African Cichlids stock in new 110 gallon show - all male recommendations

[CichlidZ67]

Hi group! Still a Newbie here. Been researching but ready to add fish. Rather than sell a 110 gal acrylic show tank I've had in storage since college cheap, I decided to give it a go. Spent some bucks on building a cabinet, Canopy and 55 gal sump (Petco $60 deal). After two weeks of cycling at about 600 - 800 gph I should be ready for fish soon. I had luck with African Peacocks in college (red shoulder, blue foil) and plecostamus. Water Parameters in Charlotte should work fine. According to CMUD website ph ranges from 8 to 9.2 and is hard. Mine tests at 8.7. Questions: where can I buy Peacocks for an all male tank and how many can I get for 110 gallon? Will add a few blue eyed yellow plecostamus to do the grunt work.. Aquascape will be black lava rock with African Cichlids sand. I don't want to start with baby fry. I will post pics after siliconing my lava rock into moveable sections. Thanks in advance for any advice. I found a great deal from someone who has some beautiful Discus, but I don't want to struggle as a novice with temperamental fish and my local tap parameters. looking for recommendations.

 

[james99]

What are the dimensions of the 110? Tank length will play a big part in how many you can have. How are you cycling the tank? As for where to get fish, I normally use Daytona aquarium/cichlid express, great place to work with and top quality fish. Do you have a place to re-home fish that don't work out? It may take awhile to get an all male mix that works out.

 

[jonclark96]

Dave Schumacher at davesfish.com is my go-to for Rift Lake cichlids.

 

[Seedy J]

I've ordered from https://imperialtropicals.com/ and had a good experience.

Not sure how many you'd put in a 110... I've got 11 (mix of haps and peacocks, all male) in a 55 with a bristlenose pleco. A few plecos will probably make a bigger mess than they'll clean up - I'd consider just one or two unless you just like having lots of plecos.

Having a place to isolate aggressive or bullied fish is a good idea (maybe a chamber in your sump?). I'm fairly new to African cichlids myself, but I'd take a lot of the advice you see online regarding what species will and won't work together with a grain of salt. In reality, it comes down to the individual fish's personality. I've got 3 peacocks that aren't supposed to work together (Lemon Jake, Ruby Red, Lwanda) who get along just fine. My meanest fish (bad enough that I'll probably need to get rid of him) is a Cyrtocara moorii blue dolphin, who's supposed to be relatively peaceful.

Nice Z . I've got an '07 in Daytona Blue.

 

[CichlidZ67]

What are the dimensions of the 110? Tank length will play a big part in how many you can have. How are you cycling the tank? As for where to get fish, I normally use Daytona aquarium/cichlid express, great place to work with and top quality fish. Do you have a place to re-home fish that don't work out? It may take awhile to get an all male mix that works out.

It is reef style 20" h x 24" d x 48" length. I have a 20 gallon I'll have to find room for. I was going to just use seachem prime for cycling. Thanks!

 

[CichlidZ67]

I've ordered from https://imperialtropicals.com/ and had a good experience.

Not sure how many you'd put in a 110... I've got 11 (mix of haps and peacocks, all male) in a 55 with a bristlenose pleco. A few plecos will probably make a bigger mess than they'll clean up - I'd consider just one or two unless you just like having lots of plecos.

Having a place to isolate aggressive or bullied fish is a good idea (maybe a chamber in your sump?). I'm fairly new to African cichlids myself, but I'd take a lot of the advice you see online regarding what species will and won't work together with a grain of salt. In reality, it comes down to the individual fish's personality. I've got 3 peacocks that aren't supposed to work together (Lemon Jake, Ruby Red, Lwanda) who get along just fine. My meanest fish (bad enough that I'll probably need to get rid of him) is a Cyrtocara moorii blue dolphin, who's supposed to be relatively peaceful.

Nice Z . I've got an '07 in Daytona Blue.

Awesome information! I'll have to check out my shopping cart on eBay to see what I liked. Florida tropicals is seller I think. This sounds novice which I am, but 1 Orange blotch, 1 sunshine yellow, 1 red shoulder, 1 German red, 1 yellow lab, 1 P Niyerie, 2 yellow plecostamus and 1 leopard spot pleco.
Daytona Blue is my absolute favorite Z, but I found my black garage kept '08 with only 50k miles.

 

[james99]

The prime won't cycle the tank, you'll need to add an ammonia source, either used media from another tank or dose straight ammonia from the hardware store.

The fish you picked may work, I've had all of them at some point or another. I'd aim to end up with 15 or so fish.

 

[CichlidZ67]

The prime won't cycle the tank, you'll need to add an ammonia source, either used media from another tank or dose straight ammonia from the hardware store.

The fish you picked may work, I've had all of them at some point or another. I'd aim to end up with 15 or so fish.

Straight ammonia? Really? Sump: two filter socks then refugium with one layer ceramic rings. Second layer 300 plastic pot scrubbies, then polyfloss to polish, then pump.

 

[Seedy J]

Straight ammonia? Really?

Yep, as long as it doesn't have any surfactants or other additives. The Janitorial Strength Ammonia they sell at Ace Hardware works. Fishless cycling with ammonia can take a lot of patience though... it took 5-6 weeks to cycle my 55g. I prefer using seeded media (like a sponge filter) from an established tank, which can cycle the tank almost instantly. You can order a seeded sponge filter for ~$25 shipped from Angels Plus if you don't have an established tank or a friend who can give you some seeded media.