Back in early January, I upgraded my 75 gal American Cichlid tank to 140gal, and had the old tank sitting in the backyard, gathering mosquito (and other) larva in it (the tank had been outside already since we had to fumigate the house)
I bought some cheap fish (guppies, platys) to eat the larva, as I wanted to keep water in it until I sold it. I liked being outside staring at it so much, that I won the battle on keeping it (lol).
Guppies are colorful, but as a Cichlid fan, kinda boring. So I moved the smaller fish to a 20 gal that sits underneath the 75gal.
I met someone from CL selling African cichlids, and he told me I can put 40-50 in it (I thought that was a ridiculous number, and he was just trying to sell me on more fish). I ended up buying 15 cichlids and 3 pictus catfish from him (the pictus went into the 140gal American tank) for $100.
The fish include:
*all sizes are rough estimates*
3 Venustus (4”)
2 Malawi Sand Diver (4”)
2 Red Empress (3.5-4”) one is a jerk
2 Blue Neon (2”)
1 Sulfur Head (2.5”)
1 OB Peacock (3”)
1 VC 10 (2”)
1 Fusco (3.5”)
1 Livingstonii (3.5”)
1 Albino Blood Dragon (2”)
In addition to the:
1 Duboisi (3”) this fish is a jerk.
1 Blue Daktari (3”) best guess, not sure
1 unknown African
6 small convicts (1.5-2.5”)
1 derpy Parrot (2.5”)
I’m planning on growing out the parrot fish and convicts, and moving them to the 140gal when they’re big enough to not get eaten by my Oscars.
The 75 gallon has a 525 GPH canister filter with UV light (it creates a bit of current, which many of them enjoy stunning against), two heaters that keep the tank at 81-83 F during the daytime, 75-78F at night (the temperature fluctuation is gradual, and I’m assuming more natural for them anyways since I doubt nature stays at one specific temperature lol).
The bottom of the tank recently went from black gravel to natural sand (recently- pool filter sand). 10 live plants (new), and different size piece resin coral/live rock decorations(5) with lots of swim-throughs, hiding places, line-of-site. I understand these are not natural, but I figured they would be more interesting for the fish until they outgrown the holes in them. Oh, and also an air pump!
I already know that some of the fish (such as the Livingstonii) will grow to be huge, but tbh, by the time that happens, I’ll more than likely have upgraded my 140gal American tank to something in the 200’s, and the Africans would get the old 140gal (or I might even keep the 75g if I can find a place for all of them. Aquariums are like potato chips!)
From what I’ve researched, many of the fish I have come from Lake Malawi and like the temp around 80-82F
I was just trying to see if anyone finds issues with the stocking thus far, how long the 75gal will be viable (if it is adequate already), and everything like that. I am very inexperienced with Africans, aside from yellow labs that I had with my Americans (who were rehomed years ago), these are my first.
I bought some cheap fish (guppies, platys) to eat the larva, as I wanted to keep water in it until I sold it. I liked being outside staring at it so much, that I won the battle on keeping it (lol).
Guppies are colorful, but as a Cichlid fan, kinda boring. So I moved the smaller fish to a 20 gal that sits underneath the 75gal.
I met someone from CL selling African cichlids, and he told me I can put 40-50 in it (I thought that was a ridiculous number, and he was just trying to sell me on more fish). I ended up buying 15 cichlids and 3 pictus catfish from him (the pictus went into the 140gal American tank) for $100.
The fish include:
*all sizes are rough estimates*
3 Venustus (4”)
2 Malawi Sand Diver (4”)
2 Red Empress (3.5-4”) one is a jerk
2 Blue Neon (2”)
1 Sulfur Head (2.5”)
1 OB Peacock (3”)
1 VC 10 (2”)
1 Fusco (3.5”)
1 Livingstonii (3.5”)
1 Albino Blood Dragon (2”)
In addition to the:
1 Duboisi (3”) this fish is a jerk.
1 Blue Daktari (3”) best guess, not sure
1 unknown African
6 small convicts (1.5-2.5”)
1 derpy Parrot (2.5”)
I’m planning on growing out the parrot fish and convicts, and moving them to the 140gal when they’re big enough to not get eaten by my Oscars.
The 75 gallon has a 525 GPH canister filter with UV light (it creates a bit of current, which many of them enjoy stunning against), two heaters that keep the tank at 81-83 F during the daytime, 75-78F at night (the temperature fluctuation is gradual, and I’m assuming more natural for them anyways since I doubt nature stays at one specific temperature lol).
The bottom of the tank recently went from black gravel to natural sand (recently- pool filter sand). 10 live plants (new), and different size piece resin coral/live rock decorations(5) with lots of swim-throughs, hiding places, line-of-site. I understand these are not natural, but I figured they would be more interesting for the fish until they outgrown the holes in them. Oh, and also an air pump!
I already know that some of the fish (such as the Livingstonii) will grow to be huge, but tbh, by the time that happens, I’ll more than likely have upgraded my 140gal American tank to something in the 200’s, and the Africans would get the old 140gal (or I might even keep the 75g if I can find a place for all of them. Aquariums are like potato chips!)
From what I’ve researched, many of the fish I have come from Lake Malawi and like the temp around 80-82F
I was just trying to see if anyone finds issues with the stocking thus far, how long the 75gal will be viable (if it is adequate already), and everything like that. I am very inexperienced with Africans, aside from yellow labs that I had with my Americans (who were rehomed years ago), these are my first.
