55g planted cichlid tank need help with stocking ideas for last few fish

[MMantelli]

48" T-5 6700k/colormax light
4 stage canister filter/uv sterilize
Parameters: ph 8.2
Ammonia 0
No2 0
No3 40 (working on getting it back down so far its come way down)
Hardness about 10-12 gh and kh







Right now I have
1 blue johanni M
1albino zebra? (assorted African from petco) M
1 swallowtail or bi-color peacock
1 crimson tide M
1 venustus M?
1 rusty F?
1 hap jonstoni M?
1 blue zebra? (asst Africans from Perco) F had to remove her to the quarantine due to the johannis aggression
Also have a gold lab in another tank with 2 loaches I'm going to add him to the 55 later on when his size is matched to the other ones I just don't know what else to put in there Mabry another crimson tide a eureka Jake and a bright peacock mabey

 

[MMantelli]

I meant for this to be in cichlid discussion sorry guys

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Your tank is much to small for some of those fish. Also your going to have a lot of aggression problems. You need to up the johanni to at least 6 Imo and many of the others need re homed

 

[MMantelli]

I know but I'm a sucker for what my girl likes I'm going to re-home the hap and the johanni put the gold lab in there add a couple more then figure out who I wanna breed in my other tank

 

[tbrazil230]

Your tank is much to small for some of those fish. Also your going to have a lot of aggression problems. You need to up the johanni to at least 6 Imo and many of the others need re homed

What do you mean by "up the johanni" add more? I'm just curious I have a single male in my tank

 

[Andrew McFadden]

What do you mean by "up the johanni" add more? I'm just curious I have a single male in my tank

Yes that's why I said to 6

 

[Nathanpopp]

Stick a black background on that bad boy.

 

[MMantelli]

Your tank is much to small for some of those fish. Also your going to have a lot of aggression problems. You need to up the johanni to at least 6 Imo and many of the others need re homed

What if I upped the johanni to 3, upped the crimson tide to 3, peacoks to 3, and rusty to 3. And re-homed the rest. Which ones do u think will be to big. Which ones would u re-home
I'm trying to stick to all males.

Stick a black background on that bad boy.

Im gonna line the back with different sword plants

 

[Andrew McFadden]

that sounds better to me however im not sure if the peacocks will be able to take the aggression from the others in the long run. Id still add a couple more

 

[MMantelli]

Mabey bump the peacock to 5 then but aren't they pretty aggressive anyway

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Mabey bump the peacock to 5 then but aren't they pretty aggressive anyway

Peacocks are peaceful compared to mbuna. The johanni may be to aggressive to actually be in there with the others. I would raise the mbuna up to 6 if anything. I've never had much luck getting peacocks to color up after having a dominate and sub dominate.

 

[MMantelli]

It seems like the johanni is the dominant and the peacock and the crimson tide seem to compete for subdominancy (if that's a word) the albino one is the biggest in the tank but leaves everyone alone I also have a yellow lab in my other tank I'm gonna add to the 55 when it gets bigger what if I did this
1 johanni
4 peacocks
3 crimson tide
3 rusty
2 labs
2 venustus

Or sjould I 86 the venustus's for another lab and another peacock I really would only like 1 or 2 johannis. Oh and thanks for the help and would I be able to put some eureka Jake's in there are they a peacock.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

It seems like the johanni is the dominant and the peacock and the crimson tide seem to compete for subdominancy (if that's a word) the albino one is the biggest in the tank but leaves everyone alone I also have a yellow lab in my other tank I'm gonna add to the 55 when it gets bigger what if I did this

A yellow lab may do ok but odds lean more to it won't IMO. In this small of a tank the johanni is going to treat and attack anything and everything that gets to close to its territory

1 johanni
4 peacocks
3 crimson tide
3 rusty
2 labs
2 venustus

I'd still up the numbers and no to the venustus

or should I 86 the venustus's for another lab and another peacock I really would only like 1 or 2 johannis. Oh and thanks for the help and would I be able to put some eureka Jake's in there are they a peacock.

Venustus should be in a 6' tank they get to big for your tank. Most haps should be in a 6' tank but the Victorians that you have stay pretty small so they might do ok. The reason I'd up those numbers is because I had rusty in a group of 3 and the male killed the females. The males get pretty aggressive when trying to breed. The johanni are aggressive fish all around and during breeding are more aggressive than all the other fish you have. What I'm worried about with them is killing all the others. By using the amount of how many you have will spread out the aggression. BTW the rusty will interbreed with everything even a your hand lol, so be careful.

Yes the other fish you asked about will maybe be ok to add and it is a peacock.

 

[MMantelli]

A yellow lab may do ok but odds lean more to it won't IMO. In this small of a tank the johanni is going to treat and attack anything and everything that gets to close to its territory

I'd still up the numbers and no to the venustus

Venustus should be in a 6' tank they get to big for your tank. Most haps should be in a 6' tank but the Victorians that you have stay pretty small so they might do ok. The reason I'd up those numbers is because I had rusty in a group of 3 and the male killed the females. The males get pretty aggressive when trying to breed. The johanni are aggressive fish all around and during breeding are more aggressive than all the other fish you have. What I'm worried about with them is killing all the others. By using the amount of how many you have will spread out the aggression. BTW the rusty will interbreed with everything even a your hand lol, so be careful.

Yes the other fish you asked about will maybe be ok to add and it is a peacock.

Awesome that helps a lot. And I'm aiming for all males so I'm not trying to breed untill I figure out which one I like the best then get 3 females and move them to my soon to be breeder tank. Unless I somehow find a rare species to breed.

 

[MMantelli]

Stick a black background on that bad boy.

im ordering the mystic background and some seaview gel from drsfostersmith.com this week

 

[Malawi Freak]

Don't waste your money on a background, paint it!!!!


Those swords should work but don't buy more. Let one prove its got a good hold on the tank and then let the runners it forms fill in the rest. If you want them to work you absolutely need to use root tabs. Check out my thread in the planted forum where I'm testing out the aquavitro product line from seachem.

 

[MMantelli]

Don't waste your money on a background, paint it!!!!

Those swords should work but don't buy more. Let one prove its got a good hold on the tank and then let the runners it forms fill in the rest. If you want them to work you absolutely need to use root tabs. Check out my thread in the planted forum where I'm testing out the aquavitro product line from seachem.

I would but how much I change things around I would end up kicking myself when I got tired of the black paint plus I like the look of the mystic background from seaview on drsfostersmith.com.

I am using the API tabs for now I got them when I got the plant then found out that I can use osmocote pellets. And since I have cichlids I got a 6" terra cotta pot punched out the bottom and zip tied screen to the top so that I could plant it in the pot upside down so my fish don't dig it up and also I cut a sew little slits in the screen so all I gotta do is lift it up and stick the tabs in from the bottom (or top since it is upside down lol) untill the roots work there way out then ill just stick them in the substrate next to the pot .

Also I had to re pot it cause one of the 2 died and the roots were rotting and starting to make the other one get root rot so I pulled off all the black roots trimmed the leaves (hopefully I did it right lol) and stuck a root tab broken in half on either side of the roots.

Oh and can u post me a link to that thread