First attempt at Africans

[TexasMomma]

I have been doning SA cichlids for several years now, and my husband talked me into purchasing some africans recently. This tank is a 75, with SA community (for now)fish :2 med angles, 1 female platty, 1 male guppy, 2 corey cats, and 3 rubber lip pleaco's(under 3 inches). I have a friend that is supposed to get the community fish soon.

The 75 is in lava rock with holes for hiding, lots of java fern and some swords, play sand for substrate. I finaly got the ph up to 7.9 or so using a buffer I got at the LFS. All fish are great, getting along and eating like a pack of wolves.

I was not sure how many mbuna I would be alble to keep in there, and I bought quite a few expecting a newbe loss. I have not killed a single fish! So I have 14 africans. LOL
I think I have 8 zebras (all fish purchased at walmart and petsmart) 5 malawi golden cichlids (2 males and 3 females...they were all yellow when i bought them then 2 changed their colors)and I think I have a livingstoi....as far as I can tell.

My LFS guy said I could pack in more fish as long as I change the water every week, which I do anyhow. Do y'all think this is a good mix? I figured it might since this is how they sold, all in one tank. Will I be able to keep my coreys (had one for 5 years now) and my pleacos?

There is a MAJOR aboundance of alge in my tank and on the rocks, the pleacos help keep it off the glass. I keep my lights on quite often to encourage the alge, the fish seem to love it. I feed blood worms, flakes, peas, moths and flys, dried baby shrimp, and a color enhancing crumble, not all at once but I try to keep it interesting for them.

What do ya thing????Good or no good?

Thanks!

 

[OscarHook]

your plecos and cories will probably be fine. If you have a livingstoni in with all those mbuna i would advise getting rid of him. Mbuna are a little more aggressive and if you have a small breeding colony of the 2 species you have he will just get messed up. It will work for awhile but in the long run chances are not good for him.
As for your diet they need a high veggei diet! No bloodworms and brine shrimp maybe once a week if that. Look for things like Omega Ones Kelp Flakes, and frozen Emerald entre. Sanfransico bay makes Spirulina enhanced brine shrimp and that is good for them.
You could possible add 1 more species, maybe something with stripes, with 4-6 individuals. in my 75g i have 5 Yellow labs, 5 Red Zebras, 4 Snow White Socolofis, and 4 Kenyi. i might get 1 more of the socolofis and kenyi, just depends on how aggressive the males are. That is basically all i ahve to say and overstocking can help cut down your agression of these fish.

 

[Scotty]

Hi there and welcome to the world of Malawi cichlids. These tend to be fish with an attitude , especially the mbuna. I started with a single Metriaclima greshakei and now, 2yrs later, have around 50 species comprising about 150 fish. Mainly wild caughts that my supplier gets directly from the lake.
I honestly believe you can add quite a few more fish to your tank. Make sure you keep up your 20% weekly water change and then you need more than enough filtration. These fish create loads of mess.
I would not worry about the algae as it is the staple diet of the mbuna. I have a couple of different loach species in with my fish. Cory's might be a little light weight!
Remember, when adding fish try to add no fewer than 4-5 fish at a time. You could also change the rocks when adding fish. This upsets the heirachy that is established in the tank.
Try and add fish that are either the same size or better still quite a bit smaller. It seems as though they are not considered a threat if quite a bit smaller.
If you can post some pics of the fish you have we can ID them for you.
I would also not worry too much about the livingstonii. I have 2 in with my mbuna and they are just fine. They tend to grow quite a bit faster than the mbuna.

 

[amesbien]

maybe someone can help me

i also have an african cichlid, relatively new
learned alot from trial and error.

i currently have 8 cichlids (all under 4 inches), and 2 common plecos (3-4 inch)

too much or too little?

i do about a 15% waterchange 2-3 times a week.

urgent answer please

 

[Scotty]

TOO FEW FISH. You can look at 15-20 fish quite easily. Especially seeing you are doing such regular water changes. Malawi's like good quality water. What fish do you have?

 

[gomezladdams]

sounds like youre doin great.You could fit a third goup in there.Depending on how dominant your males are they may bump off the other males of thier species.try to make the third group as different looking from the other two as possible.maybe trewavase or fullerborni

 

[amesbien]

15-20 fish in a 48 gal bow front?
wowza.

Sort of Mixed list, i just wanetd some pretty fish.

1x Bumble Bee cichlid
1x Snow White Socoloffi
1x Yellow Lab
1x Red Zebra
1x Purple Acei
1x Midnight Peacock (ibelieve)
1x Sunshine Peacock

and 1x firemouth but hes coming out soon, hes on hold for a friend.

 

[TexasMomma]

Howdy again! Thanks for the help! I will try to send some pics soon, my hubby has a camera phone I can load the pics from.

I had a small problem when I cleaned out the tank today, I squashed one of my female auratus's. So that leaves me with one grouchy male and 2 females. I thought I had 2 males, but they never fight or act up, but I sat down with my Dr Axelrod Atlas and I feel I have a young male Melanochromis Chipokee. He never chases the girls also.

One thing I must say about the africans I HATE, is the dad-gum scientific names. Please for the love of God, some one thow me some common names! LOL

It does seem like a ton of fish in there already to me. I have 6 fish in my 200, 1 oscar, 1 female Texas, pair of med Jags, 1 pleaco, and one synadonnis (sp?). It is nice to look at the little tank and see so much going on ALL the time. Those africans never stop moving and looking for food, or whatever it is they are up to. I swear they eat more than a baby oscar ounce for ounce of weight.

Would y'all mind sending some pics of fish that might do well with my set up? I would not expect you to untill you see what exactly it is that I have now, so I will try to send quickly.

Thank Y'all

 

[TexasMomma]

Ok I have looked at the fish gonzalesaddams sudgested, they do not seem to be my cup of T. So let me ask another few questions....

Can you put these peacock fish with the mbuna????

Can you have an all male fish tank???

I'm not looking to produce baby fish, I have my own babies to raise. I just want a nice tank with good fish and COLOR!...lots of it.

Those peacock fish are sooooo pretty too, but I do not know the rules with these fish much less if you put them with the mbuna fish....

Thanks again!

 

[Ash]

One general thing I learned about Mbuna... is keep them with mbuna. Anytime I ever tried mixing anything else with them, whatever other type of Afican went in did not make it very far =( Peacocks seem to be more laid back not as agressive. I did a peacock show tank before and I was very pleased with it. I had 6 of them and each were in pairs. I think a tank of just peacocks or just Mbuna might work well??

here are some pics of my peacocks:

First is my Albino Eureka Red, Second will be my Lemon Jakes and Third my Sunshines: