Setting up a 125g Haps tank, need help

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Jakob

Jakob

Piranha
MFK Member
Feb 22, 2008
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Iceland
I'm setting up an african tank for the first time. I've kept South and Central American cichlids for 6 years now and I want to give the africans a try.
The haps fascinate me the most. I have a 125g tank and I'm thinking of buying:
5x Dimidiochromis Compressiceps
5x Fossochromis Rostratus
5x Nimbochromis Fuscotaeniatus

You think this will work if I have both male and females?
I'm hoping that they will breed, will I have problems with them mixing with each others? I've heart that is a common thing in Mbuna tanks, but I don't know about the Haps.
I know they grow rather large, and I will reduce the amount of fish if I will have trouble with them when they grow larger.
Also... are these fish that usually breed in captivity?

The tank will be set up with a decent amount of rocks so there will be lots of hiding places.

All tips are gratefully accepted.
 
Breeding them may be hit or miss since the larger haps use a lot of room to breed and may disrupt each other with their aggressiveness. The 3 you chose are different enough that they probably won't mix with each other. I would go 1M 3F instead of 4F. That would give you a little more room. The fusco is a very aggressive fish once it starts to mature and can take over the whole tank. The fossies are also quite aggressive when they reach maturity. Just wondering have you considered an all male tank? I have a establish 220G all male hap/peacock tank with some monster predatory haps and even a midas in there and the tank is relatively peaceful.
 
GVerde said:
Breeding them may be hit or miss since the larger haps use a lot of room to breed and may disrupt each other with their aggressiveness. The 3 you chose are different enough that they probably won't mix with each other. I would go 1M 3F instead of 4F. That would give you a little more room. The fusco is a very aggressive fish once it starts to mature and can take over the whole tank. The fossies are also quite aggressive when they reach maturity. Just wondering have you considered an all male tank? I have a establish 220G all male hap/peacock tank with some monster predatory haps and even a midas in there and the tank is relatively peaceful.
Click to expand...

Thanks, any more tips?
 
Your choices are all on the aggressive side, like Gverde recommended, you will be probably be limited to 1 males each. Also all of these fish will get quite large, so when they all get to adult size, 125g will be the minimum.

Just something to think about if you are planning to add more than these 3 species.
 
Thanks, I've been reading about africans more and more... and Im thinking about going with a Tanganiykan tank instead.. Fronts... calvus... furcifer.. stuff like that.
 
I'm thinking about getting F1 Moba Fronts. The Furcifer is marked as "Ruziba".
But can I keep Furcifer with the Fronts if I add some others like Cyprichromis?

I really want to set up at tank where the fish can breed, without any major problems. The Furcifer is just an idea for something to put in the tank.

Here are some species that I would like to have:
Frontosa Moba
Black Calvus
Aulonocranus dewindti
Callochromis melanostigma
Callochromis pleurospilus
Cyprichromis leptosoma "mpulungu"
Neolamprologus brichardi (WC)
Ophthalmotilapia ventralis

I want fish that breed in the tank more than those who is harder to breed... Maybe you guys could give me ideas on what to put together?
Also you can add other fish, the list above is just what I like in colours.
 
The fronts will be the odd man out. They grow pretty large and as adults can easily eat most of the fish on your list. The calves would be ok with them. I kept a group of 7 adults in a 125. 1male and 6 females. Each had their own cave. They did very well together.

Ophthalmotilapia and Aulonacranus are very similar and would occupy the same space in the tank. It should be one or the other. Same with the callochromis. The cyps would be fine with everybody except the fronts. I would also stay away from the brichardi. Google brichardi death squad.

I would go with a group of ventralis, a group of cyprichromis, and a group of callochromis. I would look to keep no more than two males of the ventralis and callochromis. Any more and them will tend to fight with each other more than breed with the females. You can add a trio of calves. They will need some sort of shell or thin cave to breed. The males can be harsh on the females. They should have shells that they can fit in but are too small for the males. I assume you will be starting with juries. You can weed out extra males as they grow and color up.
 
So... what tanganyikans would you recommend with fronts besides Calvus?
 
Not many. They have to grow large enough not to be eaten by adult fronts but not too crazy as to bother the fronts. Fronts aren't the toughest fish, especially as juvies. They are mild mannered for such large fish. I have personally have kept some malawi haps with them. I had a group of peacocks with them. Others have Cyrtocara Moorii as well. All regularly held. I had them together as the fronts grew. I have also seen people keep some of the larger Julidochromis species with them. They had had hiding places just for them. The julies also breed but the babies would usually get eaten by the fronts. Once the fronts got to size I found the tank to be overcrowded and the water quality would suffer. I was doing very large water changes weekly. The tank had a 30 gallon sump,an AC110 and a emperor 400. I eventually also added an eheim 2217.
 
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