500 gallon african cichlid tank

[Allan01230]

You're trying to convince the African Cichlid section that fish like a severum will liven up large african cichlid tank, in your opinion... in my opinion the only thing less lively than a severum is a common pleco

Great tank!

Yeah why would anyone ruin a nice tank like this with red severums? Also what is wrong with hybrid red peacocks?

 

[tiger15]

I agree that Severem is not a good match, not because of its look but the water requirement is different. There is nothing wrong with hybrid red peacocks. Some of the most colorful Malawi tanks I've seen have hybrid peacocks to introduce red and orange color that is lacking in a pure breed hap tank. Here is a good example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Nj2-AATdw

I have seen many pure breed Malawian tanks in pubic aquariums, and they are all blue and monotonous. It's hard to believe there can be 50 distinct species in the tank because they all look alike and share similar body shape and different shades of blue. So it's a good idea to introduce red and orange fish to break the monotony. That said, I like haps and always keep haps in my tanks, but I never find a pure hap tank exciting for lack of variation.

 

[ecoli73]

It's puzzling to me why people who think Africans are boring bother to look at fish in the AFRICAN section.

Great fish op, I would however expect your mbunas to disappear as some of your larger haps mature.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[Tone123]

I also find Africans more interesting than a severum due to the fact that when you are watching them they go about there life while a severum will stay in one spot, stair at you, and say food foood food. while not moving........

 

[tiger15]

It's puzzling to me why people who think Africans are boring bother to look at fish in the AFRICAN section.

Great fish op, I would however expect your mbunas to disappear as some of your larger haps mature.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

Africans are not just haps and mbunas from one lake, and include Tanganyikans, Victorian and riverine species and the variation is unlimited. No one said Africans are boring, just keeping fish from one lake with a single bloodline is lacking variation and not everyone's cup. However, some people like to keep a single species tank, like a frontosa, angel or discus colony, and it's their cup and there is nothing wrong.

I also find Africans more interesting than a severum due to the fact that when you are watching them they go about there life while a severum will stay in one spot, stair at you, and say food foood food. while not moving........

One reason some people like to keep Frontosa, angel and Discus colonies is that they like their slow majestic movement as opposed to the fast, musical chair movement of haps and mbuna.

 

[Gary_Gilbert]

Your aquascaping looks great, and the size of the tank is everyone's envy. However, I am no fan for an all Malawian cichlid tank, and won't jump into the bangwagon to praise your fish. Even though Lake Malawi has over 1000 distinct species, they are very similar in body shape, markings, color and behavior. So despite having 18 different species and 50 to 60 fish in your tank, they are a crowd of similar looking fish. Eventually, your haps will all color up, your Fosso will reach big size, but they will still be a bunch of bluish fish. Size matters. With a huge 500 gal tank, it's a waste not to house a few monster fish from outside one lake to provide variation in color, body shape and behavior. I personally like to mix in CAs with Africans as they have similar water requirements.

WOW...Seems like quite a preachy statement. I had a 560 gallon tank. Full of cichlids. I loved it. I think that tank looks great.

 

[KNH]

Beautiful tank stempy. There will always be people that tell you that you should keep something else. I think most of us have experienced that at one time or another. Pretty funny. Your tank is very nice and will only improve as the fish mature.

 

[viejafish]

The thread will be boring if everyone provides praise and no one offers different but constructive opinion. The tank is nice, but adding more variety of shape and color will make it even better.

 

[snowman17.5]

Your aquascaping looks great, and the size of the tank is everyone's envy. However, I am no fan for an all Malawian cichlid tank, and won't jump into the bangwagon to praise your fish. Even though Lake Malawi has over 1000 distinct species, they are very similar in body shape, markings, color and behavior. So despite having 18 different species and 50 to 60 fish in your tank, they are a crowd of similar looking fish. Eventually, your haps will all color up, your Fosso will reach big size, but they will still be a bunch of bluish fish. Size matters. With a huge 500 gal tank, it's a waste not to house a few monster fish from outside one lake to provide variation in color, body shape and behavior. I personally like to mix in CAs with Africans as they have similar water requirements.

There are def more than jus blue colored Africans and they are def more colorful than NW cichlids I have only mbuna and have many different colors, I am a fan of having many different species more than having a colony of one type of fish boring. Also not a fan of having those big nw fish taking up tank space lol.

Sent from my EVO using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[viejafish]

No pure breed Malawian cichlids show strong red. Red zebra is pinkish. Red top zebra show a touch of red on the top. Red Empress, Ngara Flame Tail peacock, and related haps show a touch of red on the body and fins, but still carry more blue than red. Only hybrid and line bred Malawian fish show strong red that you don't see in pure breed. So if you want to introduce red and orange to an all hap tank, you have to throw in hybrid Malawian or else you have to inroduce fish from outside the lake. Lake Vitorian has a few red fish, and so are the common Jewel fish. New world cichlids have a lot more red fish to pick from.