African cichilds

[MRW349]

I have just switched from tropical fish to african cichilds and i just wanted to know what is to many fish for 120 gallon tank? i have overstocked my tank to lower aggression and i have also added another filter to help clean my tank. the fish are fine now i am just worried for when they get bigger. this is what i have in the tank.

6 Hap. venustus
5 Borleyi kandango red fin
4 sunshine peacock
4 sunburst peacock
3 OB peacock
4 electric blue johanni
5 kenyi
4 yellow lab
3 cobalt blue zebra
4 red zebra
3 steveni taiwan

 

[Fishguy2727]

Stocking really depends on water changes. If you are doing enough water changes to keep the nitrate under 20ppm then you are not overstocked.

However, with cichlids their behavior becomes a big issue and with any cichlids there are no guarantees. With time you may find that one fish is getting picked on or that another is too aggressive. If you remove these fish you should be able to keep a relatively peaceful tank. I personally would not have mixed the mbunas in because they are so much more aggressive, but that is up to you. Just keen an eye on things as they grow, provide lots of rockwork, and be willing to remove individuals if necessary.

 

[mattrox]

The venustus can get very agressive and be prepared to remove excess males as they grow, it you end up with 1 male and several females this would be a good outcome.

If you want peacocks to show their best colour then you will need to have males of different colours, ie 1 yellow, 1 blue, 1 red etc. I think the sunshine and sunburst may be similar in colour and you will get just one dominant male colouring up and breeding with every female peacock.

My suggestion would be to remove female peacocks as they get mouthfuls to prevent cross breeding and remove the beat up sub dominant males.

An all male Hap/Peacock tank can be spectacular and with less agression due to the lack of females to fish over.

 

[Menagerie]

Generally Mbuna and Hap/Peacock mix is not recommended. Time will tell how well stocked the tank is. Once sexual maturity hits--you'll know it and you will see who is dominant, and who wants to be dominant

 

[hdultra]

I would not get to many more. HOW MANY GPH ARE YOUR FILTERS EXCHANGEING

 

[MRW349]

ya i knew its not recommended to mix them but its hit and miss so hopefully it all works out i find the hap/peacocks are more aggressive then the mbunas though which i thought it would be the other way around. my big filter is 264 gph and my second filter which is smaller is 116gph.

 

[Fishguy2727]

if you have no ammonia or nitrite and the water is visibly clear you have adequate filtration. You may barely have enough, in which case it is better to have way too much than barely too little.

Long term your big concern will be nitrate concentration.

 

[hdultra]

I have over twenty in mine, mixed and for now we have a happy family. Most of the time they look like schooling fish, lol. I'm sure it will work out for ya. GOOD LUCK

 

[MRW349]

do you think one water change a week is ok? and how much would you reccommed i take out to keep the nitrate down?

 

[johmartz]

do you think one water change a week is ok? and how much would you reccommed i take out to keep the nitrate down?

I have a 75 gallon with 28 cichlids and 1 syno cat and I do pwc every 4 days to keep nitrate down. For my filters I have a magnum 350 which is rated for 350 gph and a cascade 1200 rated for 315 gph. With these filters water in my tank is always crystal clear, 0 ppm ammonia and nitrite. It is better to have more filtration especially with cichlids.

 

[mattrox]

do you think one water change a week is ok? and how much would you reccommed i take out to keep the nitrate down?

You really need to test your water to find out how fast nitrates build up.....

 

[hdultra]

Yes let your readings tell you how often to do pwc's.

 

[Fishguy2727]

I would say water changes should always be at least weekly, let the test results tell you the minimum size water change.

 

[calico.100mph]

I have a 75 gallon with a crushed coral substrate. I have 24 very carefully selected fish in the tank. I do 30-40% wc every sunday.

I run 2 emporer 400 filters with the uptake tubes cut different lengths and for circulation i have kyrilia(sp) 650gpm circ pump pushin water around the tank.

My tank is crystal clear and the fish are very healthy. I have my local fish store do a wayer test every 2 weeks but thats cause I am very close to them.

I would be more worried in your case if they were all gonna get along.

Good luck,
calico

 

[deepbluesee]

I was always told 1 gal for every inch of fully grown fish, but I'm also new to fish tanks.