I need member thoughts on a tough situation.

[ewesfulewe]

Hello to all! After reading MANY threads I still don't exactly have an answer to my dilemma and so I am sending this out to see what your opinions are.

My son is seriously ill with a long term illness. This summer he spent 2 months in the hospital 3 hours away from home and because he was in such a precarious condition I did not leave him for more than doing laundry, etc.

At home, my family took care of my tanks as best they knew how but the aquariums did suffer. The hardest hit was my 100 gallon African tank, and I came home to a large, fat, Bumblebee,yellow lab, tropheus,one large synodontis, and 3 smaller roughed up mbuna. Everyone else had been killed.

My question is: I am thinking of redoing the tank because it seems rather empty especially since my peacocks are all gone. I cannot afford to buy large enough replacement africans. What are the best fish choices for me to go with that are hardy enough to handle my son's trips to the hospital and my absence? I do not anticipate any more mega visits but you never know.

I am open to any and all ideas from teeny livebearers to large fish. I have 2 marineland 360 cannister filters on this tank. My fish have given me so much comfort that closing the tank down is something that I want to avoid.

Thank you for your thoughts!

 

[fish wrangler]

Welcome to the forum!

Do you still have the surviving Africans or did you rehome them? Are you looking to restock the 100 gallon?

 

[stingrays4]

Hi firstly sorry to hear about your son,do hope he gets better soon
I know very little about Africans, but if you redo the interior rockwork when adding any new fish and add more than four to six fish at the same time then that may help? Also you could make sure the new additions had there own little area they could hide in?
Good luck

 

[TMRC Exotics]

The mixture of fish in the tank is the reason it suffered, it would've happened even if you were there. Peacocks can't be kept with aggressive mbuna, the tropheus shouldn't be in there either. The bumblebee is a really aggressive mbuna that can hit 8 inches, I had to sell mine at about 5 inches because he was terrorizing things. Are you wanting to keep the cichlids you have or switch to different fish entirely?

 

[ewesfulewe]

I still have them and they are all getting along. I realize the troph is tannyanikan but it is a toughy and seems to be prospering. The bumblebee is female and is at least 5 inches. She is a wench!! Lol

 

[ewesfulewe]

I still have them because I haven't known what to do.

 

[ewesfulewe]

I don't give up on fish lightly and I love them for all the different reasons that make each kind unique. Having said that I am open to doing something different if it is a good idea for my situation. I have considered an Oscar or two or parrot cichlids (I know some will disapprove of them but I like them) but am concerned about water quality issues if I am not available to do water changes. I am a little tired of carnage especially with my son fighting for his life but I do like intelligent fish. I also like tetras and other bitty fish but I think that I would go with larger ones in this tank like Congos or giant danios and such.

 

[ScotJudd]

Really sorry to hear about your son, hope things improve very soon.
For anyone who may not be able to undertake regular tank maintenance then the best advice I would give is to stock lightly, choose community fish rather than specimens and to plant as heavily as possible. The plants definitely help to stabilise the tank and use up some of the nitrates produced. There aren't many larger fish that won't rip up plants and African cichlids really don't fit those criteria.
It all depends on how much time you have available to put things right. In the short term, until life returns to normal, then I would be inclined to do nothing, even if the tank does seem a bit empty.


Sent from my iPad in West Yorkshire, U.K.

 

[ewesfulewe]

Thank you. I have been considering that too! It is a hard choice simply because I really just love fishes so much and I am always ready to try something new.
My other tank is brimming with some very nice angelfish and I have also considered transferring most to the other tank after I switch over for them of course and forget about the mbuna completely. I hate to get rid of my big synodontis though and that is holding me back.
I am not usually this indecisive believe it or not.

 

[PoppaRyno]

Hello to all! After reading MANY threads I still don't exactly have an answer to my dilemma and so I am sending this out to see what your opinions are.

My son is seriously ill with a long term illness. This summer he spent 2 months in the hospital 3 hours away from home and because he was in such a precarious condition I did not leave him for more than doing laundry, etc.

At home, my family took care of my tanks as best they knew how but the aquariums did suffer. The hardest hit was my 100 gallon African tank, and I came home to a large, fat, Bumblebee,yellow lab, tropheus,one large synodontis, and 3 smaller roughed up mbuna. Everyone else had been killed.

My question is: I am thinking of redoing the tank because it seems rather empty especially since my peacocks are all gone. I cannot afford to buy large enough replacement africans. What are the best fish choices for me to go with that are hardy enough to handle my son's trips to the hospital and my absence? I do not anticipate any more mega visits but you never know.

