First African tank

[Adamson]

Long story but basically I have a 125g SA tank and want to try Africans in my 40 breeder.
I don't really know anything about Africans other than they like hard water and rockaquascapes.. I am looking to buy some fish locally as there are tons to choose from. Some types I'm looking at are trios of Zimbabwe Rock and also the copadichromis trewavasae mloto likoma. Will these fish go together?
How many fish would you recommend for a well filtered 40 gallon?
And any advice on Africans from a CA/SA guy would be great!

Thanks,
Max


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[raj914]

The fishes you are planning to put in grows about 6" max. Malawi Haps would do well in an all male tank but yours is to small considering their full size.

 

[raj914]

The fishes you are planning to put in grows about 6" max. Malawi Haps would do well in an all male tank but yours is to small considering their full size.

I meant Malawi peacoks would do well in an all male tank, disregard that part, you can consider smaller species of mbuna for a 40G maybe 15 would do well in it.

 

[Adamson]

I meant Malawi peacoks would do well in an all male tank, disregard that part, you can consider smaller species of mbuna for a 40G maybe 15 would do well in it.

Are the ones I mentioned considered Malawi "Peacocks" ?


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[wantokeeptrout]

the species mentioned above by you are haplochromides which get 6-8 inches. a 40B is a pretty small tank for any malawi cichlids because you need to heavily overstock in order to spread the aggression (minimum of 10-12 fish that are either unrelated or Heavily outnumber the males with females, which is a nightmare for water chemistry in a small tank. In that size tank you best bet is to do a species setup of P. salousi (1m-4-5F sex ratio). They are dwarf mbuna getting 3-4 inches max with nice sexual dimorphism (females gold-yellow, males light blue with dark stripes), but a 55 or 75 is really the best minimum tank size for multiples of any malawi cichlids If your willing to spend extra money finding them and time researching I know that there are a larger variaty of tanganyikan cichlid combos that could work in your tank, but i don't know much about tangs and they often are pricier because of a relative lack in demand compared to malawis.

 

[Adamson]

the species mentioned above by you are haplochromides which get 6-8 inches. a 40B is a pretty small tank for any malawi cichlids because you need to heavily overstock in order to spread the aggression (minimum of 10-12 fish that are either unrelated or Heavily outnumber the males with females, which is a nightmare for water chemistry in a small tank. In that size tank you best bet is to do a species setup of P. salousi (1m-4-5F sex ratio). They are dwarf mbuna getting 3-4 inches max with nice sexual dimorphism (females gold-yellow, males light blue with dark stripes), but a 55 or 75 is really the best minimum tank size for multiples of any malawi cichlids If your willing to spend extra money finding them and time researching I know that there are a larger variaty of tanganyikan cichlid combos that could work in your tank, but i don't know much about tangs and they often are pricier because of a relative lack in demand compared to malawis.

Thanks for the info. I'm really lost with the African thing. The other challenge is that this 40 is the smallest tankive ever kept.
I was thinking dwarf cichlids like apistos, but I decided I want a crowded African tank instead.

So if I could put maybe 12 peacocks in it that would be ideal, how do I know which ones are peacocks though, is there a specific genus or scientific name I should be looking for?


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[Adamson]

And another unfortunate thing is that I only have the 40br because that's the biggest I can get away with at my apartment. I have a 125 but have to keep it at my parents, otherwise it would be here and I'd load it with Africans.
I just want a nice tank I can actually monitor and take care of here. I have Festae in my 125 which I have my dad feed everyday and I make the trip there to do water changes every week and a half.


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[RampageRR]

If you want something cool and different than what you've been keeping, I think a bunch of Tanganyikan shell dwellers with a sand and shell scape would look awesome in a 40b. They're basically like dwarf African cichlids.

 

[Jc1119]

Id stick with dwarfs in a 40. Maybe some shell dwellers or dwarf mbuna.

Peas will get too big for a 40b IMO.


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[GVerde]

You will have a lot of aggression in a 40B stocked with peacocks. Dwarf mbunas or shell dwellers IS the way to go in a 40B.