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.
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.