55gallon Revamp from SA Cichlids to Malawi Cichlids

Hello MFK-

I recently traded in my 2 adult Salvini Cichlids to my local fish store and dropped my Tilapia in my aquaponic system in the backyard. I am ready to revamp my aquarium.

I have been in the hobby for 15 years. I am currently running a 10 gallon Nano reef, 10 gallon FW community tank, and a 300 gallon Aquaponic System. My 55 has mainly been used for SA Cichlids. I would grow them out and then trade them back to the local fish shop for another set of babies.

I have never kept African Cichlids before, but I have lurked on the forum here for quite a while.

Here is my tank:



I kept my 2 Pictus Cats, because I believe they should be fine with some dwarf Malawis.

Here are my questions:

1- Should I ditch my drift wood and replace with river rock, or can I supplement the wood with rocks?
2- Will the Pictus Cats work well with the dwarfs?
3- Do I have to buy the 15-20 cichlids all at once, or can I buy 5 at a time?


The biological is set up, because I have run the tank for 2 years. I am not worried about adding a lot of fish, but I want to make sure that I find the right ones.

Here is a list that was recommended in a previous post.

"Keep in mind that it's best to keep mbuna in a 1:3 ratio of males to females...so you could do one species 3m:9f or 3 species with 1m:3f. Your other option is to do just males but be careful in your selection because males that look similar will fight more since they're similar looking. Along the same idea if you do multiple species make sure the females don't look similar.

Here's an example of what I think would look nice...3 different species with the 1m:3f ratio

Pseudotropheus Saulosi
Iodotropheus sprengerae aka Rusty
Cynotilapia afra (Cobue) now known as Cynotilapia zebroides"


This sounds solid to me. Let me know your thoughts.

Thanks.

Thanks for the advice. I found a local breeder that has a really good selection. I ditched the driftwood and put that in my pond. I scavenged some river rock and petrified wood for the tank. I am trying to decide if I want to use Pool Filter Sand or just buy a bag of crushed coral. I think the white will really lighten up my tank.

Here is a pic of the rock layout that I am messing with:

I got the rocks in the tank. I ended up getting the CaribSea African mix. It is a mix of Sand and Shells. I really like the way it looks.



My Pictus cats are really enjoying the new landscape.

I talked with a local breeder and my first 5 Africans will be:
1. Lemon Jake (Male)
2. Ruby Red (Male)
3. Bi Color 500 (Male)
4. Taiwan Reef (Male)
5. Pundamilia Nyererei (Male)

I plan to add another 5 peacocks 2 weeks later and another 5 peacocks 2 weeks after that.

It seems like a lot of fish for the size of the tank, but everything I have read says that 15 will really reduce aggression. Will these Peacocks outgrow the 55 and have to be moved up to a larger tank?

Thanks for the advice. I will pick a different peacock. I think I will stick with 7 and see how it works out. Then I can start them all out at the same size.

I picked up my first 7 fish-

Lemon Jake
Ruby Red
Red Top Lawanda
Bi Color 500
Mdoka Flame Tail
Blue Neon
Yellow Blaze Z-Rock

All of the fish are males and are around 2 inches long. I plan to add another 4 or 5 in 3 weeks after my biological catches up with the added load.

Second set might be-

Red Shoulder
Ivoryhead Mloto
Taiwan Reef
Red Fin Borleyi