African for a non-african cichlid tank

[divemaster99]

Title is pretty much self explanatory but obviously I'll elaborate. I currently have a 75 gallon tank with a stock of 6 giant danios, 2 cutteri cichlids, 1 striped raphael catfish, and 1 sailfin/Gibby pleco. Come Sunday I'll be taking my cutteri pair to a local fish auction so I'm in the market for some new fish. I'll definitely be getting another catfish but I'm still debating what to do as a replacement cichlid(s). I'd love to get into Africans but I won't be able to setup another tank for a while and I'm not overly confident this tank can meet there needs, which is why I'm making this thread. My main concern would be pH, I don't like tampering with tap pH and it comes out at 7.6 which I'm thinking is way to soft for most Africans. I'd love to make this a peacock tank but I'm about 99% sure they can't take pH that low. So I'm wondering are there any cichlids from and of the rift lakes I could have in my setup with such a low pH? As far as my knowledge goes tanganyka so and Victorians like slightly lower pH than Malawians so maybe something from one of those lakes. I do have a few more requirements though: If it was just one fish I'd like it to be in the 10-12 inch range, have lots of personality, and be peaceful with the other inhabitants. If it were multiple fish then probably something in the 5-7 inch per fish range and have a somewhat good personality. Also I know that one fish I can definitely do are Kribs so no need to suggest them. I would be willing to add limestone and rescale my tank to make it ideal for fish such as peacocks but I'm not going so far as to rip up my substrate and take out my driftwood (oh yeah forgot to mention there's driftwood but it doesn't lower pH for crap in my tank). Current decor is a large piece of driftwood, 3 stone slabs, a terra cotta pot, a bridge decoration, and 2 large plastic plants. So what cichlids would be my options?

 

[duanes]

For most Africans, especially locally bred ones, pH 7.6 will work fine.
My water is @7.5, and I have had many rift lake cichlids spawn in my tanks.
Tanganyikan Lepidioamprologus elongatus,

and Malawians such as Pseudotropheus de masoni and Fossorochromis rostratus
There are also those from Lake Barumbi mbo, a softer water lake that contains species small enough to be suited for a 75 gal such as.
Stomatepia pindu

Stomatepia mariae

or Saratherodon linnelli

of coarse the more colorful Malawi peacocks of genus Aulonocara are usually very common at auctions

 

[divemaster99]

Are peacocks an option then? I do recall a 50 breeder at my one LFS with peacocks, porthole cats, a prochilodus, a few plecos, and some bagrids as well as a bunch Of driftwood as decor so I guess that proves peacocks are more adjustable to lower pH than I thought.

Now that I think about it, a peacock tank with driftwood (tannins boiled out) instead if rocks would actually look pretty cool!

So my stock could be

6 giant danios
(Not sure how many but) several Aulanocara species
1 striped raphael catfish
1 gibbiceps pleco
1 Black Lancer catfish

temp 76 F
ph: 7.6

So what are some peacocks I can do?

 

[duanes]

Any would work, they do best with 1 male to a few females.

 

[memfish]

As long as your not going with wild caught fush most africans are extremely adaptable to just about any ph. Ivwould suggest getting a blue ahli, they are super awesome and would be fine with . Peacocks

Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App

 

[Feeder Fish]

From my friends experience a blue alhi gets large and aggressive, aggressive enough to wipe out his tank mates one by one...

 

[paulW]

Honestly, what you are doing is a crapshoot.
I've kept a lot of peacocks. Most are kind of mellow, but some males get very aggressive, especially when they are feeling in breeding mood.
I've never actually tried keeping Giant Danios with them, but I'm guessing it's 50/50 whether the danios would make it or not.
Same with plecos.. total crapshoot. The Africans might ignore the pleco, or they might kill it.

I would really recommend doing an only African tank.

If you want to add some cichlids in your tank to try something new, why not try some Jewel cichlids, apistos, rams, etc.. There are others too.

If you mix non-Malawi fish with Malawi cichlids, they might be fine for 1 day, 1 month, or a year, but my guess is that the non-Malawi fish are on borrowed time.