FishieRuffio Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Hi gang, I am in the proccess of purchasing a 70 gallon tank for my office - I'm thinking about doing an African cichlid tank with it (I've heard that our water is good for them). Does anyone have recommendations for what I can do with the tank? I've heard that Africans are really good to keep with our water, but I've never kept cichlids before. I was hoping to stock it at the auction, but I wasn't sure of what I would be able to find there. I was thinking of doing some Yellow Labs and maybe one or two other species, but I'm not at all sure of who would be compatible with each other. Thanks a lot! --chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahim101 Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Well, the way I see it you could go one of two ways. If you want to keep Yellow Labs, I would go with an all mbuna set-up with about: - 6-8 yellow labs (Labidochromis caeruleus), 6-8 http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=713 - 6-8 Metriaclima estherae (blue - red) http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=791 - 6-8 Pseudotropheus socolofi (Albino) http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1786 I think kind of a tank would be VERY active and a nice blend of colors, also, all of fish listed are quire readily available and quite inexpensive!!!! The other waqy to go would be an all Hap tank. I am assuming that your tank will be 48" long and 18" wide. If this is the case these would make for a nice tank: Trio or quad (1 male rest female) of the below: - Copadichromis azureus http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1008 - Protomelas sp. "Steveni Taiwan" (Taiwanee Reef) http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1235 - Aulonocara sp. "Stuartgranti Maleri" http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1410 It all depends on what kind of a look you want and the kind of fish that you personally find attractive!!!! I hope that helps a littel, feel free to ask more questions!!!!! Cheers, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 With a 70g you have lots of options. First you should decide whether you want a mbuna, hap or peacock tank or a mix. Yellow labs are a great starter mbuna. They are pretty and fairly peaceful. They will mix well with most mbuna and even haps and peacocks(if selected right). Are there any other species you like besides the yellows? What kind of colors would you want to see in the tank. Yellow labs look nice mixed with blue species. Some good mbuna are rusties(idotropheus sprenegerae), Ps. saulosi, Ps. acei, red zebras, socolofi(albino or the blue). There are many other to choose from also. OR if you want to go the hap or peacock route there are many options with that too. Just remember that the females dont' have the nice colors the males do. I personally keep a hap/mbuna tank. I think its the best of both worlds As for buying fish at the auction. Make sure you go knowing what species you are looking for. At the last auciton there was some yellow labs but the concensus was they were hybrids. SO make sure you know what to look for int eh species you want. There was also tons of peacocks but not much in the way of haps or many mbuna. Hopefully this time it will be better. Just make a list of the fish you want and stick to it. Or you could end up with a bunch o ffish that wont' mix well(like i did the first tiem i stcoked my african tank fromt eh auction :P ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 (edited) Make sure to cycle your tanks before adding any fish! less headaches that way! I'm new to cichlids as well and i'll give you my experience. Visit: http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/ select the group to be: Lake Malawi go through the sub-groups: mbuna, haps, peacocks. Find the fish that you like. once you find the fish that you like, build the tank around it. i my self went with mbuna and i'm happy i did. these are the fish i have: 5 Pseudotropheus socolofi http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=919 1 Pseudotropheus demasoni http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=849 2 Iodotropheus sprengerae Rusty http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=707 1 Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1460 3 Labidochromis caeruleus - Yellow labs http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=713 2 Metriaclima estherae (Red) (male and Female) - red zebras http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1730 all of these fish get a long fine and they are great to watch. I wish i would have just kept it to 2 or 3 groups (Pseudotropheus, Labidochromis, Iodotropheus ) and not mixing a couple of others together like i did! Once you know what kind you like then you'll be able to look around at Local Fish stores as well as the auction and you'll know what they are worth, and what is worth getting. after deciding what you like then... repost ask us... there are a lot of experienced experts on this site that will tell you what will work and what will not. Try to keep fish with similar temperments... you don't want a bully in your tank! if you have any questions about any of the fish i have... i'd gladly share my experiences! happy shopping! nevchewy Edited May 9, 2005 by nevchewy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishieRuffio Posted May 