Stocking new 5ft tank

[GermanDude]

Hi guys,

I am going african cichlids and would like to know what you are thinking about my stocking idea.

The dimensions are 60x20x20 and I want to keep all male
1 Sciaenochromis fryeri,
1 Protomelas taeniolatus red empress,
1 Placidochromis phenochillus "gissel"
1 Otopharynx lithobates
6 Labidochromis caeruleus
3 Aulonocara rubescens
3 Aulonocara OB

I want to start with the Yellow Labs, checking they' ll be all male for sure, before adding the other fish.

I am a little concerned whether there may be some aggression issues among the peacocks due to their similar appearance.

I just really like to add some red color to the tank.
Is it smarter to keep 6 all male peacocks of the same species so aggression can spread better?
Or will I end up having 1 red and 5 drab Aulonocaras?

Thanks for reading and answering!

 

[markstrimaran]

I have coed mbuna, with peacocks, so I can't comment. I would think that with all males, they really would not fight very much.

What kind of rock work do you have? The more the better has been my experience.

 

[GermanDude]

Hello,
Thanks a lot!
Because some of the fish may grow to 8 in I won' t have many rocks in there.
I don' t like massive rockwork in tanks and saw an awesome 6ft tank on youtube that worked well without many rocks but a lot of free swimming space.

And I was surprised to see 4 pretty colorful peacock males in the aquarium, although they were similar looking.
That made me want to set up a tank like I wrote in the opening post.

So do haps maybe distract dominant peacocks from showing aggression to their conspecifics, what makes them show more color?

 

[deeda]

Is your tank dimensions in inches?

 

[GermanDude]

Hello, yes, it would be cruel in centimeters and a dream in feet or meters.
Do you think it is too small?

 

[deeda]

Thanks, I completely missed the 5 foot tank title of the thread!

Keeping multiple Aulonocara of the same species or colors can be hit or miss when doing males. Definitely only 1 species of them if doing mixed genders as the females are indistinguishable from each other.

I'll let others give opinions on the fish you are planning to stock.

 

[james99]

It has a good chance of working if you only have one male of each, except the labs, having mixed gender usually works. In the past I've had breeding groups or labs and acei in all male hap/peacock tanks, the hap and peacock males never paid attention to the female mbuna.

 

[GermanDude]

Hello,
even if the haps are all male too?
I' ve read that most malawi cichlids can mate different species from the same lake?

 

[GermanDude]

Hi , it's me again

What about 6 Yellow Labs and 8 different Peacocks?
Does it work if they are all male, or are the Aulonocaras too mellow?