The move to africans

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DragonFish71

DragonFish71

Great white snark
Joined
Apr 4, 2009
Messages
6,562
Location
Longmont, Colorado
Since my wonderful fiance got me 2 new 115 gallons tanks, I'm thinking about starting up an african tank. (See this is why I'm gonna marry him, he supports my habit) ;)


So who can point me to some good websites where I can figure out which africans should be compatible? I want to have my research well under way.
 
Whoa! I need to find me a man like that! Not just 1 115g but 2. :D

Well...I like Cichlid-forum.com for the profiles (hope its ok to post the link....they have good cichlid profiles). I think they have some cookie-cutter setups somewhere on their site, but I don't agree with alot of them. It's best to stick with fish from the same lake. See which ones you like in the profiles and make a list....we'll be happy to tell you which ones work well with each other.

I think the best way to know compatibility is probably by people's experiences.

Other folks may have more links for ya.
 
Yeah +1 for JOM. As long as you pick from the same lake most species will be compatible with each other. However if you go with Malawi you will have to pick between mbunas or haps and peacocks because of different dietary requirements.
 
Yay, finally moving over to africans! I agree, for the most part, stick with the same lakes. You *can* mix them, but you have to be careful. Also, you *can* mix mbuna, haps, and peacocks, but for the most part, dont. You could do peacocks in one and mbuna in the other :)
 
Thanks all for the replies. I really like the yellow labs, red zebras, aceis and the electric blue johanni. I want the tank to have vibrant colors.

And mfd, yeah, finally making the jump ;) Got a big enough tank and have been reading all you guys postings.
 
yellow labs are pretty much the trademark mbuna choice. Take a look around at some of the fish compatable with those you listed. Make sure to have a good m:fm ratio as well 1m:4-6+fm. Also, check out cherry red zebras, hongi, and kenyi. Those are some of my favorites. I cant wait until you start getting it set up, im so excited for you :)
 
I'm checking out cichlid forum right now. Geeesh so many to choose from. Of course I also have to consider what is local. I have issues with ordering fish online, I wanna see what I'm getting.

Since you've got an african set up, what is the best type of rock? I'm going PFS (duh ;) ) and some DW, but I know rock is important. I have lots of river rock left over from the 120 build.
 
Nothing to add except Congrats! :)
 
i have aquarium1 special creek rock... he worked his tail off hauling it up a hill out of the creek behind his house. Any kind of rock will work for the most part. Some like thr because it supposedly offers some buffering capacity. Im probably the most anti ph altering person ever though, so i just leave mine be (could be because mine is 7.8 lol)... Get the kind of rock you want. Some people like to use base rock, but i just dont like that look. You've seen how mine looks right? I like the shelf-like appearence because it is more natural to what you would see around here. I've got some slate too. Just dont forget to put it against the glass rather than on the sand cause they'll dig under them quick as anything if you dont
 
mfdrookie516 said:
i have aquarium1 special creek rock... he worked his tail off hauling it up a hill out of the creek behind his house. Any kind of rock will work for the most part. Some like thr because it supposedly offers some buffering capacity. Im probably the most anti ph altering person ever though, so i just leave mine be (could be because mine is 7.8 lol)... Get the kind of rock you want. Some people like to use base rock, but i just dont like that look. You've seen how mine looks right? I like the shelf-like appearence because it is more natural to what you would see around here. I've got some slate too. Just dont forget to put it against the glass rather than on the sand cause they'll dig under them quick as anything if you dont
Click to expand...


Yeah I've drooled over the pics of yours :)

So lets see, I have lots of red slate and river rock (taking stock) I was thinking manzanita wood, like in our 120. No plants (asking for trouble with africans I hear)
I do know they are diggers, I've seen them in the LFS moving gravel around. My old jaguar cichlid did that. Dang I miss him tho, he was funny.


Anyways, from looking at your pics (again) I see that you mixed zebras, labs and aceis, so that means I might be able to do the same. I know they need hidey places and that I should probably start with juvies.
 
yeah, almost any mbuna are compatible with each other. You could do like 5-6 labs, 5-6 zebras, 5-6 acei, and 5-6 of something else... Lots of "hidey places" lol, and i just recommend juvies because of price. You cant sex juvies though, thats the only problem. You may need to get several extras of each so that you can rehome all but one male when theyre big enough to be sexed. 2 males = disaster. And with plants, its a "ymmv" situation. Some people can, some people cant. Mine love plants, and when i say love, i mean they eat them lol. I dont have any acei in mine right now, i really need to finish stocking it. Right now I have: 1 lab, 1m1fm kenyi, 1m1fm red zebra, 1 auratus, 1m1fm venustus (going to be rehomed soon), and 3fm bumblebees. I've just had alot going on and no time to finish stocking. And thanks for drooling over mine, i dont really think it looks that nice, maybe just because its mine and nothing of mine is ever good enough
 
You can definitely mix the ones you want....even the Johanni which can be more aggressive than the others you want. I think the tank is large enough that you can mix those guys in there without any trouble. Cobalt Blue or Ice Blue Zebras are nice if you can't find the Johanni.
 
JustOneMore20 said:
You can definitely mix the ones you want....even the Johanni which can be more aggressive than the others you want. I think the tank is large enough that you can mix those guys in there without any trouble. Cobalt Blue or Ice Blue Zebras are nice if you can't find the Johanni.
Click to expand...


Cool, thanks. I'll look those up too.
 
mfdrookie516 said:
yeah, almost any mbuna are compatible with each other. You could do like 5-6 labs, 5-6 zebras, 5-6 acei, and 5-6 of something else... Lots of "hidey places" lol, and i just recommend juvies because of price. You cant sex juvies though, thats the only problem. You may need to get several extras of each so that you can rehome all but one male when theyre big enough to be sexed. 2 males = disaster. And with plants, its a "ymmv" situation. Some people can, some people cant. Mine love plants, and when i say love, i mean they eat them lol. I dont have any acei in mine right now, i really need to finish stocking it. Right now I have: 1 lab, 1m1fm kenyi, 1m1fm red zebra, 1 auratus, 1m1fm venustus (going to be rehomed soon), and 3fm bumblebees. I've just had alot going on and no time to finish stocking. And thanks for drooling over mine, i dont really think it looks that nice, maybe just because its mine and nothing of mine is ever good enough
Click to expand...

For sexing them you mean the egg spots? Those show up what, about 6 months old or so?
 
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