Sales pressure

[Codefox]

I called a local breeder I found today and I was a little surprised at some of the stuff he was saying on the phone. I'm looking at doing rift lake cichlids...he said I'd want 60 - 70 in my 120g which sounds like way too many to me. (I was thinking maybe 30 would be good).

He also said I should add all 60 - 70 at once.

When I mentioned I still had to cycle the tank he mentioned something about adding 50 labs to a 90gal and the amazing story of how it cycled in only 4 days. Either he thought I was a novice and was BSing me to sell fish or he's completely unaware of the biological cycle even works.

His cichlid stock sounds like its very complete but I'm wary about using someone who I know is going to pressure me to make a huge purchase from him.

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

The only reason he is saying so many is because if you look at a lot of other tanks, people put a lot of cichlids in there to get rid of the territoral side of the cichlids and it helps them get along.

It is smart to add all the cichlids you plan on buying now so that you don't have to worry about the older cichlids attacking new comers.

Also, don't let buyers pressure you into buying anything you don't want to.

I think if you got 50 in your 120, it would be fine. Cichlids would have their swimming room and territoral aggresiveness of the cichlids should be reduced. The economy these days, you'll be getting a lot more of that pressure. Just ignore them and do what you want and take control. They won't just say i'm not selling to you now because they need any money they can get.

 

[Codefox]

Yeah, I've seen that about putting a lot of cichlids in to curb the agression. The only cichlid tank I ever kept was a long time ago and it was a 20G so I had 3 or 4 in there at a time. Still, throwing 70 fish in all at once sounds like a recipe for disaster.

I figured the economy had some to do with it. At his prices though there's no way I can buy that many fish from him anyway

 

[FishCrazyBenBOMB]

Yeah, well I say 50 would be good for a 120 gallon tank, if you can get that.

 

[Zagz]

Cichlids should not be added all at once. As for the stocking it depends on the type of cichlid. Are you putting in mbuna, aulonocara, haps? The full size of the cichlid must be taken into consideration. While you can somewhat overstock a cichlid tank, you can't stuff 50 6-8" cichlids into a 120 gal tank. I have been keeping africans for years and so have many of the other members here.

Start out with what kind of cichlids you want and some of the more experienced cichlid keepers will help you with the stocking. Also adding cichlids after you have had some is quite do-able if you know what you are doing.

 

[Codefox]

Yeah I personally thought it was terrible advice he was giving me. I think most of the fish I was looking at get to be 4" - 6". More in the 6" range I think. Its hard for me to put together a real wish list since generally I can only really buy what is available in the stores.

From this breeder I'd like to at least pick up:
Copadichromis borleyi
Aulonocara firefish (that is a beautiful fish)
Albino Eureka Red
Aulonocara maulana

Definitely going to be some labs in there. Honestly I think most of what I'm looking at are among the more peaceful cichlids. I think that will make it easier to handle the tank.

 

[Zagz]

The fish you list are all very beautiful fish. Also relatively peaceful. I have the aulonocara euerka red and aulonocara maulana. With the type of fish you have chosen you will have some beautiful color contrast as well. A bit heavier on the reds but if you paint the background black, they will really pop.

Depending on what you choose for rocks, you could easily have 25-35 of these fish in a 120 gal. I would recommend sand substrate for them as cichlids love to dig during breeding.

Are you planning on all males? If not keep in mind aulonocara will interbreed. I've had it happen.

 

[Codefox]

I definitely like the reds and yellows. I'm going to balance out with a few blues in there too though! I was actually thinking of using Eco-Complete for African Cichlids. The sand is a nice white/black mix.

As for rocks, I was thinking maybe a mix of something like Pagoda rocks and some sort of quartz. The background will definitely be black!

 

[Zagz]

Sounds like it will look very good. I hope you take pics as you set up. I have 125 gal cichlid tank and I painted the background black and I love it. You can use black bristleboard or black garbage bags if you don't want to paint it. The aulonocara maulana have both blue and yellow. If you want a nice aulonocara look at the jacobfreibergi sp. Lemon Jake.

Oh and adding fish to the stocking you are thinking of is not a problem. Just feed the fish and add the other fish at the same time. The new fish slip in, the old fish don't even notice them. They are all peaceful cichlids.

 

[Codefox]

Yeah, peaceful and Cichlid sounds strange to me! I noticed as I was researching them though that every single one that I liked was noted to be a peaceful fish. Go figure.

It does make me wonder though...what other fish might end up in a Malawi tank? Are there any fish that would be appropriate tank mates do you think?

And yes there will be plenty of pictures!

 

[Zagz]

Just about any of the aulonocara's, electric yellows. Some haps, blue dolphins for example. There are some mbuna that will work as well. You can consider some pictus catfish or some synodontis for bottom dwellers. I also have a striped raphael catfish in with mine.