first post on the forum!

[a.tetreault]

hi, this is my first time ever posting on this forum. i have come here to look for advice many times and thought i might as well join! i recently started a 72 gallon cichlid tank.

Before i knew anything about fish i had bought a 10 gallon tank, along with 3 mbuna cichlids (obviously didnt know that at the time) i knew nothing about cycling or really anything about fish keeping. Some how these fish managed to survive everything, and i started doing research. after finding out what fish i had and what i would need to give them a healthy life i went out and bought a 72 gallon bow front tank.

Currently i have
-1 albino (i think he is a red zebra, but dont really know as he was from the original 3)
-5 yellow labs, only one is in my 72 gallon, (2 of the yellow labs were part of the original 3, of course with only 2 of one species one had begun to get picked on so he is currently in my ten gallon with 3 baby yellows that will in the future will all be introduced to the 72 gallon)
-3 baby red zebras (in 10 gallon along with other quarantined fish) i plan on getting 2 more
-7 blue johanni (males and females both blue, i originally wanted 6 but was given an extra for free at the petstore since he was the only one left in the tank
-1 common pleco

my tank is fully cycled. i have crushed coral as a substrate, a few tulafa? rocks i believe and a piece of driftwood along with some fake plants, i plan to add a lot more rocks in the future. i also want to add five of another species of fish. i have a filter rated for my size of tank and i plan on adding another, i have a heater and my temperature is kept at 78 degrees. i had a breakout of ich when i added some fish in the 72 gallon and they are all being treated, treatment is going well.

My question is, what do you guys think? is this a good setup? and what would you suggest for the last species? im pretty limited to choices so they have to be fish that are commonly available.

 

[CraigMac]

Welcome to the forum!
FYI you said blue johanni and they are male and female, that's not possible. Either they are all male of the females are not johannis. Only male johannis are blue, the females are a yellow or orange. There is another fish that resembles johanni that both sexes are blue, I forget the name I thin it's manganos or something.

 

[a.tetreault]

what i meant to say was that is what they were sold as at the store, i know they arent real johannis, thats why i said they were all blue haha i didn't know the other name for them, but that is what they were labeled as

 

[Fishie]

Welcome to AA a great place!! Almost sound like my tank (smaller) I love labs and sounds like a great setup!

 

[CraigMac]

Gotcha! I have yellow tail acei in my tank with labs and johanni and they are great together. The only thing is acei need a lot of room to swim so if your tank is 4' it would be good, less then that probably isn't fair to the acei. Rey are cool though cause they swim mainly at the surface of the water and occupy the top while the others are more at the bottom and middle.

 

[a.tetreault]

my tank isnt four feet, maybe three and a half? would you still recommend or no? and if so how many would you reccomend?

 

[CraigMac]

I'd wait for advice from others who have acei. Anyone keep them is a shorter then 4' tank? Thoughts?

Mine is 4' and I know people generally suggest at least 4' but we will see what others say.

I have 4 acei and am probably going to get a couple more in my 90 gallon tank.

 

[a.tetreault]

oh and Fishie i love labs too! they were the first fish that caught my attention just because of the great pop of color

 

[Fishie]

oh and Fishie i love labs too! they were the first fish that caught my attention just because of the great pop of color

Same here! I got dark blue gravel to bring them out even more

 

[a.tetreault]

haha so did i! when i had them in the ten gallon they had dark blue and a bit of green gravel, it looked great! went a little more natural for the 72 gallon tho. just so that all colors would pop, not just my labs oh and CraigMac do you have any experience keeping white labs? i saw them at my lfs but wasnt sure what to think about them, i havent read much about them anywhere, and do you know if its the correct name for them? they look exactly like yellow labs only white.

 

[CraigMac]

I think they are Socolofi, or "snowflake cichlid". Google that if see if it looks like them. I have one in my 90 but he gets picked on by my johanni male. He's ok as long as he stays in his corner, but if he ventures to far away he gets picked on. I read somewhere that the albinos get picked on more because being albino they stand out. Don't know if that's true. If there is plenty of hiding places it should work but keep an eye on him.

 

[a.tetreault]

They may be the Socolofi i would have to get a better look the next time im at the lfs. My albino "mystery" fish actually seems to be the bully in my tank he definitely does not get picked on although i have heard that red zebras can be aggressive so if he is an albino red zebra that may be why. Im pretty much open to any fish i just want to know what would be the best for my current fish. i like the look of the acei but if thats not possible for my tank size i would go for anything really.

 

[CraigMac]

Kenyi would be something to consider, I have in my 90 with labs and johanni. The only thing if you get a male they can be very aggressive and if you get multiple males it may not work at all. If you are new to cichlids you may want to stay away from the Kenyi though as they can terrorize all tank mates.

 

[a.tetreault]

i had considered kenyi, but then thought it may not be a good mix with the labs....hmmm decisions decisions!

 

[a.tetreault]

hopefully someone will post there experiences with acei soon!

 

[Fishie]

i had considered kenyi, but then thought it may not be a good mix with the labs....hmmm decisions decisions!

They are compatible if you wanna know that they are both from lake Malawi .

 

[a.tetreault]

oh i know, i just thought my labs might get beaten up lol

 

[Jmedic25]

What filter are you running? Also I wouldnt buy anymore fish. If you have labs, zebras and good water you will have fry soon. Just save your money for other stuff.

 

[a.tetreault]

Umm not sure the brand it's a hang on back filter rated for a 75 gallon, I will be adding another soon. My fish are mostly fry right now, when will they begin breeding? I actually wasn't planning to save any fry and thought that they wouldn't really have a chance to survive if I didn't save them. I heard the pleco will possibly eat them if he has a chance.

 

[a.tetreault]

What about a bumblebee cichlid? Just one. I know they get large and aggressive so I'm assuming no but I thought I would ask anyway, they are great looking fish!