my 55 gallon finally up and running**pictures**

[travis simonson]

When I first set up my tank I got a lot of advice claiming that bright light would cause my Africans to hide in the shade all of the time but I have not seen them exhibit this behavior at all and I'm running about 3.5 wpg. Again, I can't say this would hold true for utaka, but mbuna don't seem to mind, although I do try to provide a lot of caves should they need to rest their eyes

 

[mr funktastic]

ya i saw a setup at my local fish store and it was amazing. they used all red slate and there had to be at least 70 caves that were made. i plan to do the same thing just on a smaller scale. i will make alot of hiding places and i will also plant the tank around the back area. i will be using all plastic plants because of there tendancy to dig. i planted my hex tank really well and i think i will be able to do the same with this one. you can see a pic of it in my gallery. how much does red slate usually cost? i wont have a chance to get back up to big als for a while to price it out some some rough numbers would be great. i love your avatar, what type of cichlid is that?

 

[travis simonson]

I couldn't tell what prices are on red slate but I wouldn't think it would be too much. Your fish will thank you for it

My avatar is a Melanachromis cyaneorhabdos "Maingano" a close relative of M. johannii.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Travis- I thought that looked farmiliar. I had a Johanni with the vertical and horizontal stripes on its sides and your avatar looks just like it minus the verticle stripes.

Funk- Red slate varies by location. I found it in STL for as cheap as $.75 per pound but found it where I live for $3.75 per pound. BTW- Good choices on the fish. Both of those are very attractive and full of personality. Are you going to add by species? Also, with African's, it's best to slightly overcrowd the tank to cut down on aggression and add as many at a time as you can (again, to cut down on aggression). Just a few little tips.

 

[tetrin]

mr funk, melanochromis johanni is sexually dimorphic. and in a 55g i doubt that you'll be able to keep more than one male (despite it being the least aggressive of the crazy melanochromis species). as the females are similar in coloration to your electric yellows, barring one blue johanni male, all other fish would be yellow.

you can go with travis' melanochromis cyanoerhabdos, which is sexually monomorphic. i'd still suggest a 1/3 m/f ratio. then you can go more than 4 electric yellows (i'd say 10 , 2/8 m/f). the 'inch per gallon' rule can be promptly flouted .

i don't know if 4 male Sciaenochromis fryeri (commonly hap ahli) would go well in a 55g (keep in mind that females are drab). a 1-2 or 1-3 m/f would probably work.

but please bear in mind that i am a novice in keeping malawi cichlids. all that i say is from bookish knowledge gathered from the net .

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You're not going to have problems with sexual aggression until they get to the larger size. I have pretty much all males in my tank with the exception of a few females and haven't had issues until they become of breeding size. Then at that point we return them to the lfs. Mainly because we don't want to breed anything except the yellow labs and we don't want "muts". If they breed, we want them to be a pure breed. And, it is very difficult to sex most juvi African Cichlids.

The labs can't be sexed as juvi's so you're going to get what you get. The same is true for the juvi electric blues. So at this point don't worry about the ratios. The true coloration will come out as they age and then you can better determine what you want in regards to the ratio. But unless you want to breed, you could get all males or all females.

 

[mr funktastic]

i wasnt planning on breeding but if the situation accurs that i get a mix of male and female i will sile raise the fry if they dont get eaten and when they get large enough i will bring them to my local fish store to gain a credit. i wll try as hard as i can to get all males but if i get females i wont worry about it unless agression starts. i will also be buying all the fish at the same time to help prevent the agression also. lol i also have another question. how much would 4 electric blue and 4 electric yellow cichlids cost? i am will to invest in these fish. i plan to buy a 55 gallon kit from big als brand new so i plan on keeping them a long time. this tank will be solely used to keep the cichlids and i have smaller tanks to raise the fry if need be so. i am really getting excited about having this tank now. i plan to have it all set up with cichlids around christmas it will be one big buy. i am expecting to drop around 500-600 on the whole set up but it will be worth it. and since i am buying it at big als ( i am pretty sure that most of u have heard of it lol) i will get points and if i buy it on wednesday i will get double points! just buying the tanks will get me 25 dollar gift certificate and almost any choice of the points prizes. i will probably have to sell to of my tanks to make room for it but it would be worth it. how much is a complete 10 gallon kit worth used? and same for a 20 gallon bio wheel kit? both maybe a yea old.
well i cant thank you enough for all your responses and if there is anything else u want to fill me in on it would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The yellow labs I have found to be a fairly expensive African, in regards to common african cichlids. But it all depends on what age you will be buying them at. Breeding adults I have seen them go for as high as $40. But very small juvi's I have seen for $10. And different stores sell them for different prices. Depends on the area. And then Canada has different prices, so maybe someone from Canada could chime in. I would say that the average in my area for the juvi Yellow Lab would be about $10 to $15. The Electric Blue's average juvi is about $10. But, that's just my area.

Used kits don't go for much money. I'd say you'd probably get about $15 to $20 for a used 10 gal tank kit. The 20 gal, probably about $20 to $25. Used just don't go for too much money. That's why it is such a great deal when someone buys a used tank.

HTH

 

[mr funktastic]

well thanks for the prices but i think i can get them for alot cheaper than u can lol. and at my local pet store they go for around 10-15, but if i bought them at my local pet store on a tuesday they have a buy 1 fish get one free deal. i could get all my fish for half the price!! i think i have seen the electric blue and yellow at big als for less than 10 dollars. these were of course juvi's but they were a fair size. i can use a local super shopper magazine to advertise my tanks in and i may be able to get a higher price. this magazine is amazing for aquariums. someone was just selling a 90 gallon saltwater aquarium complete for 175 dollars. it was complete with all the fish, structure, skimmers, filters and lights!!! i was thinking about taking up salt water just because of that lol

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Exactly. Like I said, they are cheaper as small juvi's. We can't buy the smaller ones because our big ones would eat them.

