African Cichlids

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Romona

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Dec 7, 2017
Messages
5
Location
Louisiana
I just bought a second hand tank. The guy said it was 55 gallons, but I put the dimensions in a tank calculator and it is 48 gal. It is 20x18x31. I haven't set it up yet because I had to order a stand that will support the weight. I will be transferring the fish that are in my 55 gal to the new tank. Then after the 55 gal recycles I want to stock with peaceful African cichlids. I have some in mind, but I wanted suggestions.
 
Ramona
Not too many peaceful African Cichlids, but you might consider, Yellow tail Acei, Yellow Lab, Red Top Hongi, Red Shoulder Peacock, Dragon Blood Peacock and Williamsi Blue Lips. I've kept and enjoyed all these fish at one time or another.
 
My top contenders are Rust, Ruby green, Tropheus Moorii Nkonde, Kadango, Lemon Jack Peacock, yellow lab and Tropheus Moorii Nkonde.
 
I've got a good working knowledge regarding Africans, but my favorites are New World Cichlids. I think The Tropheus varieties are really cool fish, but they are really aggressive little guys. It's going to take a lot of research and trial and error to achieve stability in your new tank. It certainly has the potential to be a nice setup. Good luck.
 
Can I have a tank with all males or do I have to have females? I'm not interested in breeding.
 
New World are S. American? I"ve never heard of these. Are they cichlids that can be mixed? When I look them up, there are SA, Texas and CA.
 
Having an all male african tank is a growing trend, especially with Peacocks. Its a little difficult to determine the sex of juvenile cichlids until they reach about 1 1/2 inch. Even then identification can be a little dicey.
New Worlds are Central and South American Cichlids. Research German Blue Rams, Bolivian Rams, Electric Blue Acara, Electric Blue Jack Dempsey, Rainbow cichlid, and Tetras.
 
All male African tanks can look pretty cool, plus you won't have to deal with a bunch of fry. Mbunas especially can be prolific breeders.
Not usually a good idea to mix New World and African cichlids. Different behavior patters, different water parameters, different feeding requirements, etc. In fact, I recommend not even mixing different lakes, or regions if you go with Africans.
New World cichlids are S Amer and Central Amer cichlids. Given the size of your tanks, I might recommend New World cichlids as well. There are a lot of very colorful dwarf cichlids which are fairly peaceful from these areas. Check out Rainbow cichlids, Apistogramma species, Rams, Firemouths . . .too many to list. I agree with V227, except about Jack Dempseys. They may get too large for your tanks. However, the electric blue variety tend to stay a bit smaller, so could possibly work.
 
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