ok so now its a toss up

[jakedalab]

My wife is wanting to have angelfish in our new 75g tank. I'm a fan of the African ciclids. Which do tall think we would get more bang for our Buck with? I know with the angels we would be kinda limited as to how many we could keep. Is it the same story with the Africans?

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

yes it is still limited with africans, but they are so much more exciting and have much greater colours imo!
plus, how they 'hold' during pregnancy is fascinating, hence my screen name lol.

bang for your buck - do u mean how many u can fit in or the colours or the personality?

in each case, i say africans

haha good luck! x

 

[jakedalab]

In bang for my Buck I mean as far as the quantity of fish I can safely keep in the tank color personality and how active the fish are. In a 75g tank how many Africans would we be able to keep and what if anything can be kept with them.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

depends on the fish you want, for example Mbuna you could do about 20-25, with 1m to 3f, and you get loads of beautiful colours and have a great mix of fish. with them u could have plecos, occasionally i hear about crayfish or a ray happily in there too. an aged (really quite old and peaceful) american cichlid sometimes works, but this is more rare and wont leave much space for your africans.

i suggest so many africans per 75 because overstocking reduces aggression, it just puts up the bioload. plus allows you to remove any 'nasty' fish and u still have lots of fish left.

look up on google at the colours! africans in general, but some haps are stunning. plus zebras, they are my fav.

most africans are very energetic and have their little squabbles and friends like a proper little socialite group! very interesting. i know angels do some of those things and are very graceful, but africans have the all out bang lol!

 

[NyteGTI]

I actually keep both at home(seperate tanks) and my african tank is definitely the highlight of the room. sooo much activity & personality. Also as mouth brooder said the holding is amazing, I've got my first Mbuna holding now after 3 months being in the tank with the male. there's also this kissing and shaking thing the angels do to show dominance to eachother when they become sexually mature but it still doesnt compare to the africans.

 

[jakedalab]

How difficult are they to keep?

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

africans - basic things, they are really quite hardy. its just keeping aggression down thats the challenge tbh!
angels - keeping parameters near exact and stopping breeding pairs getting too mean afaik x

 

[NyteGTI]

African's get pretty heated when they're breeding too. don't forget that

but still africans > angels

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

i have 3 tanks - a 10 for babies, 40 for my africans, 75 for my oscars and 2 juvie africans. i wouldnt stand not having my oscars... they have incredible personality and are beautiful! they are on my avatar.

basically im suggesting a big american fish (or 2) to go in, as they become more pets than decor and are extremely cool to play with!!

if not, gooo africans, especialy mbuna x