Considering Converting To A. Cichlid Tank

[ibz_rg]

As much as I absolutely love my oscars, they are far too big for a 55g tank. As well as my pleco. I've always had a soft spot for Africans as well. My question is, what and how many of said fish should I stock my tank with? I really love bright colored specimens and would love alot of brights. I already have a golden mbuna in a growout tank, so anything compatible with that would be great. So, any suggestions?

 

[mike dunagan]

what do you mean by gold. Any scientific names would help, not all mbuna are built the same.

 

[driftwood]

The same thing happened to me. Well almost. I keep Central Americans and have kept Africans several times over the years but just recently I converted a 120 into a Tanganyikan tank. I stocked mine with Kitumba Fronts, Fire red and Black Calvus, N. Helianthus, and L. Kendalli. I love the tank and am so glad I swiched back to Africans with at least this tank anyway. I think it keeps the hobby exciting, switching from 1 group to the other.

 

[cichlidgirl]

You could do a all male show tank, that would get you alot of brightly colored fish, the key to that is no females, that way they wont fight as much. Peacocks would be good, they are super colorful and even some malawi haps would be stunning. Just avoid fish that are going to be real big (like your oscars).

 

[ibz_rg]

what do you mean by gold. Any scientific names would help, not all mbuna are built the same.

I believe it's melanochromis auratus.

 

[snova031]

Auratus are very aggressive mbunas.

You could do something like 6-8 yellow labs and 12-15 demasoni

Or, like someone else mentioned, an all-male peacock tank would look nice.