Well , I've decided to turn my new 108g into an african cichlid tank,,,,,,,,,here's the fish I like,,,,Aratus,,,Johanni,,,Red zebra,,,Saulos mbuna,,,Elongate mbuna,,,Electric yellow labido,,,Gorgeous hap,,,,Red empress,,,,,,,,,any comments or ideas are welcome concerning compatability,,,ph,,,food,,,setup,,,,,,,and is it possible to keep africans in a 7.2 ph(that is my ph here ,and I would rather not fool around adjusting ph's if i can),,,thx
African tank
- Thread starter ramman
- Start date
add an aragonite substrate like carib-sea aragonite sand
bumps up your pH to about 8.3, and make your water nice n hard, just way they like it (that sounded odd
).
bumps up your pH to about 8.3, and make your water nice n hard, just way they like it (that sounded odd
).
Yah I think the sand is a good idea also. Just remeber some of those fish dont grow as big as the others so they might get eaten. Those are some nice looking fish though when they get bigger. Put alot of hiding spots in the tank!
I'd stick with either an all mbuna tank or all hap/peacock tank. They don't gererally mix that well...Mbuna require lots of rocks, caves, hiding places, whereas haps and peacocks need more open, free swimming space. Mbuna are generally much more aggressive than haps and peacocks too, so they don't really mix well. The mbuna will make them miserable.
Agree with the above about keeping seperate, but the electric yellows would mix with the haps, but stay away from mixing the haps with the Auratus and Johanni.
go with all hap/peacock tank. 1 central wood piece with sum anubis or amazon sword plants and maby a nice rock wall on 1 side.
Don't mix peacocks with the mbuna. Too aggressive. Haps don't do too badly with mbuna. I have Placodochromis "solo" and milomo with my mbuna. Venestus and Livingstoni also do well.
Either go for 2-3 different species, 1 male to 3-6 females, or overstock your tank. Mbuna males get rather aggressive and the overstocking helps to avoid this. I have 35 wild caughts in a 3ft tank and they are quite peacefull. 16 different species and 5 are breeding. My saulosi is busy carrying her 4th fry batch and I have only had them for around 3 mths. Lift your PH to at least 8, do regular water changes 10-15% every 5-7days as they are messy fish and do prefer clean water. My supplier has just been to the lake and he says the water is unbelievably clean. Allow the algae to grow on the back of the tank and also on your rocks. Create plenty of rock caves for the fish. You can grow some vallisneria grass in the sandy areas. They will pull some out but just replant. Enjoy them as unlike peanut says, they are great and they do have chararcter. Colours are far better than any other fish, especially the males.
Either go for 2-3 different species, 1 male to 3-6 females, or overstock your tank. Mbuna males get rather aggressive and the overstocking helps to avoid this. I have 35 wild caughts in a 3ft tank and they are quite peacefull. 16 different species and 5 are breeding. My saulosi is busy carrying her 4th fry batch and I have only had them for around 3 mths. Lift your PH to at least 8, do regular water changes 10-15% every 5-7days as they are messy fish and do prefer clean water. My supplier has just been to the lake and he says the water is unbelievably clean. Allow the algae to grow on the back of the tank and also on your rocks. Create plenty of rock caves for the fish. You can grow some vallisneria grass in the sandy areas. They will pull some out but just replant. Enjoy them as unlike peanut says, they are great and they do have chararcter. Colours are far better than any other fish, especially the males.