Time to pick some Cichlids for my tank!

[manooosie]

I am a new comer to this hobby, and so far have enjoyed every minute of it. I have a beautiful 55 gallon tank in the middle of cycling, and I need to pick out my fish. The electric blues and yellows seem great, and I guess they are very popular. Here are some of the issues I have encountered picking some Malawi fish:

Budget- I would love to be able to go through the profiles, pick all the ones I want, and just order them. Unfortunatly, this is not going to happen. I can spend 75 bucks tops on this. I live in Vegas, so I have a decent amount of shops around to chose from, but I would like to get a list of what I want first before I go in to buy. Also, how far would 75 dollars go online?

Fish- The wonderful blues and yellow are amazing. What would go good with these fish? My wife (she only cares about the color) would like some red and some black. Any suggestions?

 

[talloulou]

Go to
http://www.liveaquaria.com/default.cfm?siteid=20
and type lake malawi in the search box. This will pull up a selection of fish with pictures, descriptions, and online prices. Hope that helps.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Also check out www.malawimayhem.com You'll have to click through ALOT of profiles to find ones that you want. Live Aquaria tends to have the most commonly found africans. Both are great options.

I am assuming that you are going for a mbuna tank? There really aren't any red Mbuna Cichlids. There are a few, but they are not common. Black.......hmmm....Off the top of my head I can't think of a black mbuna besides the Auratus. But don't get one. They are holy terrors in tanks. One black that I can think of would be the Tanzanian Black Acei. They are not too common, but are beautiful if you can find them.

 

[tetrin]

as fishy mentioned, it might be hard to get a red mbuna. maylandia estherae comes close with a bright orange body. however, males will get a blue sheen as they mature.

the dominant male ps. crabo (bumblebee) will grow to a dark black as it matures. but i'm not sure if it's recommended for a 55g.