Please help me with 225 gal stock list

[George84]

So I have moved my large fish around so I can turn my 225 gal into an African Cichlid tank. I put a bunch of cichlidstone in and now need to come up with a stock list and would like this communities help. I would like to keep my african brown knife in this tank along with the cichlids. So I was thinking of peacock and haps since they are less agressive. Should I get a large assortment of unsexed juveniles or try to stay all female or male? I have had many different setups but not a whole lot of experience with africans. Thanks for the input, here is a pic of the tank.

 

[Razzo]

First thing I would do would be to get rid of that substrate and replace it with a fine sand that won't let waste and debris collect below. Many African cichlids like to sift sand and you wil enjoy that behavior if you have sand.

Can't help you with Malawi cichlids as I am a Tang person: so. I'll represent the Tang side of the fence:
Cyphotilapia gibberosa Zaire Blue (Mikula) fry (10)
Altolamprologus calvus black Congo white pearl (6) juvies
Neolamprologus leleuipi
Lepdiolamprlogus Nkambae
Syno cats
If you start with young fronts, you could even have a reasonable shot at trying some cyps (maybe speckleback).

Hope that helps.

Russ

 

[George84]

Thanks for your help. Do you think I could get away with adding something like pure water substrate on top of the current rock I have in there to fill it in?

 

[Razzo]

Thanks for your help. Do you think I could get away with adding something like pure water substrate on top of the current rock I have in there to fill it in?

Sorry, I am not familiar with "pure water substrate."

 

[George84]

I am going to take the rock out. I ordered 100 lbs of CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand. I will see if it is enough sand otherwise I might mix some pool filter sand in with it. I am having a hell of a time figuring where to order fish from...

 

[Razzo]

I am going to take the rock out. I ordered 100 lbs of CaribSea Aragonite Aquarium Sand. I will see if it is enough sand otherwise I might mix some pool filter sand in with it. I am having a hell of a time figuring where to order fish from...

I think you'll like the sand. If you add some large boulders, that 100# will go a long way. If you are in the U.S., I can give you some suggestions on some decent places to order fish. Shoot me a PM if you want.

 

[George84]

So I switched out the rock for sand last night...

 

[Razzo]

View attachment 1160719
So I switched out the rock for sand last night...

Looks nice

With a fine sand, you will find that waste just does not get too deep. I use a syphon tube (just the tube) to spot clean. I vac into a 5 gallon bucket. Dump waste, rinse, dump waste again, and then pour into a 1 gallon bucket to be returned to the tank. This is how I keep a very fine sand from going down the drain

 

[paulW]

I don't know anything about Brown Knife fish.. so What I say has nothing to do with that.

I like to have some female haps/peacocks in with my males. It makes it a lot more interesting, you see the males act a lot more naturally. Try to get peacocks about the same size. One problem with Peacocks in a community tank is that some of the males will go subdominate and lose most or all of their color. It's a bummer, but worth the sacrifice. Haps seem to have less of a tendency to go subdominate if you have different kids, but it happens too. Also, some haps are a really long term investment. If you get them young, you might have to wait 2-3 years for them to color up.
So if you want instant gratification and the budget allows, I would buy full grown adults, although it's fun to get a bunch of juvies and watch them grow up too. Now not all haps take forever to color up, it really depends on which ones you get.

 

[George84]

I am in this for the long term and was wanting to watch them grow to full adults.So would you recommend going with a large group of unsexed juveniles and remove the females and subdominate males as they grow? I have found only one online store that will sex them for me, so I do have an option for an all male setup right out of the gate. Also I have been recommended to go with some larger predatory haps also. What would be some good choices that would not be able to eat my peacocks when they are full grown?