HELP with a New 180 gallon African Cichlid Tank

[sountfc]

A fully colored up male rostratus is an absolutely stunning fish. I have a pair, and the male is just remarkable to look at. The only caveat is that they're a bit slow growing. I think it took mine well over a year and a half to get to the size where he started showing a lot of color, which was about 9 inches. Highly recommended fish, though.

Nobody has given you any stocking advice here huh... I'll throw in my two cents. Definitely a hap tank, maybe a couple dolphins? REALLY looking forward to my tank finishing its cycle so I can start growing mine! And some fossorochromis rostratus! I can't keep them in my tanks but somebody should! I haven't seen too much of either species come up on this site so its one of those times when a newcomer has a ton of questions and you're one of the select few that can give first hand advice. Anything you choose though, good luck with them!

And one more thing, don't do an all male tank. I think a little aggression and a little less color is a small price to pay to be able to witness reproduction.


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[Slippery69]

A fully colored up male rostratus is an absolutely stunning fish. I have a pair, and the male is just remarkable to look at. The only caveat is that they're a bit slow growing. I think it took mine well over a year and a half to get to the size where he started showing a lot of color, which was about 9 inches. Highly recommended fish, though.

How do these guys work with some of the smaller (6"+/-) mbuna/haps?

 

[GVerde]

A fully colored up male rostratus is an absolutely stunning fish. I have a pair, and the male is just remarkable to look at. The only caveat is that they're a bit slow growing. I think it took mine well over a year and a half to get to the size where he started showing a lot of color, which was about 9 inches. Highly recommended fish, though.

They can get aggressive though. I have male around 12-13" and he can get pretty aggressive. I had to actually confine him a couple of times. One time it was like 3 weeks by himself. He seems to have calmed down now. Thank goodness.

 

[sountfc]

I'm not entirely sure. My pair is with other large haps, not as big as them but some pretty good sized ones in general. The fact that they're somewhat similar in size may keep the aggression down. In general the male behaves himself, but every so often he does remind his tankmates that he's the biggest boy in the tank. With that being said, he's never actually injured anyone.

How do these guys work with some of the smaller (6"+/-) mbuna/haps?

 

[Slippery69]

So any more advice out there? Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions? Warnings?
Love to hear more.

 

[Dionysus]

Do you mind not having control over the type of light color (like 10k, 14k, 20k, etc.)? Got any pics of your tank?

Haven't had time to read thru your whole thread yet, but thought id mention the color temp question. Awhile back, I did come across an led aquarium light that had variable control for color temp, full spectrum adjustability. From what I remember, cost alot tho, like $800 range. Just thought id mention that if were interested.

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[paulW]

AquaArt built my tank (they are in ohio)..

Just wanted to update. I'm having problems with my aquaart tank. I don't want to post all the details, but I no longer recommend them as a vendor.
I wanted to post this in case someone searches old posts.
Sigh.. getting a new one from Midwest Custom Aquarium.