Cichlid noob with some questions

[brc81]

I got a 55 gallon tank that I'm currently doing a fishless cycle and trying to plan for chiclids. I did a sand substrate, flagstone rock decor, and a 200W heater.

Question 1: Filtration - I have a Marineland Penguin Power Filter 350 on one end and a Maxi-jet 600 Pro powerhead on the other end to circulate water towards my filter. Do I have enough filtration? With this setup how many fish do you think I could stock without issue? If I added another hob or canister filter, how much would that increase my ability to stock more fish?

Question 2: Fish Selection - My access to fish is pretty limited. I have a Petsmart and one local fish store. The local fish store is more focused on saltwater fish and their selection of fw fish is pretty limited. Petsmart has a much better selection of cichlids.

When I was in there a couple days ago here are the african cichlids they had in stock:

• Electric Yellow Labidochromis
• Acei
• Jewel Cichlid
• Electric Blue Johanni
• Auratus
• Bumblebee
• Kenyi
• Afra
• Jacobfreibergi Peacock

Given that list what would you stock in a 55 gallon tank for someone relatively new to cichlids?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts or suggestions.

 

[josh7]

Well with those fish I would just do a African cichlid setup if you want a breeding setup get 1 male and 5 females if you want more color just get 6 males.

I would get
6 yellow labs
6 electric blue johanni and
6 jacobfreibergi peacocks

Personally I would do all males much less aggression I think also I think you may have enough filtration I personally would add another penguin. If you don't get another one maybe only get 6 labs and 4 of the electric blues and 4 of the peacocks

 

[haglagwr]

I don't know if I would mix the peacocks with the mbunas. I would stay away from the bumblebee, auratus, and e.b. Johanni because they are notoriously aggressive.

IMO The yellow lab, afra, kenyi, and accei would be a good combo to start with. They all have similar aggression levels. The jewel is not a mbuna either, so I'd keep him out of the mix.

 

[ashleynicole]

I would do yellow labs and acei. The color contrast between yellow and purple is stunning and in my experience with africans they are less terretorial than the johanni or kenyi (always had trouble telling the two blue apart)

I would say 1 male yellow lab and 4 female yellow labs, 1 male kenyi and 4 female kenyi

If you are buying juveniles you can buy 5 of each and hope for the best, but you may run into problems when they reach sexual maturity and trying to determine their sex.