Stocking my new 55 gallon!

[Burgo345]

Upgraded from a 26 bow front tank to a 55 gallon for my African Cichlids!

Currently I have -

2 x Yellow Labs ~ 4" Max ~

1 x Johanni Blue ~ 5" Max ~

1x Melanochromis Auratus ~ 5" Max ~

1x OB Zebra ~ 6" Max ~

What other kinds of Africans would you suggest I put in with my current fish and about how many should I have total? I have looked at alot of the sites on stocking and it seems like they seem to really want you to overstock the tank, so I decided to ask here just to be sure. I included the max size of the fish for my own reference due to the fact I know I cant really have anything over 5-6 Inches max in a 55 gallon.

Thanks for the help in advance!

Anthony

 

[Dean jones]

I must admit I love Afra jalo reef or Saulosi&Polits mate

 

[Dean jones]

Cuckoo catfish are very beautiful also mate

 

[Burgo345]

Ill have to look into those!

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Imo
16-18lightly stocked
19-21medium
22-24 heavily stocked

I like the ones he posted above plus you can look into some of these
Melanochromis chipokae
Pseudotropheus kingsizei
Pseudotropheus sp. Perspicax Orange Cap
Metriaclima emmiltos

 

[Burgo345]

Andrew great info, I was worried I might have mixed some that I shouldnt have due to what I believed was some bad info from my LFS but so far so good, only negative thing is my Johanni Blue is pretty aggressive in the tank.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Andrew great info, I was worried I might have mixed some that I shouldnt have due to what I believed was some bad info from my LFS but so far so good, only negative thing is my Johanni Blue is pretty aggressive in the tank.

The yellow labs might not do so great in there but all your fish other than them are aggressive fish. All the ones I posted above are under 5" I believe maybe one 6" and are all aggressive.

 

[Burgo345]

Ill have a close eye on the tank maybe I will end up doing some trade with the yellow labs for something that will suit the tank better.

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Ill have a close eye on the tank maybe I will end up doing some trade with the yellow labs for something that will suit the tank better.

They may be ok yellow labs are goofy lol its almost like nobody likes messing with them. But there are those sometimes lol

I found all the fish I listed here, I think they carry all the others aswell if you live in the states
http://www.livefishdirect.com/store.php?cid=2

 

[Burgo345]

That's the site ive been looking at! Awesome selection and good pricing!

 

[Andrew McFadden]

That's the site ive been looking at! Awesome selection and good pricing!

I've ordered almost all my Cichlids from them. Pretty good for the price but they don't have many f1 witch is a downfall imo. All of mine that they shipped out are doing great with not one death. Good luck post up a pic when your all done

 

[Burgo345]

Will do ill post a pic of what I have tomorrow and then another pic when it is all done!

 

[Dreamingdragon]

I have 21 cichlids In my 55 gallon tank. I must say. When I had less fish in my tank they were more agressive and more territory. So I put more fish in it and know over 9 month they do really good but that does not count for every one. Depended on what fish you have and if they tollerance to one a other. It's hard to tell with cichlids because some or more agressive than other. I always put 3 to 5 fish at the time.

 

[Dreamingdragon]

My tank with 21 one fish

 

[Burgo345]

Nice looking tank! I need to make sure I have a lot of females in the tank correct??

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Nice looking tank! I need to make sure I have a lot of females in the tank correct??

You can do an all male tank. If you keep 1 female then you should have a lot more to spread the aggression out from the male to multiple females.

What I did was got some females to let them breed some and get my stock numbers up then I plan to get rid of all the females. To stop the breeding

 

[christine2012]

Just a tiny word of caution, I had an auratus go on a spree a few months ago, when he matured. I went from 15 to 8 mbuna in a weeks time. I rehomed him and am now down to 7. Just saying be prepared just in case!

 

[Dean jones]

Andrew is a class act where Cichlids are ? And the Lunatic has a turtle class Act

 

[Burgo345]

Mine better not go on a spree

 

[Andrew McFadden]

Mine better not go on a spree

Sometimes it happens and you'll need to act fast on finding the one or your chances of losing a lot are high. We try to stock so that doesn't happen but it does from time to time. Everyone's tank is different and stock. Meaning it may work for me but not you. Goofy fish can add a lot of stress at times. There are some fish that should be left as specie only tanks. I've heard a lot of bad things about that fish so that's why I gave you a list of pretty aggressive Cichlids imo. I keep all mild aggressive so I don't have any first hand experience with them.