Hi there. I'm new to this site and this is my first time posting, so I hope I'm putting this in the right section. If not, please forgive my newbishness.
Anyway, I recently came into possession of my mother-in-law's 110 gallon tank. She used it for her corals, but had to downsize when she moved into a smaller place, and lucky me, I got the tank. Well, I wasn't especially interested in corals, nor a saltwater setup at all, for that matter. I've had the tank replumbed and set up for freshwater, but kept the external canister filter, full spectrum lights, UV sterilizer, and the 30 gallon sump.
The time finally came to stock the tank, and my wife gave me several Lake Malawi cichlids as a birthday present (more than I could keep in the 29 gallon tank I had already), so they needed to go in, along with the Synodontis eupterus I'd been keeping up to that point who'd finally outgrown her tank. Now I have ten mbuna cichlids (5 bumblebees, 3 yellow labs, 1 kenyi, 1 albino cobalt zebra) and the aforementioned Synodontis catfish hanging out in the tank. The tank's dimensions are 48"x18"x28".
I'd really like to get some more cichlids to populate the tank so as to spread out the burden of aggression and make sure nobody gets bullied too much. Also, I'd really like to add some color to the tank, preferably some reds and blues. (Nothing yellow! Please!) I have a red zebra and a maingano in my grow out tank, along with a livingstoni cichlid. (I know the livingstoni is a hap, but I'm getting some help and advice from a friend who's successfully kept haps with mbuna before, plus a deal with my LFS that they'll take him back if things don't work out.)
Finally, I'm looking into getting another catfish to go with the cichlids. I've always liked pimelodids, particularly ones like L. marmoratus, P. blochii, and P. ornatus, but I know that the marmoratus would get far too big. I'm also concerned that the blochii wouldn't be able to keep up with the aggression of the cichlids and that the ornatus might not have enough room to swim around as actively as they like.
So my questions are as follows:
1. What cichlids would you recommend I get to finish out this tank? (Seriously... I mean it when I say nothing yellow.)
2. Are there any appropriately sized pimelodid catfish that would be able to hold their own with my cichlids, or do I need to just keep dreaming and saving up for another tank?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any suggestions would be really helpful.
Anyway, I recently came into possession of my mother-in-law's 110 gallon tank. She used it for her corals, but had to downsize when she moved into a smaller place, and lucky me, I got the tank. Well, I wasn't especially interested in corals, nor a saltwater setup at all, for that matter. I've had the tank replumbed and set up for freshwater, but kept the external canister filter, full spectrum lights, UV sterilizer, and the 30 gallon sump.
The time finally came to stock the tank, and my wife gave me several Lake Malawi cichlids as a birthday present (more than I could keep in the 29 gallon tank I had already), so they needed to go in, along with the Synodontis eupterus I'd been keeping up to that point who'd finally outgrown her tank. Now I have ten mbuna cichlids (5 bumblebees, 3 yellow labs, 1 kenyi, 1 albino cobalt zebra) and the aforementioned Synodontis catfish hanging out in the tank. The tank's dimensions are 48"x18"x28".
I'd really like to get some more cichlids to populate the tank so as to spread out the burden of aggression and make sure nobody gets bullied too much. Also, I'd really like to add some color to the tank, preferably some reds and blues. (Nothing yellow! Please!) I have a red zebra and a maingano in my grow out tank, along with a livingstoni cichlid. (I know the livingstoni is a hap, but I'm getting some help and advice from a friend who's successfully kept haps with mbuna before, plus a deal with my LFS that they'll take him back if things don't work out.)
Finally, I'm looking into getting another catfish to go with the cichlids. I've always liked pimelodids, particularly ones like L. marmoratus, P. blochii, and P. ornatus, but I know that the marmoratus would get far too big. I'm also concerned that the blochii wouldn't be able to keep up with the aggression of the cichlids and that the ornatus might not have enough room to swim around as actively as they like.
So my questions are as follows:
1. What cichlids would you recommend I get to finish out this tank? (Seriously... I mean it when I say nothing yellow.)
2. Are there any appropriately sized pimelodid catfish that would be able to hold their own with my cichlids, or do I need to just keep dreaming and saving up for another tank?
Thanks for taking the time to read this. Any suggestions would be really helpful.
