My new 125 gallon aquarium

[Zack333]

Lots of the copadichromis or lethrinops are smaller and less aggressive haps imo, also taiwan reefs always are stunning

 

[james99]

where do you get your african cichlids from, my LFS has some peacocks and mbunas but not too much else, any recommendations?

Most of my stock comes from cichlid express in Daytona FL, I believe Steve gets alot of his from other hobbiests and club auctions.

 

[Steve_C]

What about a good hap stock with some mbunas. I know haps are predatory so I would have to get mbunas that get big.
The haps I like are
Blue dolphin
Venustus
eye biter
Electric blue
the starry one
Red empress
Maybe labeotropheus or metricalima? Also where do you get your african cichlids from, my LFS has some peacocks and mbunas but not too much else, any recommendations?

Dolphins are a nice hap, I have three of them in my tank that are getting up around 7-8" range now, they can be a bit of a hand full though as they are a bit rough & tumble. Mine seem to only be aggressive with each other than and not so much with the other species in the tank.

Venustus are one of my fav fish, got a couple of them as well, for the most part they (at least mine) are pretty easy going. Eyebiter can be a hit or miss on aggression. I have had 12" ones that were calm and never went after anyone, then I have also had 8" ones that tried to eat 3" labs. So that would be one to keep an eye on if you get one.

Electric blue (guessing you are talking fryeri) very mellow I have never had an aggressive one of those. Starry is a Bleekeri/Polleni, I actually have a female Polleni in with my haps&mbuna but it is not by choice. She was in with my Datnoid/Geos/Bichirs but she because so aggressive I had to take her out and out her in the big tank with the more aggressive fish. So I wouldn't suggest getting one of those. They are a great fish, but more suited to a single or larger SA/CA setup. Only reason I didn't get rid of min is because I grew her up from 2" long and have had her for a few year now.

Empress is a great fish. I have a super red empress that is just a stunner. If you can find a good quality one you'll love it they are a real pretty fish.

I get 90% of my fish from guys in the club I'm in or at our club auctions. That's really the best way to get good quality fish where you know the lineage and you know that they are going to be healthy and nice looking. There are some good online places though. Like James said Cichlid Express (Daytona aquarium) is a good one. It's been some years since I have used them but when I first got back into cichlids 7 yrs ago I got back in by getting some peacocks from Billy at Cichlid Express. If you don't mind buying 2"-3" haps and growing them up then I can give you the contact for a friend of mine in our club that has a cichlid business and ships all over the country. His fish are very high quality and really priced well too. I'm actually picking up another fish from him myself next Friday. He's got a male VC10 I can't wait to get my hands on

 

[Rwbpanda]

If you are still looking for Malawi cichlids, I have some peacocks and haps for sale. They are F1 and all natural