African cichlid stocking for a 55g

[Aquarium1]

My tank is cycled!!! I'll keep adding fish flakes until I get cichlid food and some fish. What food should I feed the fish listed earlier? Algae wafers, pellets, etc? Thank you. Also, I was wondering what order should I add them and how many I should add at a time?

 

[Sicklid]

I feed a veggie flake, either spirulina or kelp, look for the lowest possible protein percentage (mine is kelp, 33% protein). I also feed them micro crabs (cyclops), and I also feed a cichlid pellet as well, a little higher in protein than the flake (43%).

I feed them this each day, one type for each feeding, three times a day. But you can get by with just a good quality veggie flake! I just like to give them a varitey. And of course, fresh vegetables like zucchini.

 

[Sicklid]

In all fairness, I got my ideas from DizzCat and Sicklid when I was putting my tank together. Then have been a world of help to me. I am mearly passing on the knowledge from my great sensei.....(bows)

Dizzcat was the go-to advisor on that thread, bro. I think I gave you a couple of replies that could have been considered misinformation, lol.. Hey, we all make our mistakes, right?

 

[Aquarium1]

Also, I was wondering what order should I add them and how many I should add at a time? Thank you all for your help.

 

[Sicklid]

I don't think that you will have problems adding them at different times, even though I recommend adding them simultaneously if possible... But, for the most part, unless you want to spend big bucks on adult fish you will prob only be able to find small to med size fish which shouldn't be too territorial right away.

If you must add them at different times, I would suggest the Acei or Labs first, then the Zebras.

 

[Aquarium1]

I think I'll add Acei (the least aggressive) first. I'll get as many as I can each time I go to the pet store until I get 5. Then the labs, then the Red Zebras. How does this sound?

 

[mfdrookie516]

ive had really good luck changing the rocks around when i add new fish, that way their "territory" is taken away and they must claim a new one and give the new fish a chance at their own

 

[Sicklid]

Like a plan, that's how it sounds!

To be honest, you might like to just have the Acei and Labs in there, and bump up your quantity to more of each of them... I love the Yellow/Purple combo of those two species together, and even though I have Red Z's myself, I am not so happy with the color difference between them and the Yellow Labs. I would have liked a different color fish all together, but hey. Around here, I have to take what I can find in the local shops unless I want to drive to Daytona where there is an awesome store dedicated to cichlids... But that is four hours away, lol...

 

[Aquarium1]

ive had really good luck changing the rocks around when i add new fish, that way their "territory" is taken away and they must claim a new one and give the new fish a chance at their own

Thts a good idea. If I need to do tht, I will, however I don't want to mess up my current rockwork lol.

 

[spoonman]

I added mine in groups, but that is based on when they were available. I got my tank with alot of high bioload fish in it. So I could add alot at a time without worrying about overstocking. 8 very large fish to be exact. I got rid of all of the previous fish to a lfs and the first batch that I got was 1 rz, 1yl, 1acei, 1obz. Then when sicklid and dizzcat told me what I could put in there I went back the same week and bought 3 rz, 3 acei, 3 yl and the albino. About a month later I found the cobalt blue zebras and bought 4 of those. Later (about 4 months) I got the greshakei since it took me a while to find one that had good color. Then about 2 months later I got the female greshakei. Thing is all of them are very juvenile. They are all very small still. I think that is the safest way to start. Kind of so they dont have any bad habits, so to speak. Let them grow up together like family. Seems to be working for me. I think I have what I want and dont think I would add to it at this point unless i could find a hongi. I have not seen any here at all. Hope that helps and doesnt just cloud the issue....

 

[kaiofcanada]

Giving this thread top rating. Very good information here. Thanks all. I will refer to this thread when setting up my tank

 

[Aquarium1]

Ok so I'v been getting some complaints about the red zebra being too aggressive, so I used cichlid-forum.com and picked 2 that had peaceful temperament and a semi-aggressive con-specific temperament like my other two picks. They are:
Labidochromis caeruleus (or blue caeruleus) Blue Caeruleus
and
Labidochromis sp. "Zebra Eastern" Zebra Eastern
If I do pick them, I hope I can find them lol.

 

[mfdrookie516]

Good luck... ive not seen either of those in any store around here... you will probably have to order them or drive up to cincinatti or louisville... i dont see a problem with either, but then again, i tend to like the more aggressive fish

 

[Aquarium1]

Good luck... ive not seen either of those in any store around here... you will probably have to order them or drive up to cincinatti or louisville... i dont see a problem with either, but then again, i tend to like the more aggressive fish

lol, I might be able to special order them of course you've never specifically looked for them

 

[mfdrookie516]

lol, I might be able to special order them of course you've never specifically looked for them

But i have specifically looked at every single fish in the store lol... and ive specifically researched all of the afrcian cichlids i have seen in local stores as i was planning my 150 lol... but then again, i could have missed them

 

[Aquarium1]

But i have specifically looked at every single fish in the store lol... and ive specifically researched all of the afrcian cichlids i have seen in local stores as i was planning my 150 lol... but then again, i could have missed them

XD Nothing is impossible (except slamming a revolving door) I'll look at my lfs and ask if they'll special order it, but I might not be able to pick the gender so it'll b a trial and error.

 

[spoonman]

Ok so I'v been getting some complaints about the red zebra being too aggressive, so I used cichlid-forum.com and picked 2 that had peaceful temperament and a semi-aggressive con-specific temperament like my other two picks. They are:
Labidochromis caeruleus (or blue caeruleus) Blue Caeruleus
and
Labidochromis sp. "Zebra Eastern" Zebra Eastern
If I do pick them, I hope I can find them lol.

Complaints from who? I have them in with my other non-aggresive Mbuna and dont have any issues. DizzCatt has them in with other non-aggresive Mbuna and she doesnt have any issues.

 

[spoonman]

Dont listen to them. LOL

 

[Aquarium1]

Also, I was wondering if I can feed my cichlids Hikari cichlid staple? It has 35% protein. And then I was thinking about supplementing with vegetarian flake food if I can find some. Does this sound ok?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Mfdrookie and Sonomakid keep bothering me in the chat about them being too aggressive.

To clear it up, i didnt say they were aggressive...I think that was the same night we said we were going fishing in your tank too...