Expert advise Stocking help 90 gallon mbunas

[Lay6488]

Ok so recently we set up 90 gallon tank we added white cloud minnows got ich and treating tank we removed 50 % water and took up all substrates Eco complete gravel and added cichlid sand black&tan yes expensive I know but oh well our mistake treating tank and continuing ich treatment for a week with temp up to 82 water is testing good going to be retesting tonight now my question is lfs wants to sell us how they label them
2 electric blue ahli
2 nimbochromis venustus
2 melanochromis sp. " maingano"
2 yellow lab (labidochromis sp)
2 labeotropheus fuelleborni ob
2 red top cobalt
2 albino white socoloffi
2 cynotilapa afra " lions cove"
2 pseudo cherry red zebra
2 Mel. Auratus md
2 synodontis petricola catfish
Do all of these get along and also this seems like a lot for 90 gallon tank

 

[fishyfriends3]

I wouldn't do 2 of any of them you'll need 1 male to 3 females to reduce aggression. Also I wouldn't put ahli and venustus in with the rest of your list.

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[Lay6488]

They don't sex there it's buying blind so what should I get and how much

 

[snowman17]

Like what was said above don't get two of each the males will kill each other and if its only one female she will be too so have u considered an all male tank if u do that u could do one of each and leave the haps out and stick with mbuna

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[Lay6488]

Which one is a hap I've been looking at so many threads on here about stocking but don't know what it is when we go to store and how do I determine male from female they are 1 inch to 2 inches and to determine what to put in tank

 

[fishyfriends3]

Ahli = hap
Venutus = hap
All your others are mbuna.
Apart from the catfish of course.

It's best not to mix haps with mbuna.

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[fishyfriends3]

If your buying juvelines and you can't sex them choose 5 or 6 species from your list and buy 5 or 6 of each. If you get more than one male per species extra males will have to be rehomed.

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[snowman17]

I got my all male the hard way over time you can tell by behavior I have a couple females hold, and got rid of them. Also do some research on the different fish u like. You can also vent them.

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[fishyfriends3]

Ps your going to need plenty of rock work in there to help ease aggression and make them feel at home and at ease.

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[snowman17]

Definitely, having a 90g helps too. You can order fish online also better chance of getting males and more variety

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[SonicsDC25]

Consider buying online if you're going for an all male tank. Personally in a 90g I'd choose 5 or 6 species and buy 7-8 juveniles of each, then go for a 1M:3F of each, then rehome the rest. The bio-load shouldn't be too bad if you got good filtration and weave out unwanted males or females before they reach adulthood.

 

[fishyfriends3]

Pretty much what I said but I went slightly lower with 5 to 6 juveniles but 7 to 8 gives you more chance of getting the 1male and 3females you need. The issue is if you can rehome the rest it's best to have that plan in place first otherwise you'll have lots of issues.

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[Lay6488]

Ok so set up we have is aquatop cf 500 canister filter and fluval 406 canister filter, don't remember how strong between 1050-1400 powerhead ,
2 heaters we have pet store fake wood decoration ( kinda like driftwood ) we have 14 cichlid stone caves and we also have a blue slate we are warming up to stack in tank
so what ur saying is leave ahli and giraffe looking ones outta tank and pick out 5 types I like of the others and buy 5-6 of each type than as they mature figure out which are males and females than rehome all females? How long does maturity take?
Lfs is having 60% off sale so fish would be anywhere between $3-$5
Is there an online site any cheaper?

 

[fishyfriends3]

Ok so set up we have is aquatop cf 500 canister filter and fluval 406 canister filter, don't remember how strong between 1050-1400 powerhead ,
2 heaters we have pet store fake wood decoration ( kinda like driftwood ) we have 14 cichlid stone caves and we also have a blue slate we are warming up to stack in tank
so what ur saying is leave ahli and giraffe looking ones outta tank and pick out 5 types I like of the others and buy 5-6 of each type than as they mature figure out which are males and females than rehome all females? How long does maturity take?
Lfs is having 60% off sale so fish would be anywhere between $3-$5
Is there an online site any cheaper?

Yeah you're almost there but you wanna keep the females to a least 3 per species sometimes 4 is even better. The most important thing is to remove males down to one per species. And I'd make it 7 to 8 juveniles per species (if you can afford it) as sonics recommended as there's more chance of you getting the correct male/female ratio.

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[Lay6488]

Ok great thank you so if I don't want to rehome I'm guessing I buy bigger so my questions now is what to look for to determine sex to properly stock as lfs don't know what they are talking about and buy 1 male and 3-4 females of each species of cichlid I chose

 

[fishyfriends3]

Okay follow this link and you should find all the information you need.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=2

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[Lay6488]

Thank you so much long list but I will go thru it!

 

[fishyfriends3]

Just check the one's from your list on that long this first. You should be able to change the photo to male or female or juvenile on most of the species.

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[Lay6488]

Yes slowly figure that out I just hope lfs labels them right to check on site

 

[fishyfriends3]

Can't rely on tank labels I learnt that the hard way. You need to be able to tell what is what before you buy. Keep checking the photos if you're not sure on something someone here will be able to help.

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