Also, saltwater tanks tend to go for a higher price because of the amount of equipment that comes with them.

 

[tetrin]

The labs can't be sexed as juvi's so you're going to get what you get. The same is true for the juvi electric blues.

the first remark is indeed right. trying to sex juvi yellow labs only results in frustration. the person i rely most for all my queries also can't do so. however, the juvi electric blues all have the same coloration, a bright orange-yellow, similar to their mother. as soon as they change color (i think around the eight or the tenth week after birth) they become sexually active. some are even capable of fertilizing eggs even before changing colors.
so the juvi electric blues we see in the lfs are all males. even if the females are present, we don't pay much attention.

fishy, the four electric blues have survived so far in your tank because its a 125g and the absence of any females. i really don't know how 4 would fare in a 55g. but personally i wouldn't try it .

i'd suggest pseudotropheus acei (bright blue with a yellow tail). its sexually monomorphic too. and has a very pleasing personality, that would perfectly match with the yellows. pretty easy to find too .

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Tetrin, I don't have electric blue's in my tank. I have four yellow labs. I had a Johanni that got too aggressive because he was at his sexual maturity and we had to get rid of him. He was chasing a female hap. And it's a 150. I know, not important, but I'm just so proud of that tank.

I second the Acei's. They can be hard to find (depending on where you live) but under the right light are absolutely gorgeous. Check out my gallery. The pics were taken with a crappy camera, but I will be taking some with a good camera this weekend and posting some new ones.

It took me 6 months to find the Acei's so when I did we got 4 of them. Some of my favorites in the tank. Ok, I lied, all the fish are my favorites.

 

[tetrin]

sorry about both goof-ups fishy , i really am (specially the one with the tank size)...you should be proud...its a magnificent sight...someday maybe i can have something like that... ...
i really envy you on this... ...

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Thanks Tetrin. It's no big deal about the goof ups. I'm going to get some new pics up this weekend.

 

[greenmaji]

I made the same mistake not too long ago..LOL.. I think its because the 125 is alot more common then the 150.. but I would really like to see a 150 Id like to see what the shape of it looks like (ive seen the pic of it in your gallery fishy Id just like to see one in person )

 

[mr funktastic]

are 150 gallon tanks rare? you can buy them at the big als in barrie near me. in fact i think they have one set up in the store as a display cichlid tank. it is taller rather thanlong like yours. how much did your tank cost u? oh and as a final note i want to thank everyone for anything that they contributed to this post. every post brought me closer to having my tank and for that i thankyou. if u want to keep posting stuff about cichlids i will keep reading it. anything is helpful.

 

[poppab02]

I'm late coming to the party I guess. I keep cichlids and have for awhile now. I have a few suggestions to share with you.
1) I would suggest perhaps going with simply one type of cichlid if this is your first experiment with them. Mixing labs with peacocks or mbunas can work but it's a little tougher than you would think and you will have plenty to deal with just learning how to keep this fish. It's not like keeping regular community or even semi aggressive fish, there is a learning curve, and it can be steep at the beginning even if you do all your research.
2)Along the same lines I would recommend keeping mbunas over peacocks because they are easier to maintain, less aggressive, and cheaper to buy---you will have losses once they hit adulthood if it's your first try at this.
3)Of all the African's I've kept or seen by far the best has been the Acei. I absolutely love them. They're beautiful, they're well tempered, they are very social, and they are just overall the best group of fish I've ever kept. I would also recommend Psudotropheus Salousi.
females are a bright yellow all over
males look like females until adulthood then change to this http://www.tropheus.info/riftlakes/cichlids/pseudotropheus_saulosi.html
4) If you're keeping fish that grow to 8" I wouldn't keep over 6 of them in a 55 gallon and for 5" fish I wouldn't recommend over 8-9. Everybody talks about overcrowding reducing aggression. I have found this to only be true in tanks over 55 gallon.
5) If you have at your disposal a smaller tank, like around 29 gallon, I would recommend using it as a growth tank until they start to hit adulthood and exhibit lots of aggression. It can really cut down on aggression if they are moved to a different larger tank and have to set up new territories. If you don't it's really no big deal but I thought I might mention it in case you did.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

We bought the 150 gal from Petsmart. Apparently they carry that specific tank quite often. So if you go they might have it in the store. It's more of a square and doesn't look like 150 gals. We went for the sole purpose of buying a bushynose pleco, but left with a fish tank. It was I think $600 for the tank, stand, glass hoods, light strip, and UGF (which we have just sitting in the garage). I thought it was a great deal. The glass is slightly over 1/2 inch thick, the stand is actual wood, not the compressed wood and the bottom of the tank isn't fully supported. It has an open bottom where the tank sits but it is supported all the way around the outside. It's held so far. I love it because it's so tall and gives the fish alot of room to swim around. And since it's square you don't have to try and fill up alot of space with decor. Our Cichlids absolutely love it. They have tons of swimming space but still have their little hiding places.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The hardest part about the 150 tall is the backing. It is IMPOSSIBLE to find a backing. It has to be ordered online and even then you are limited on what you can find.

 

[mr funktastic]

i didnt wnat t buy a backing for my 10 gallon so i just painted the back of the tank this really dark but bright blue lol i cant explain it. it is a deeper blue but it isnt dark it is almost like a colour you would see in a disney movie lol ok i tried. but it looks really cool. my dad is also amazing at drawing and painting so when i buy the 55 gallon i will get him to design and paint a backround for it.where is the best place to buy a 55 gallon kit from? i have alot of stores available to me so any chain store i have a good chance of being close to. i live in canada so only canadian stores please.