600 African Cichlid tank

[Drewzy]

I've been browsing these forums for months. It sounds like a great community. Well I currently have a 125gallon aquarium with Mbuna with a few maps. Auratus x6, Kenyi x8, Bumblebee x4, Orange Johanni x4. I also have Malawi eye biter x2, super vc10 x4, and livingstonii x2. They're all sub adults, no fish greater than 5". I've owned all these fish before but never had a tank as big as 600.

So I ordered a 600 fiberglass tank. Once it's all settled. I would like to have Mbuna and maps mixed tank. I'm going to put rocks on one side of the tank for the Mbuna and leave the other half open for the maps. What do you believe is a good ratio for Mbuna and maps? I do prefer to keep it stocked to limit aggression. Do you think 80mbuna and 20 maps? Really looking for help here.

 

[Ulu]

I have Haps.
What are Maps?

I have no clue what to do in a 600.
My biggest tank is 125.

 

[Drewzy]

Autocorrect kicked in

 

[Shark75]

I'm sure more experienced members than myself will weigh in but its generally not a good idea to keep Haps and Mbuna together for various reasons. One, mbuna are way more aggressive and all the ones you have are at the top of the aggression list. So how you will limit aggression with that group is beyond me. Two, when predator haps are full grown, if they make it that long, they eat mbuna. Three, that being said, the Mbuna you have are strictly herbivores while the haps would need a meatier diet. The only mbuna I have ever kept with haps and peacocks have been yellow labs because of their less aggressive personality and omnivorous diet. Also, the haps were also not predatory ones that would eat the mbuna. I'm sure there are others on here that have kept them together and they will give you their opinion as well. Good luck!

Edit: Have you given any thought to keeping the 125 and leaving the mbuna in there and just doing haps in the 600? A tank full of predatory haps in a tank that size would be amazing. Just a thought.

 

[DJRansome]

How long is the 600G? Which mbuna and which haps? Your current mbuna are among the most aggressive. If the haps are large and on the aggressive side and well established (like in the tank for a year) and mature, and peaceful juvenile mbuna are added, it could work.

 

[Drewzy]

It would be 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 30 inches high. I can keep the Mbuna in the 125gallon if it's just not suitable with haps. The haps In have in the 125 gallon seem to be healthy for the year I've had them with Mbuna. But the high activity of the Mbuna might stress them out. So the issues are the aggression and for predator haps feeding on Mbuna when theyre adults. But if I get peaceful Mbuna like yellowtail acai and yellow labs, won't we have the predator haps snatching them? And if I do go with the 600 gallon predator hap tank. How many can I stock? Thanks for the help guys.

 

[ryang85]

It would be 8 feet long, 4 feet wide and 30 inches high. I can keep the Mbuna in the 125gallon if it's just not suitable with haps. The haps In have in the 125 gallon seem to be healthy for the year I've had them with Mbuna. But the high activity of the Mbuna might stress them out. So the issues are the aggression and for predator haps feeding on Mbuna when theyre adults. But if I get peaceful Mbuna like yellowtail acai and yellow labs, won't we have the predator haps snatching them? And if I do go with the 600 gallon predator hap tank. How many can I stock? Thanks for the help guys.

I would do only haps, personally I think all hap tanks looks better than tanks with mbuna in the mix . You can put in some big peacocks to add color and they should be fine with the big guys.

In terms of stocking its tough to decide how many haps can go into a big tank, I prefer a more open tank with large rocks to look more natural and the fish will grow bigger and healthier. IMO haps dont need to be crowded to prevent aggression, lower water temps will prevent them from picking on each other. You can put as many fish in as you like as long as you can keep nitrates below 30ppm. So more fish means more very large water changes. Personally I'd stay with less than 50 or 60 of the largest haps and some peacocks total and add a mid size cat like giraffe nose and some smaller synos, plus 2 pleco to keep the tank clean. It's always easier to add fish down the road if need more fish, than to try and trade them or sell them.

 

[Drewzy]

Yes, lowering the temperature is a good way of reducing the aggression. Where is a good place to get rocks? I have about 250lbs of texas holey rock. I have about half of that in my 75gallon and 125gallon at the moment. It's just damn expensive to purchase up here in New England. Know of any cheaper way? Also, I've been using african cichlid sand, it seems to be very fine and clogs up the filters. What's the best African cichlid sand? I've been making a lot of rookie mistakes, just want to go the right way. Thanks for the input.

Also, so 50-60 haps? So let's say I get 50 haps that average a foot in size?

 

[Shark75]

Check out this guys tank on YouTube. He keeps mostly predatory haps. His biggest tank is 300 gallons. Has a nice rock background but mostly open swimming space.

Some up these fish get up to 16-18 inches so maybe be a little more conservative on stocking. Do you plan on buying juveniles and growing them out or young adults?

 

[Drewzy]

Yes I'll have to check out his channel after work. I do plan on getting them as juveniles. I plan on going to this place Ned's Fish Factory here, he sells a lot of the juvies at 2 or 3". I will also get the rest online. I always prefer going young because I love to see how their personalities change. So there will be a lot of space in the beginning.