Filtration and Pos. stocking questions!

[RyanR]

Ok, well my dad went to toronto for the week. and just got home.. and what does he bring? a 125 Gallon tank with stand canopy and heater.. Only thing thats missing is the filter, He got this tank for a whopping price of FREE.someone put it to the side of the road for trash. (wth :\) The Stand is reinforced pine with steel frame (covered by pine) the canopy is oak.. full florecent lighting and all.. and the tanks even CLEAN, all seals are well too..

My questions is.. he wants to stock it with African Cichlids,
He really likes the Blue Peacocks (sorry dont know there name)

So what would live good with peacocks? How many fish can we put in this tank? should we put a bunch of small ones in the 125 or grow them out in smaller tanks?

And also.. since the tank was free we can spend a good chunk on filtration..
would a
Rena:FilStar XP4 Canister Filter

and a

Rena:FilStar XP3 Canister Filter


Be overkill for this tank? we want to heavily stock the tank... so would this be enough filtration?

 

[Wolf3101]

I don't really care for any of the rena canisters based on personal expierance with them. (leaks...bad impellers...and in two cases....failure to restart after a brief power outage coupled with almost non-existant customer servace.) If you only want to add a single canister and have the cash then pick up an eheim pro 3.

Personally I'd run a pair of Fluval 405's along with a pair of Emporer 400's. You can pick up all 4 for just over $300.00. (Ehiem pro 3's run close to $500.00 each)

As far as fish go... plenty of catfish to choose from along with a wide variaty of AF cichlids. Theres no reason on earth for an AF cichlid tank to be boring.

 

[RyanR]

Well what are the different colour variations of the peacocks?
How big do they get? and what goes good with them..

I dont know the scientific names and such of any cichlids so its very hard to research.!

 

[Wolf3101]

They tend to vary from the rare very colorful variaties to the washed out looking ones you see in the lfs. The electric yellows are quite striking as are the whites... there are a few blue and red ones that I like as well.

N-E cichlids website is a great place to look at Africans of all types tell him I sent you and he'll give you the special of the day... (Double price)