What if....? Converting tank to African Cichlids

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Cichlid Kid said:
I would either get 1male 2female or all 3male.
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Ok thanks :)

Andrew McFadden said:
I wish I didn't put any females in mine just in the last month I've probably had 40 and it kinda sucks. The more time I spend in a fish store the more money I spend so I try to limit myself. I have haps, peacocks and mbuna all in one tank and I have no problems yet
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What size tank do you have? I've always thought it was bad to have mbuna and peacocks & haps in the same tank but now I'm finding out heapsof people have mixed tanks :/ If its an option for both it would be nice to have some of each. Is it just because they have different diets?

Malawi Freak said:
No chance you would want to do mbuna? My absolute favorite are Pseudotropheus elongatus. I love the looks of chailosi, chewere, saulosi,(just started breeding those 3) and mpanga.

Click it, you know you wanna. No pressure into these, I like how they are smaller than aulonocara.

vatoelvis.tripod.com/PsElongatus.html
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Nice!! Beautiful colors.
I really like the mbunas (actually i like them all!) but I'm afraid they might kill my bn plecs and rts.....
 
All of mine leave eachother alone but I do have a lot of room 180 gallon I made a three D background that my mbunas love on the right corner. My haps love the hole front of the glass and my peacock just hangs out mid to high from the center to the back on the left side.
 
I do have 1 male and two yellow fin mbamba that should be on that list that Malawi showed you. They are my favorite mbunas in my tank.
 
Your bnp's may be ok being they spend the majority of their time on the bottom. I have a sailfin in my one 55gal full of mbunas and havent had a problem. The pleco was even introduced after my original stocking and hes still a juvie of only 6" your rts may be a diffrent story. If I've learned anything in the past 3yrs it's that when it comes to rift lake cichlids nothing is carved in stone. There may be stocking guidlines you try to adhere to but sometimes it just doesnt work.
Even with all the trial and error i still wouldn't give up my mbunas for anything!
 
I feed very little blood worms and some flake one day then skip a day then I feed sinking cichlid pellets and a little flake, sometimes I give them worms from outside and I give them peas one day. I only feed very little and skip days cause they eat the turtle food aswell when I try to feed it.
 
Cichlid Kid said:
Your bnp's may be ok being they spend the majority of their time on the bottom. I have a sailfin in my one 55gal full of mbunas and havent had a problem. The pleco was even introduced after my original stocking and hes still a juvie of only 6" your rts may be a diffrent story. If I've learned anything in the past 3yrs it's that when it comes to rift lake cichlids nothing is carved in stone. There may be stocking guidlines you try to adhere to but sometimes it just doesnt work.
Even with all the trial and error i still wouldn't give up my mbunas for anything!
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We need a like button on here lol I have heard of some people doing stuff but someone else may not be able too. I think it all has to do with how the tank is set up and how they are introduced. Everyone is still learning the dos and donts
 
Andrew McFadden said:
All of mine leave eachother alone but I do have a lot of room 180 gallon I made a three D background that my mbunas love on the right corner. My haps love the hole front of the glass and my peacock just hangs out mid to high from the center to the back on the left side.
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Just a tad bigger than mine ;)

Ok what about I start off with just peacocks, then some yellow labs (everyone has them but they are such a stunning color!) then see how the tank progresses and make a decision about adding more mbuna.
 
That might work but it is recommended to add them all at the same time. I put all mine in at two different times. If you get young mbunas it shouldn't be a problem. But what I would do is do what your saying and then before you add the more change your tank around so they have to find new homes.

I can't believe I'm giving you advice. Lol I thought you new everything
 
Andrew McFadden said:
That might work but it is recommended to add them all at the same time. I put all mine in at two different times. If you get young mbunas it shouldn't be a problem. But what I would do is do what your saying and then before you add the more change your tank around so they have to find new homes.

I can't believe I'm giving you advice. Lol I thought you new everything
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Ok :) I did read that now I think about it. I am not going to be able to afford too many fish at once because they cost $15-20 each! I'm going to have to rearrange every time a add new ones. I also saw on YouTube that you should always add more than one fish at a time so the aggression is spread about.

I know what I keep and I've never kept Africans before! Lol.
 
image-3067569515.jpg

Incase anyone's interested, here's the tank in question. Not very long but very high. Gotta dip my armpit to reach the bottom lol!
(I'm painting the back at the moment)
 
If they are added young like under 1" the fighting may not start mine didn't start till my clown lab and yellow lab got to be about 1.5" and started showing color. I had bought all my fish online, since some of them are not easy to find.
 
Andrew McFadden said:
I would build rocks up and slope them from one side to the other and make sure you have a ton of hiding places for the mbunas
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I was thinking like this.

image-1220130468.jpg

Problem is the canister intake pipe sits in the back right corner right where I want to stack rocks. It can't really go elsewhere because the other side of the tank is exposed. It's on a short wall and you can see two sides completely.
 
Oh another question. Should I be worried about rocks resting on the side glass of the tank? I've got a picture in my mind of how I want it to look but it involves resting rocks on the glass.
 
Mumma.of.two said:
Oh another question. Should I be worried about rocks resting on the side glass of the tank? I've got a picture in my mind of how I want it to look but it involves resting rocks on the glass.
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If your using real ones yes it could break the seal and if they fall it can break the bottom. Most people add egg cartons under the sand so if it falls it doesn't break it. I don't have to worry about it since its all fake
 
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