I am open to any and all ideas from teeny livebearers to large fish. I have 2 marineland 360 cannister filters on this tank. My fish have given me so much comfort that closing the tank down is something that I want to avoid.

Thank you for your thoughts!

I breed peacocks and can hook ya up for the cheapness.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[PoppaRyno]

I have a son and can only imagine what youve dealt with. If youd like a grown colony of german red peacocks let me know. Ill do it for just shipping.

Sent from my LGLS991 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Well then I would evaluate if you want to sell the cichlids or keep them. If you decide to keep them then it would be a good idea to rehome the bumblebee and add a few fish, some great fits would be electric yellows or yellow tail acei. They are much more chill mbuna. I have a peacock with 5 acei and 4 labs and there is very minimal aggression. Rustys are another pretty calm mbuna. These fish would work with your current stock and it should lower the aggression.

If water changes could be an issue I would avoid an Oscar, they have a considerably high bio load and seem to commonly be prone to HITH when in less than ideal conditions. The parrots could work. I'm going to make a suggestion based on a fish I'm currently really enjoying (despite having little idea of what you have kept or want), how about a Firemouth cichlid with a large school of Buenos Aires tetras and possibly a second school of rummynose tetras. I've really liked my firemouth and they're a not very aggressive cichlid with nice color that could easily coexist with a school of tetras. Just a random suggestion.

Sorry to hear about your situation, that's tough, I could only imagine. Let us know what you decide on, I'll be keeping an eye out.

 

[ewesfulewe]

I will think on all of this and answer back a little later tonight. My break at work is over and when I get home I have to help Herbie with his feeding tube and meds. THEN I can take a break, lol. Wonderful ideas. Thank you all so much!

 

[PoppaRyno]

I will think on all of this and answer back a little later tonight. My break at work is over and when I get home I have to help Herbie with his feeding tube and meds. THEN I can take a break, lol. Wonderful ideas. Thank you all so much!

Take all the time ya need. Just know the offer is there!

Sent from my LGLS991 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[ewesfulewe]

PoppaRyno, I love peacocks and as long as they are a size that will be safe around my big, fat, synodontis (it is a mix of some kind but has lots of polka dots and cannot decide if it is going to swim upside down or right side up,) I will be happy with them.
I can rehome whoever I need to for these fish and Miss Bumblebee will be the first one. She is a beautiful fish but she reminds me of a German Uboat laying in wait for the Lusitania. I know that the Tropheus needs to go and maybe the yellow lab. I have a couple of albino labs too but they seem to be very mellow or at least are because they are the low men on the totem pole.
I will let you tell me what to do and I will let you choose who I get. You are being very kind and I certainly do not want to set you back too much, you know?

To Mr. TMRC, that is a wonderful suggestion for a tank. See, it never crossed my mind but I can see it and know it would be so nice! I haven't had firemouths in many years but I remember that they are more bluff than bite. I won't do it with this aquarium but I have another 55 and a larger bowfront that are very empty so, when things calm down, I know what I will be doing with one of them!

Time for me to hit the hay. I closed at work tonight but have to go in early tomorrow. Yuck.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

That's an excellent decision. I absolutely love peacocks and have considered an all male tank in my near future. What were the cichlid types in this tank again? The tropheus may be all right with the peacocks but I'll defer to someone else on that, tangs aren't my thing, I've been pretty stuck on Malawi cichlids. The yellow labs will probably be OK, I keep 4 with my peacocks without issue. Any aggressive mbuna need to go, so the bumblebee for sure, especially any zebras or auratus or anything along those lines. The syno cat should be fine as well. Hey if you get a chance post a pic, I'd like to see the tank.

PS, you can't go wrong getting fish from popparyno, I'd lay my reputation on that.

 

[PoppaRyno]

That's an excellent decision. I absolutely love peacocks and have considered an all male tank in my near future. What were the cichlid types in this tank again? The tropheus may be all right with the peacocks but I'll defer to someone else on that, tangs aren't my thing, I've been pretty stuck on Malawi cichlids. The yellow labs will probably be OK, I keep 4 with my peacocks without issue. Any aggressive mbuna need to go, so the bumblebee for sure, especially any zebras or auratus or anything along those lines. The syno cat should be fine as well. Hey if you get a chance post a pic, I'd like to see the tank.

PS, you can't go wrong getting fish from popparyno, I'd lay my reputation on that.

Thanks TMRC! I appreciate that.

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