First Tank Ever (125 gallon) - Which Cichlids Should I Get?

[ragin_cajun]

They may not reach 12 inches, BUT, if I were you, I'd put Nosferatu species in that tank. Breed Yellow Labridens, or Bartoni, or Pantostictus. Pick a species and breed 'em. If you did Labridens from a reputable online source, you could do well selling Labridens. Post lots of pics, if they look good as adults, you'd sell every fry.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; No suggestion as to which fish to get. If this is your first aquarium may I suggest getting less expensive fish at first. Also stocking fewer fish than is possible can be a benefit while you learn.

Good luck

 

[Buphy]

Severum suggestion is solid. There are also some smaller than 12 inches that would work out well such as electric blue ancara and electric blue Jack Dempsey.

 

[Jvincent]

Well.. African peacocks and haps are pretty laid back and very colorful. Alot of peacocks max out at 6-7" while some haps get around a foot. I few species I enjoy for peacocks are: lemon jake, German red, ngara flametail, sulfer head, royal blue, sunshine, dragons blood, and of course regular ob. For haps, you could go with the flameback, milimo, fireline mloto, venustus, electric blue hap, or red empress. They are all compatible with each other and to figure out how many to stock, take your gallonage and divide by 2. That is the base number of fish for rift lake cichlids. Count peacocks as 2 and haps as 3 a piece. Hope that helps you out a little!

 

[Razzo]

First tank ever? I'd suggest some patience and learning before you stock it. You probably should go cheap until you learn some basics. Unless you have a BFF that can mentor you from the start. After you graduate from Boot Camp, a six foot tank would make a nice Frontosa tank (African Rift Lake - Lake Tanganyika). I have two wild caught Cyphotilapia gibberosa (Zaire Blue Mikula) tanks: a 125 and a 240. They are setup for breeding priority so I don't have any tank mates at this time. Below are a few recent pics from my 125.

Fronts can live up to 20 years in captivity, males can reach 11 to 16 inches while females are usually 6 to 10 inches. They are harem spawners and a typical colony, in a 125, would include seven (2m and 5f).

Possible tank mates could include:
Altolamprologus Calvus or Compressiceps
Neolamprolgus Leluipi
Lepidolamprologus Nkambae
Neolamprologus sexfasciatus

Have fun!

Cheers,
Russ