Converting CA Cichlid tank to a African Cichlid theme

[V227]

My daughter showed up on Fathers Day with two bags of African Cichlids, and a strong hint that dad needed to change up his boring display tank. After transferring 13 fish to new homes and trading in a big Texas Cichlid and a Flowerhorn, I'm up to 21 Africans. I still have five Firemouths and one baby Green Terror in the main tank. Surpisingly they are getting along just fine with the Africans. The FM's are going to another tank. I think I'm going to consider the GT to be a Green SA Hap. This setup wont be a textbook Malawi bio type. My Botia Loaches are staying. I took a few pics of the Africans. I've actually had the OB Peacock for a couple of years. I also changed up the scape.

 

[mbkemp]

Very nice!

 

[V227]

Thanks Mike.
I had a lot of fun researching the various Africans I've stocked. Going to get a few more. So far I have 10 baby Peacocks, 1 adult Peacock. 4 baby Haps and 6 Mbuna. I think I got all males. I used a flashlight to illuminate the sides of the baby Peacocks at the LFS to up my chances of picking a male. Most of the females coloration stays gray when lit up. The baby males will reflect a little color.
Although I have a pretty good working knowledge about how to keep Africans, I'm definitely not a pro. So far so good.

 

[V227]

I forgot to note that I scored big with my Texas Cichlid / Flowerhorn trade in. I obtained the above pictured Yellow Lab, 3x Blue Fire Dragon Blood Peacocks and a Dragon Blood Fire Fish. All are juveniles and are not even close to their potential adult coloration. The Dragon Bloods are pictured below.
The tank is a 120 long, and I'm nearing the full capacity mark. I would like to add one or two more mid sized Haps to go with my current, all juvenile, Hap group:
Red Fin Borleyi / Red Empress / Sulphur Hap " Mara Rock" and my Livingstoni, pictured below.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[V227]

I thought my hardscape looked very sterile and too marine-like. So today I opened up my used aquarium junk storage box and unloaded 7 junk quartz geodes, 3 pieces of petrified wood and a big Manzanita root. I think those additions provided the needed color and texture that the hardscape was lacking.
Geode rocks are often cited as being unsafe for aquarium use. That is only true in rare instances. The vast majority of Geodes are simply quartz. It's best to lay the Geodes crystal side down as to avoid sharp edges and the accumulation of gunk between the crystals. The exterior side of most Geodes are rounded w/ lumpy texture and are very colorful. The tank population is maxed out at 30 total fish. 22 Africans, 5 Botia Loaches, 2 BN Plecos and 1 GT
RIvulatus.
For all practical purposes the hardscape is complete. Its far from perfect so feel free to critique. Im open to improvement suggestions. I hope to have a suitable background in a few weeks.

 

[mbkemp]

I like it!

 

[V227]

Thanks Mike. I'm having a lot of fun putting this setup together.