possible 90 gallon tank

[HeatherW]

Hi! I am new to the fish world. I got me a 20 gallon tank for Christmas (freshwater) and I am in the process of doing a fish in cyle. I just ordered me a 90 gallon tank and was going to go with the same type of thing, but now I am thinking I want to go with an African Cichlid tank.

is this harder than what I am doing? the info things say "expert" as far as experience goes. what do I really need to know to do these fish?

I have on order 90 gallon tank, aquaclear 110, some artificial plants, sunken ship decoration and of course the heater (300w visi-therm)

any advice is welcome! I am going to try the fishless cyle on this tank (since I am still doing PWC daily on my 20 gallon tank)

 

[HeatherW]

so I have decided to bite the bullet and jump over to cichlids (African). I read the first article (cichlid recipe) and have a few stocking questions. at the end of the article is a possible list of what you would put in a 74 gallon tank. it is something like 31 fish! can i really put this many fish in one tank?? am I reading this wrong and this is a list of possible compatable fish to go in a 75 gallon tank? I thought the rule was still pretty much the same - 1" fish per gallon of water. wouldn't this be overstocked?

alos, in the article it says to stock with a trio. how do you pick a trio?

 

[joel618]

I assume you are talking about mbuna Cichlids? You can overstock a tank to help mitigate their aggression. It really depends on what fish you decide to go with. Mbuna are beat kept in groups of 1 male per 3-4 females. There is alot to learn about mbuna but we at aa can help with that. The biggest thing, Just take the good advice people give. We are telling you bc we gave already faced most of the problems. Ask away and I will do my best to help!

Also you need more filtration if you are going to overstock imo.

 

[HeatherW]

I assume you are talking about mbuna Cichlids? You can overstock a tank to help mitigate their aggression. It really depends on what fish you decide to go with. Mbuna are beat kept in groups of 1 male per 3-4 females. There is alot to learn about mbuna but we at aa can help with that. The biggest thing, Just take the good advice people give. We are telling you bc we gave already faced most of the problems. Ask away and I will do my best to help!

Also you need more filtration if you are going to overstock imo.

thanks Joel! I was thinking I would grab me another aquaclear 110 or should i go smaller?

not sure if I am talking about Mbuna or not. I am getting confused now I want to go with African and I think I want to stay witha "lake" am I right in this? I was thinking of malawi. what is Mbuna??

 

[joel618]

thanks Joel! I was thinking I would grab me another aquaclear 110 or should i go smaller?

not sure if I am talking about Mbuna or not. I am getting confused now I want to go with African and I think I want to stay witha "lake" am I right in this? I was thinking of malawi. what is Mbuna??

You can never overfilter imo. I use 2 emperor 400's on my 75gal and am upgrading one of them to a canister filter rated at 525 gph
3 different rift lakes, Malawi is one of them. Malawi has 3 types of Cichlids: mbuna, peacocks, and haps. You need a bigger to mix them imo. So say you choose mbuna (rock dwelling Cichlids). Then you would choose a group from each genus. Like a group of psuedotropheus, labidochromis, labeotropheus, metriclima, and so on. It isn't recommended to mix red zebras and ice blue zebras (for example bc they are both metriclima) because the males will fight over females and there is also a problem with then cross breeding.

 

[HeatherW]

You can never overfilter imo. I use 2 emperor 400's on my 75gal and am upgrading one of them to a canister filter rated at 525 gph
3 different rift lakes, Malawi is one of them. Malawi has 3 types of Cichlids: mbuna, peacocks, and haps. You need a bigger to mix them imo. So say you choose mbuna (rock dwelling Cichlids). Then you would choose a group from each genus. Like a group of psuedotropheus, labidochromis, labeotropheus, metriclima, and so on. It isn't recommended to mix red zebras and ice blue zebras (for example bc they are both metriclima) because the males will fight over females and there is also a problem with then cross breeding.

So where do find out if the fish I am looking at are Mina? Do the other 2 always have the word haps or peacock in their names?

 

[HeatherW]

Whoops on my phone... Meant mbuna

 

[joel618]

Not exactly. Go to davesfish.com they are classified by lakes and types and have scientific names. Click on the names for pics. Also google "demasoni cichlid profile" for example. Cichlid-forum.com has good info on them too.

 

[HeatherW]

Not exactly. Go to davesfish.com they are classified by lakes and types and have scientific names. Click on the names for pics. Also google "demasoni cichlid profile" for example. Cichlid-forum.com has good info on them too.

Thanks! That helps. Do are the mbuna the easiest to care for?

 

[joel618]

Idk about the easiest, but prolly the most readily available. Mbuna are just a little different from any other fish I have kept.

 

[HeatherW]

can i put a fetherfin catfish in there too?

how do you calculate how many fish? the list I saw had a mix of fish and LOTS of them. Now I don't really know how many I should be picking and if I am supposed to mix them or not.

HELP!!!

 

[joel618]

can i put a fetherfin catfish in there too?

how do you calculate how many fish? the list I saw had a mix of fish and LOTS of them. Now I don't really know how many I should be picking and if I am supposed to mix them or not.

HELP!!!

Most synodontis catfish will do well with Africans. Pick one type of labidochromis, one type of metriclima, one type of cynotalapia. This is all example. Get 6-7 of each depending on what size they are when you get them. You want fish around the same size and temperament. That is where the profiles come in handy. Look into malawi bloat. Long and short of it, they have longer intestinal tracts than other fish and can't handle a high protein diet. It is preventable by feeding a high quality low protein pellet. I recommend new life spectrum food.

 

[HeatherW]

Most synodontis catfish will do well with Africans. Pick one type of labidochromis, one type of metriclima, one type of cynotalapia. This is all example. Get 6-7 of each depending on what size they are when you get them. You want fish around the same size and temperament. That is where the profiles come in handy. Look into malawi bloat. Long and short of it, they have longer intestinal tracts than other fish and can't handle a high protein diet. It is preventable by feeding a high quality low protein pellet. I recommend new life spectrum food.

so if i get 6-7 of the same genius (ie labidochromis) do I get one male and the rest female? and all the same fish so they don't cross breed right?

 

[joel618]

so if i get 6-7 of the same genius (ie labidochromis) do I get one male and the rest female? and all the same fish so they don't cross breed right?

My stock list (still tweaking as I they show sex)
5 labidochromis yellow labs
6 metriclima greyshakie
6 pseudotropheus Acei
4 cynotalapia afra cobue
8 synodontis petricola
2 bristlenose pleco

I really wanted to add a group of labidochromis hongi, but shouldnt because the males would spar and they would crossbreed. If you start with juvies, you can sex them as they grow and establish the proper ratios. Rehoming extra males or trading them for females (when possible) if needed.