Stocking Help

[_bsafarijoe]

Hi guys, sorry if this isn’t in the correct spot I’m brand new. I’m wanting to get back into cichlids and I kind of just got pushed into it just now, one of my friends keeps African cichlids and ordered a bunch of them. In his order he got an accidental baby. He gifted that accidental baby to me, it is a red zebra Cichlid. I have it in a quarantine tank and I’m treating it for any parasites right now with the information that I used when I was keeping South American cichlids, I know what I’m doing I think and I’ve done a ton of reading on them. I have an empty 55 gallon fish tank that I just revamped and am looking into plans on the next five weeks of what to add to it, I want to get some live plants and do an African Cichlid tank, below I have attached some pictures of the aquarium, the only requirement is that I keep the red zebra Cichlid.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Welcome! Is it a show tank? I assume it is pre-cycled. Mbunas are herbivorous. Others include peacocks, haplochromines, and tanganyikans. I would go with artificial plants because, if you have mbunas, they will eat them. Other cichlids will dig them up. I would add more decor such as limestone rock, which helps maintain proper water quality. The more hiding spots there are, the better. I am not completely sure a 55 will work. Usually, people choose 75 gallons. As for stocking, I like the combination of Yellow Lab cichlids, Mbunas, and some other assorted types such as Afra Cichlid, Demasoni, and Kenyi Cichlid.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

Welcome! Is it a show tank? I assume it is pre-cycled. Mbunas are herbivorous. Others include peacocks, haplochromines, and tanganyikans. I would go with artificial plants because, if you have mbunas, they will eat them. Other cichlids will dig them up. I would add more decor such as limestone rock, which helps maintain proper water quality. The more hiding spots there are, the better. I am not completely sure a 55 will work. Usually, people choose 75 gallons. As for stocking, I like the combination of Yellow Lab cichlids, Mbunas, and some other assorted types such as Afra Cichlid, Demasoni, and Kenyi Cichlid.

I like those cichlids but I was also thinking about doing a few more red zebra’s maybe because this one is a mail I will do one of him and a few females, I would love to breed them. It’s definitely going to be a while before he gets big though. I’m wanting to do live plants, I’ve kept SA’s with them and they did alright as long as they were established. I had a 14 inch jaguar Cichlid in my 120 gallon with all sorts of aquatic plants and he ripped up a bunch but he also tolerated a bunch. I’m definitely going to be doing a ton more hard scape, I’m going to my local fish store in a few days to get some wood and I’m putting in magnolia leaves along with some more clay pots and parts of clay pots.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

I like those cichlids but I was also thinking about doing a few more red zebra’s maybe because this one is a mail I will do one of him and a few females, I would love to breed them. It’s definitely going to be a while before he gets big though. I’m wanting to do live plants, I’ve kept SA’s with them and they did alright as long as they were established. I had a 14 inch jaguar Cichlid in my 120 gallon with all sorts of aquatic plants and he ripped up a bunch but he also tolerated a bunch. I’m definitely going to be doing a ton more hard scape, I’m going to my local fish store in a few days to get some wood and I’m putting in magnolia leaves along with some more clay pots and parts of clay pots.

This is a show tank by the way.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Ok. Red Zebras also look nice. Breeding would be cool. Maybe a little hard in a 55.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

Ok. Red Zebras also look nice. Breeding would be cool. Maybe a little hard in a 55.

Yeah I’m not optimistic for the breeding, I just have to keep this one and I would love to have him be a tank boss and get big. That’s what I always learned with my South Americans that if you want them to pop their colors really well get them a female.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

Yeah I’m not optimistic for the breeding, I just have to keep this one and I would love to have him be a tank boss and get big. That’s what I always learned with my South Americans that if you want them to pop their colors really well get them a female.

Ok. Red Zebras also look nice. Breeding would be cool. Maybe a little hard in a 55.

I have read that overstalking is better, but don’t go crazy.

 

[The Masked Shadow]

Overstocking is definetly better. I am not sure why, but I have read it is better.

 

[_bsafarijoe]

Overstocking is definetly better. I am not sure why, but I have read it is better.

Yeah that’s what I’ve read too. It has something to do with them not bullying.

 

[Deadeye]

Mbunas are naturally aggressive to anything that moves. They don’t like going far from their territories for fear that someone will steal it, and with a lot of fish, it makes that worry higher. They also have a lot more targets to pick from when feeling mean. Too few and the dominant fish will likely always go on a killing spree. If you want more, you are going to want a lot of hiding spots, or none at all.
I would do all males of different species, or only zebras and try to get as many females as possible. I have kept two male zebras together, the first chance the dominant one had (after a territory change) it killed the other guy. A few months later I changed the territories, and the subdominant auratus killed the dominant zebra.
Only get fish from the same aggression bracket, if you are keeping zebra, good tankmates are auratus, johanni, crabro, kenyi, demansoni, etc.
No crayfish or other crustaceans, once they molt its game over.
Good scavengers are larger loaches (skunk, sun, redfin), synodontis catfish, bristle nose plecos, and in some cases red tail/rainbow sharks. No guarantees on anything though, mbunas can be anywhere from tankmate friendly to full dovii.
I feed mine cichlid pellets and they will occasionally graze on algae, though I haven’t seen much true vegetarian behavior.