Stocking ideas for 150 gal African Cichlid

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Fishyfanatic

Fishyfanatic

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The 150 gal is up and running. It's going through a mini-cycle right now so I am planning what to add to the tank once it's done. In regards to what is currently stocked in the tank, does anyone have any suggestions as to what we can add to the tank?

I would love to have at least two of each fish. So I was thinking of getting another Ice Blue, Yellow Lab, Red Zebra, Snow White, and a couple more Johanni's. I'd also like to introduce a couple different types of African Lake Malawali cichlids. What do you guys think?
 
I would Reccommend Adding althouhg it just is a personal opinion:

3 Yellow Labs
2 Psudemous Acie "Musli Acie"
1 Psudemous Acie "Ngara White Tail Acie"
3 Psudemous Solocofi-If you havent heard of this fish or need a link PM me they are a stunning blue mbuna.
1 Psudmoues Demansio-Kinda Agressive to their on kind but ok other than that.
1 Psudmoues Elongatus-Beautiful Fish


If you need links to profiles of there fish with pics just PM me.

HTH
 
Oh, what a great size tank for Africans! Please, if I can suggest, get at least three of each type rather than two. That will increase your odds of getting breeding pairs. My suggestions for species? I love yellow labs, very peaceful and good community fish, get lots. Zebras can be real mean bastards so choose carefully, I wouldn't suggest more than one color morph. Same with M. johannis but even double. They can be extremely aggessive, just like M. auratus, so be carefull. I might suggest (and I'll admit I'm a huge fan of these guys) Pseudotropheus demasoni. They're mean as all get out, but they don't get too big so they won't bother most of your fish. Their aggression is mainly held between themselves, but you'll love the way these little guys fight with each other. Also check into Pseudotropheus acei 'Luwala Reef' yellow tails. If you can find them they are absolutely spectacular looking fish. Chrome blue with bright yellow fins. And peaceful :)
 
First off are you keeping the fish you have listed for the 150 in the 150. If so I would add:
4 Pseudotropheus Acie (I like the yellow tails)
3 yellow labs
2 ice blue
2 red zebra
Its not as many species but IMO each species needs some companionship. The ice blue and red zebra I picked because thats what you wanted. I wouldn't add any Johanni. I agree with Travis, they can get as aggressive as Aratus.
The Demasoni are beautiful, but they scare the hell out of me (my tank is very peaceful.) 8O
FF keep us posted and show pics of the final product. :mrgreen:
 
Thank you guys so much! Today we are going to the lfs to get a backing and some black sand for the tank. They are pooping like crazy and its very noticeable (we have white sand) so we normally sprinkle black sand on top and it looks awesome. IT also helps the poop be less noticeable. This afternoon our shipment from Big Al's comes in. I am so excited!

I was definitely wanting to get some Psuedotropheus Acei. The rest of the fish that you guys listed, I don't know what the are. I'm going to try to search for some profiles online and look at pictures. The lfs around here have all of the African Cichlid's listed as Misc. African Cichlid's so I need pics so I can make sure I"m getting the right ones.

So the consensus is no more Johanni's. I love those little guys, it's a shame they are so aggressive. We were tempted to get a Male Auratus but I have heard the male is more aggressive than the female. Aggression has toned down since we moved them into the new tank. I'll take some pics tonight after we get the backing and black sand in the tank. It's going to be under construction for a couple months until we can find what we want. I've found a problem with trying to find plants that reach the surface. THe largest we can find is 24 inches and it's 31 inches tall.
 
Travis, your tank is totally amazing. :mrgreen:

FF, I don't have any advice for you since I don't keep Africans, but I think your tank is going to be awesome and I would love to see some pics when you get your new fishies. OMG I just noticed that you have 4 baby parrots in your 29 gallon, what are you going to do with them (another tank)? 8O
 
haha. They are babies right now. And when I say babies, I mean they are 1 1/2 inches, still gray with a black stripe. We are going to move them over to the 150 gal and get a African Butterfly fish to put in the 29 and get something semi-aggressive to put in the 29. We haven't decided yet what, but something that will be good with the eels and butterflyfish.
 
I've been very happy with my Pseudotropheus Saluoisi I have growing out in my 29 gallon right now, The fact that the male and female of the species when adults are distinctly differently colored (males have black/purple striping, females are yellow) makes it striking to see them swimming around together. Also there is no fish I could recommend more highly than Pseudotropheus Acei like many others have said. Get 4-6 of them and I guarantee you will love them. They are just the best fish.
 
I tried searching for the Pseudotropheus Saluoisi but didn't come up with anything. Can you provide a link?
 
Ok, so I am confused. When we purchased our Johanni's the lfs said that they were Johanni's. I was looking at http://www.malawimayhem.com/profiles.php?filter=MN and the Johanni's that they show pictures of looks nothing like what we have. Ours are more of a checker patters with dark blue and light blue lines. They have golden spots on their anal fin. Can anyone tell me what we have?
 
They could still be M. johanni as there is a lot of variation and inbreeding going on in the hobby with species as popular a that one. Do you have any pics?
 
I just took about 40 pics and none of them are perfectly clear. I really need to buy a new camera. This one sucks. I did get a good shot of my yellow parrot. Then again, he doesn't move. :D The first pic is the best one that I could get of the Johanni. The second one is of the 150 at this point in time. Still so much to do. The third is of my bp. He's so cute.
 
Good looking tank :) That certainly looks like it could be a johanni to me. And that's a great pic of the parrot. Looks like he's peeking out from behind the plant :lol:
 
What can I say, I love my fish. It's so hard to take good pics with the digital camera that we have. It's about 7 years old and one of the FIRST that came with a zoom. We have to get a new one. The tank is slowly progressing. I went to the lfs and tried to get backing for a 50 by 31 inch tank. It appears that noone around here has backing that is 31 inches tall so I'm probably going to have to special order it. Noone also has any plants that are 30 inches tall. Hmm, wonder why?
 
LOL - I noticed that your tank had a pretty unique form factor for a 150G. I really like it. If you just want a one-color background you might try getting a piece of foam-core matting at a hobby shop cut to fit and painting it. Just stick it up behind the tank.

And if you want some plants that are 30" inches tall, I'd suggest getting some lilies. They'll take a while to get that big, but I've got a Nuphar japonicum lily in my ARLC tank that is on its way right now and my Africans don't bother it at all :)
 
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