stocking my 55 gallon finally finished

[Guest]

I bought the last 2 fish for my 55 gallon last week, one more yellow lab and one more Acei. That gives me the following (As seen in "my info" button)

55 Gallon Freshwater
2 Aquaclear 70 HOB filters
Gravel substrate-limestone/flint rocks
Cabomba plants in background (growing wonderfully.. although uprooted often!)
Im going to invest in some crypts for foreground plants possibly.
FISH
5 Pseudotropheus acei (yellow labs)
5 Labidochromis caeruleus (Acei)
3 Kenyi-Pseudotropheus lombardoi
1 Psuedotropheus socolofi "Albino"
1 Melanochromis johanni (female)
1 Melanochromis auratus (female)
2 Clown loaches, 1 Rainbow Shark, 1 Pleco, 1 bristlenose pleco

I am closely watching the aggressive factor and i already got rid of one of the Albino socolofi (turned into pet store) and the other may have to go as well.

The melanochromis are both still females and stay pretty much to themselves.. im surprised becuase i was told these would be my two most aggressive but if i ever see any problems i will sell them back as well.

I put the bristelnose pleco in there becuase bob.. my common pleco... is getting huge. I don't know what to do with him.. lol. It looks like im not going to be able to upgrade to a bigger tank becuase we were planning on moving to a bigger house.. but we decided to renew our lease here for another year and i don't have room for a bigger tank. Im really attached to bob but i know he needs a bigger home SOON.


The only other thing that may change is if i have to get rid of the albino or any melanochromis i may add more Kenyi.... females. So far out of my 3 none have turned yellow yet but i want at least 1 male and 3-4 females. So im waiting to see if any of them turn colors.. they are a bit over 2" so im guessing they should change soon if they are right???

Any other suggestions for this tank???
i will be getting pics soon.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I would stay away from the Kenyi. They are terrors when they hit sexual maturity and when they start breeding. Similar to the Auratus. If you do decide to add more fish, you could get maybe another Johanni?

 

[Guest]

i thought the johanni were the most aggressive???? otherwise i would add 2 females and a male johanni. I just really like the color of the blue kenyi and ive seen several tank setups with the kenyi, labs, and acei.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You could get another female Johanni. But I'd avoid the males. If you want to keep the Kenyi's, that's fine. Just beware of their potential behavioral issues.

 

[Guest]

right fishy i understand the risks involved.. as with having any african cichlids there are risk. The male johanni are beautiful but the females don't really appeal to me at all. I like the female kenyi becuase of the blue color.. however i thought having one male in a midst of females would make for less aggression.

 

[ntswift]

I have two Kenyi in my tank right now. They are really aggressive. My male tried taking on a Red Zebra twice his size! He also bit the lip off of my marbled goby. I used to have a Johanni in my last tank and it got along with most of my cichlids. Just be careful of the Kenyis.

 

[Guest]

ntswift... was your johanni a male or a female?

was the aggressive kenyi a male or female?? ive heard controversial info on these guys.. sometimes they say the males are more aggressive, sometimes the females, and others have siad that they are best with a high female ratio and only 1 male.

 

[ntswift]

I had a male of both. Right now I have a male and a female Kenyi. The male just chases her all around the tank. He isn't a very good ladies man! The Johanni's are really cool and got along with most of my cichlids except for my peacocks. He would chase them all over the place. Hope that helps any!

 

[Guest]

ntswift.. thats why you need to get more females if you have a male kenyi... so that the one female doesn't get badgered to death.. lol.

 

[ntswift]

Lol i agree, but unfortunately i dont have that much room in my 55 gal. when i upgrade my tank to a 150 or so i'll add some more then. I'm just waiting on my BGK and bicher to get a little bit bigger then i'll hook them up with a bigger tank. As for yours though, good luck with what ever you decide!