun3_200.jpg

fronts
http://www.bigskycichlids.com/images/Cfrontosa2.jpg
how big do fronts get?

[steemoney86]

hey ill just let you know what my cichlid tank is so you can get a good idea(mine is going good), I got 9 cichlids in a 55 gallon and 1 pleco.

my water conditions are : very soft water, high alkalinity and for ph 8.4 they seem to love the soft water. for stocking i would make sure their almost all the same size..

i got all kinds of different types and it worked out ok from convicts to electirc blue hap ahli even a bolivian blue ram and they told me it wouldnt work like that but it does i had to bring a couple back like the johanni was agrresive and 1 other and switched with a stigmata and something else but youll never know sometimes non-agressive fish will still beat on others you just have to test it out and see..anymore questions just let me know

P.S Frontosas are a large cichlid with males growing from 14 to 16 inches long and females from 9 to 12 inches long.

[Ash]

Sometimes it can work out - sometimes you just have to play around. Infact I kept a JD and still have the Datnoid in my African tank. I keep a Bleekeri, 2 Fronts, 2 Peacocks and a bumble bee cat in one tank. Soon I'll be adding to more peacocks. I did try mixing mbuna but it didnt work so well. My red zebra was to agressive so he's in a seprate tank. My Ahli killed everything kept with it and my aturas and johanni (excuse my spelling -_-) had to go becuase they picked on everything.

I honestly dont know how well those fish would mix, all three have different personalitys. I might re think between the krib and johanni "blue and black guy" might be picking problems but then again I dunno. From my personal experience Johannis like to pick at things alot.

Frontosas get to be 12+inches male and 10+inches on females.

[amesbien]

Ash is right its all about trial and error. my mbuna live peacefully with 1 peacock who didnt want anyother peacocks in the tank. My red Zebra was once so agro i thought of getting rid of him has recently got beaten up and is now very chill. so find something you like, do some research and try it.

[jimk]

Those kribs you like are a good fish. Very easy to breed and you could probably keep three pairs in that tank easily. They are a African riverine cichlid however. They are actually a good community fish but would not fare so well in a mixed African tank. That blue and black fish is a melanachromis johanni and are among the most agressive of the mbuna. To be honest, your best chance for success is to avoid mbuna. They can behave for awhile and then one fish will start to dominate. It is no fun to have all these colorful fish with tattered fins or cowering. As said before, tangs are mostly peaceful, the Frontosa being one of them. These could be mixed with brichardis, julis, or leleupi to name a few. Peacocks are also for the most part peaceful and will give you a lot of color. Try to keep an all male "bachelor" tank as they are the most colorful and won't fight over or harrass the females.

[mike dunagan]

great advice everyone... I have had similar success and failures. My Kenyi had to be removed but my Johanni is great (black and blue guy) I have a smaller o.b. peacock with an all mbuna and hap tank. I have not had a problem in a long while. I have tangs open water malwi and peacocks in a 120 with great success. I the trick is to research, then research some more. Then buy a fish. If adding small fish it is okay to add one then feed to let him find a spot. For larger ones, I add more than one at a time so it cuts down on the newbie hazing. I found river africans and SA/CA work well in a community tank or with tangs. Be careful fronts will eat what will fit in their mouth.

[Scotty]

Remember these are personal comments by the individuals. I honestly believe most people do not have enough numbers in their mbuna tanks. Why I say this is all you have to do is take a look at pic's of the Lake to see the numbers are immense. I fully agree that you don't put Aulonocara with Mbuna as they are fairly placid fish.
Gather as much information as you can and preferably from experienced people.
I keep upwards of 25-30 fish per 3ft tank and have plenty of rocks in my tanks. I have just put two tanks of fish into an 8ft tank that has a glass partition. Quite amazing to watch the fish in the different tanks. They don't bother the fish in their own side but spend quite a bit of time trying to tackle the fish in the other tank. Males spend quite a bit of time in full colour.
Be prepared to loose some fish in the process of gaining your experience. If you are not prepared for this then I strongly advise that you stay away from Malawi's or Tan***ikan's.:naughty: :ROFL: :headbang2 :nilly:

[BIGgourami]

so could i use crushed coral or aragonite as subtrate? like the same stuff you put in a SW tank?
what is the difference between soft and hard water? is that the alkalinity? i thought that was just a high base solution?

[BIGgourami]

bump.

[fish head )'>]

I have a mixed 125g African. I think the key is hiding places. I have kept it to an all male tank. (except for the yellow labs which are breeding) The males are typically the ones with the most color, it is probably what you wanted in the first place. I would like to reiterate what was already said, but in my own words: Go out there and see what you would like to stock---- do your homework to see if they work in the plan, alter/edit the list. all BEFORE you take out your pocket book! It will save you a lot of heart and head ache, and money.

[BIGgourami]

do africans go with any plants? or are they outof the question?
what lake are those from? i was thinking malawi or tangynikans. is theres anything special that seperates these from other a cihlids?