I've just gotten back into fish keeping after a few years away from it. I have some Malawi cichlids in a 75 gal. tank, and they're breeding like crazy. The yellow labs, kenyis, and mainganos are pairing up correctly, but I have a red zebra and a Labeotropheus trewavasae that have paired up, even though there are other red zebras in the tank. If I hadn't seen them spawning, I wouldn't have believed it - they're not even in the same genus! Scandalous! 
Anyway, I'm working on setting up a 110 gallon, and I just bought a 55 gallon as well, in order to avoid more cross-breeding (although my stepson thinks having "hybrids" would be awesome, because those fish would run on electricity rather than gas half the time
). I'm finding that I didn't plan this out as well as I could have - there are just too many species that can cross-breed. Also, I got the vast majority of the fish before they were old enough to tell what gender they were, so there are some extra males. My current plan for the fish I have now (once I get all of the tanks set up) looks like this:
110 gallon:
2 Aulonocara sp. "lwanda" - 1M/1F, both large - I'd like to buy another female
3 Metriaclima estherae (Red zebra) - 1M/2F, all medium
2 Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano) - 1M/1F, both medium - I'd like to buy a couple more females (the male chases the female a lot, except when she's in a small tank with her new babies)
1 large plecostomus
75 gallon:
2 Metriaclima lombardoi (Kenyi) - 1M/1F, both medium - I may buy another female or 2
3 Labidochromis caeruleus (Yellow Lab) - 1M(medium)/2F(small)
3 Aulonocara maulana (Bi-color 500) - 1M(large)/2F(medium)
55 gallon (all male):
1 Metriaclima lombardoi (Kenyi, medium)
1 Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano, small)
1 Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (medium)
1 Labeotropheus trewavasae (medium-large)
1 Albino Metriaclima estherae (Red zebra, medium)
2 small unidentified cichlids (I can't remember what they are - I'll post pictures later to see if anyone can identify them)
30 gallon breeder:
Juveniles over 1"
10 gallon (2):
Babies large enough to be on their own
5 gallon (2):
Moms with new babies
I suppose I could sell/trade a few that don't fit well with the others, but I'd hate to do that, except perhaps with new fry. The adults and juveniles all have names and I'm attached to them - they're my babies!
That would be why I keep buying aquariums. I'm pretty sure my friends are thinking about holding an intervention for my fish habit, but until they do... yay for fish! Do you think this plan is good, or would you group them differently? Any advice would be much appreciated!
Anyway, I'm working on setting up a 110 gallon, and I just bought a 55 gallon as well, in order to avoid more cross-breeding (although my stepson thinks having "hybrids" would be awesome, because those fish would run on electricity rather than gas half the time
). I'm finding that I didn't plan this out as well as I could have - there are just too many species that can cross-breed. Also, I got the vast majority of the fish before they were old enough to tell what gender they were, so there are some extra males. My current plan for the fish I have now (once I get all of the tanks set up) looks like this:110 gallon:
2 Aulonocara sp. "lwanda" - 1M/1F, both large - I'd like to buy another female
3 Metriaclima estherae (Red zebra) - 1M/2F, all medium
2 Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano) - 1M/1F, both medium - I'd like to buy a couple more females (the male chases the female a lot, except when she's in a small tank with her new babies)
1 large plecostomus
75 gallon:
2 Metriaclima lombardoi (Kenyi) - 1M/1F, both medium - I may buy another female or 2
3 Labidochromis caeruleus (Yellow Lab) - 1M(medium)/2F(small)
3 Aulonocara maulana (Bi-color 500) - 1M(large)/2F(medium)
55 gallon (all male):
1 Metriaclima lombardoi (Kenyi, medium)
1 Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos (Maingano, small)
1 Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (medium)
1 Labeotropheus trewavasae (medium-large)
1 Albino Metriaclima estherae (Red zebra, medium)
2 small unidentified cichlids (I can't remember what they are - I'll post pictures later to see if anyone can identify them)
30 gallon breeder:
Juveniles over 1"
10 gallon (2):
Babies large enough to be on their own
5 gallon (2):
Moms with new babies
I suppose I could sell/trade a few that don't fit well with the others, but I'd hate to do that, except perhaps with new fry. The adults and juveniles all have names and I'm attached to them - they're my babies!
That would be why I keep buying aquariums. I'm pretty sure my friends are thinking about holding an intervention for my fish habit, but until they do... yay for fish! Do you think this plan is good, or would you group them differently? Any advice would be much appreciated!