Stocking ideas for 150 gal African Cichlid

[Fishyfanatic]

Looking at the tank you wouldn't think that it's 150 gal. But when you take into consideration that it's really deep and tall, you start to realize it. It's only 2 inches longer than my 55 gal. We are wanting an all black background. We've tried all the other types of backgrounds but nothing looks as good with our cichlid's than the all black. It makes the colors pop out and the sand shine. One thing that I don't like about this tank is the glass top and the lights. IT's one long bar of lights and it's a pain in the butt. I am going to take a shot of my cat Nemo. He keeps sitting next to the tank and falls asleep watching the fish. The fish keep swimming over next to him and they sit there like they're talking to Nemo.

 

[xray]

Yea thats a Johanni. Great tank. When you get the Acie they will take advantage of all that height.

 

[FishLover14]

It is a GREAT looking tank!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I went to the lfs today and got a couple fish. Since the 150 is already cycled (used everything from the 55 gal except sand and I'm suprised that it's already cycled) I thought, Why not. With cichlid's you're supposed to add as many as possible at the same time to avoid teritorial issues, that's why we are adding them this early, the existing cichlid's still haven't made their own territories yet. SO, we got 3 yellow lab's, 2 P. Saulosi, 1 Red Zebra, and a Butterflyfish for the 29 gal. They are aclimating as we speak. I am calling in next week to order the Acei. The guy said that they are hard to come by around here so he will put the order out and it might take some time for them to come in. WHen I was looking down the cichlid aisle, they have one side African and one side South American and I found the German Blue Ram. I almost fell to the floor (never seen one in person, only online) and only wished that I had my S.A. Cichlid tank cycled. Ideaily we will have German Blue Rams, but they are not plentiful around here. I'm so excited!

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Travis- Awesome link! I just identified 2 of my John Doe Unknown Cichlid's from the website that you gave me. I thought that they were mixed breed's but apparently they are 1 male and 1 female Aulonocara OB Peacocks. 100 Kudo's to you!

I had posted pics a couple months ago asking if anyone could help me ID the fish and it was unanimous that they had to be mixed breeds (they look like it) and after a little searching on the Malawai Mayhem site, sure enough, there they are.

 

[xray]

Actually OB peacocks are, in a since mix breeds. But just like your parrots they are now an established hobby fish. Nothing wrong with mix breeds! Aren't we all.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

haha, thanks xray. It was funny because the male of the OB looks identical to my fish, and the female of the OB looks just like my fish. I have one more peacock that I haven't been able to ID. I searched all over and cannot figure out what it is. I'm going to try to post a pic. It's going to be the fish that's spotted. Also, I got a better pic of the "Johanni". I would greatly appreciate it if someone could completly confirm that it is indeed a Johanni. I saw some Cobalt's today that looked similar. Thanks everyone and I don't mean to doubt those that said that it was a Johanni. I know that the pic I posted yesterday was fuzzy and I got a clear shot today. I just want to make sure. If you can't tell, I am on cloud nine right now I'm so happy. I'm posting pics in my gallery.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

anyone have any ideas?

 

[poppab02]

Well, I would definitely say that I don't think it's a Johanni based on the vertical instead of horizontal striping. The body shape looks much more like that of a Pseudotropheus species. I have a fish that looks very similiar to yours that I haven't really completely decided what variety it is. It could be a variety of Zebra, or elongatus--which is what I believe mine is. The coloring is very similiar to that of a male saulosi but I'm not convinced that's what you have. Have you had it since it was a juvenile? Did you buy it from a mixed african tank? Maybe that would help people more. Heck, it could just be a mutt

Anyways that's just my 2 cents

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I purchased him about 8 months ago and he still hasn't reached full growth yet. I'm assuming that he was a juvenile. They were labled as Johanni in the tank and they have both vertical and horizontal stripes. The verticle stripes are more prominent but they have 2 or 3 horisontal stripes as well.

 

[xray]

http://www.eatel.net/~rbriggs/cichlid/pictures.htm
heres a link. its a johanni!!
Although yours has better color than that one. Or just a better camera

 

[poppab02]

It's possible it's a johanni but that body shape just looks more like a pseudotropheus to me. Is the body shaped like the your Auratus? If it is then it is likely a johanni. There's a noticeable difference in the body shape between the melanochromis and pseudotroph's especially when they are younger. Also, in my experience when the johanni's show vertical stripes the blue in their coloring is usually much more pale than in the picture you took.

It could be a johanni especially if it's mixed with another species, but I'm not convinced.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

The body type is like the Auratus. After looking at the website that xray posted, they look just like the Johanni's at the top of the page, except ours are blue. That's the first pic that I have seen fo the Johanni's having the horizontal stripes. We have a crappy camera and it probably is just not taking a good enough pic. Thanks everyone! I feel relieved knowing that my little guy is definately a Johanni. They are one of my favorites, then again, aren't they all except for that pesky Ice Blue (beautiful fish, just mean as can be).

 

[Cichlidlovers]

Sorry to butt in, I was reading that you were wanting a black backround for your 150, I have just set up a 90 and was having the same problems finding a backround. I had some black landscaping fabric laying around so i used that. It looks great the colors of the fish pop. Though it is only temporary for me as I want to use a blue metallic wrapping paper, have to wait for xmas for the stores to carry it..lol. Good luck

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You're not butting it at all. Thanks for the tip! We found 1 background but it has rocks on it. We are looking for a solid black piece. We may take RC airplane covering and put it on the tank. Not using the heat gun of course.