keeping africans?

[dmopar74]

i plan on keeping african cichlids and my tap water is 7.8ph and since im converting my sw tanks to africans i planned on using the sw sand and rock to help buffer the water. im guessing with such a high tap ph i wont need to worry too much about ph swings during water changes?

also what are colorfull and compatible africans? one tank will be a 54 corner tank and the other is an 8'x3'x14" 200g tank.

 

[runko]

Depends lots of colorful mbunas/peacocks/haps

Research what u like


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[Spartacus]

skys the limit for the 200-a colony of Frontosa,a pair of Champsochromis Malawi Trout,pair of Emperors or this

[video=youtube;GQdgQDuUOgI]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQdgQDuUOgI[/video]

 

[Rome]

First you need to decide if you want to go mbuna or not. Mbuna (rock dwellers) are pretty aggressive and will batter or kill the rest of your africans. Peacocks can mix same sized fish for the most part between lakes. I have 2 victorians in my peacock tank that fit in great.

I would honestly go with Central or south American with the 200g, IMO better patterns and better personality and much more variation in each fish you can keep together.

 

[dmopar74]

nah ive done sa/ca cichlids before, and am really interested in africans. perhaps i'll grow out a couple emperors in the 200.

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

Your 200g would also be great for some larger predatory haps like dimidiochromis species, nimbochromis species, champsochromis species.....

In your 54g I would suggest doing some mbuna...such as Iodotropheus Sprengerae "Rusty Cichlid", Pseudotropheus williamsi North Makonde "Blue Lips", Cynotilapia Sp. "White Top Hara", Metriaclima Sp. "Mbweca", Metriaclima sp. "Red Top Gallireya", Metriaclima Zebra "Chilumba", Metriaclima Sp. "Membe Deep"....etc

 

[dmopar74]

Can I mix some haps in the 200g or would I have to keep it species specific?

 

[shamrock]

IMHO there is more variety with Africans rather than Central American cichlids. I have had Central and African cichlids for years and Africans are easier to maintain and less aggressive.

In my 240 I started off with 7 Central Americans and ended up with 3. You can do so much more with African Cichlids.

 

[C L O W N K N I F E]

Can I mix some haps in the 200g or would I have to keep it species specific?

If you plan on keeping emperors (Boulengerochromis Microlepis) to grow out in your 200g, you could probably mix in some haps of similar size