Hap tank

[Bobby2415]

I am considering switching my 90 gallon tank (48x18x24) to an all male hap tank. I really like the looks of the haps opposed to the other types. I have zero experience with African Cichlids.

Any opinions on a stocking list? I would prefer to keep more of the minimum amount of fish. (Don’t really have the funds to overstock the avoid aggression but also hope to have enough to avoid aggression).

Any suggestions are appreciated!

 

[GVerde]

You need haps that will grow to be less than 8" in a 4 foot tank. Which means no predator haps. Otopharynx lithobates, Copadichromis, Lethrinops, and smaller placidochromis and protomelas. Down the road you may have to remove a hyper male.

 

[DJRansome]

I think you will need 12 fish minimum to manage aggression and would choose fish that mature <- six inches. I had an 8 inch fish in my 48x18 tank and it just looked too big.

Since you would buy sexed males figure on spending at least $30 per fish.

A nice tank would be a species lethrinops tank. You could have more than one male color up and all will be happy with a large number of females. You could stock them an unsexed juveniles for about $8 per fish. I would buy 20 unsexed juveniles.

You could do this to gain experience with Africans, and then if you like them and all goes well, you could rehome the extras and stock with other male haps in a year or so.

Lethrinops are beautiful but they seldom color well in an all male tank.

 

[Joshuakahan]

I am considering switching my 90 gallon tank (48x18x24) to an all male hap tank. I really like the looks of the haps opposed to the other types. I have zero experience with African Cichlids.

Any opinions on a stocking list? I would prefer to keep more of the minimum amount of fish. (Don’t really have the funds to overstock the avoid aggression but also hope to have enough to avoid aggression).

Any suggestions are appreciated!

I would go to a place like imperial tropicals and buy a Hap/peacock starter pack of unsexed juvis. You’re gonna want to be stocked heavily. It’s not set in stone but a general rule for peacocks is 1 per two gallons, I would go with 30 small ones to allow for females then remove the females when you’re able sex them. It’s gonna be expensive buying colored up males and there’s no guarantee they will keep the color. It all depends on the hierarchy. If you want to be more sure about color, you could do mbuna since they usually have their color when young.
As far as types if you want to buy colored males I’d do some of the following
Lemon jake
Rubens red
Azureus
fryeri
Taiwan reef Hap
Sunshine peacock
Various OBs
Dragonblood
Maybe some peaceful mbuna like acei and yellow labs
And some syno cats
20 would be ideal maybe 25, depending on how mich you want to work and what you like
I like a full tank and would do about 30 and just go with types in 5-7” size range, but that maybe too many for you.