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Hrrm...after some deliberation and consultation, I think I'd like to stock the tank with: 6 Labidochromis caeruleus 6 Pseudotropheus socolofi 6 Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" Is that too much fish? It's probably going to wind up being a 77gal. Also, what kind of price range should I be looking at for these fish? Thanks for all your help, everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted May 9, 2005 Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 The prices will vary on the fish depending on where you buy them from. If you buy them at a store you are probably looking at 8-10$ea but since those are common you can probably find some good ones from local breeders(i know someone with acei). At the auction bags of fish(mbuna juvies are usually 4-6 per bag) the prices can really vary. Sometimes you can get a bag of 6 fish for 2$ or that same bag will go fo 20$. It just depends how many bags are availiable and demand. If you are looking for yellow labs becareful. There are lots of hyrbids around. I just recently bought some labs off Kyle because i wasn't able to find any good(or even half decent) ones locally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishieRuffio Posted May 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 9, 2005 Another question - I've heard that when stocking a cichlid tank, all the fish have to be introduced at the same time. Is that true? Would it be possible for me to buy fish at the auction, and then go back and introduce more later? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vallisneria Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 I've heard that when stocking a cichlid tank, all the fish have to be introduced at the same time. Is that true? Would it be possible for me to buy fish at the auction, and then go back and introduce more later? ITs usually recommended to add most of your fish at one time. This is because if you add a few fish later they can be picked on. The fish that are already in the tank have made territories and have a pecking order. Newly added fish dont' have a territory and the other fish will attack them if they go into theirs. But saying this you can add fish at different times you jsut have to do a couple things. If you buy fish at the auction you can add more fish down the road. You just have to take a few precautions to help curb aggression. When adding mroe fish later its best to rearrange the decorations. That way all the fish have reclaim territories and no one fish will be the king. But you chose fairly non aggressive fish(for mbuna anyway) so adding new fish shouldnt' be much of a problem. Another thing when adding fish, try to get new fish that are about the same size or bigger then the ones you already have. So yes, you can add fish at different times Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nevchewy Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Hrrm...after some deliberation and consultation, I think I'd like to stock the tank with:6 Labidochromis caeruleus 6 Pseudotropheus socolofi 6 Pseudotropheus sp. "Acei" This is what i have been told... stocking 2 types of Pseudotropheus, may lead to interbreeding... i have been told that many times over with my selection in my tank. Those guys will live fine together... the socofoli's can be a bit agressive and the dominant male will be the king of the tank! as long as you don't plan on catching babies and selling them you'll be fine with those. you'll notice that people don't speak highly of hybrids. i purchased my socofoli's at paradise pets in st. albert. if i remember they were about 10-12 bucks each. i also bought my acei there for about $10. i bought my yellow labs big al's on the south side. they are not like RD's as they have a bit of white belly morph in them... but they were still nice... they were about $12 each. here are a couple pics of my socofoli's: here is my king... here is his girlfriend... They haven't spawned yet... but they have danced like they are going too... i really like them! keep us up to date! nevchewy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
African_Fever Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Ps. socolofi and Ps. acei have different enough behaviours that they should be fine in a tank together without too much in the way of cross-breeding issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishieRuffio Posted May 12, 2005 Author Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 More questions! I'm thinking now about substrate - where/what is the best to use? I've heard that they do quite well in sand, but I'm not sure where I should be getting it (I suppose I could get it from Big Al's, but it's so expensive - would I do just as well with sand from Home Depot? If so, what kind of sand?) Thanks! --chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punman Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 I use pool filter sand - about $10 for 50 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted May 12, 2005 Report Share Posted May 12, 2005 Does anyone know where in Edmonton to buy pool filter sand? I must be calling all the wrong places, because I'm having a hard time finding some... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rahim101 Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Goto any Hot-tub retailer or any place that sells swimming pool maintainance supplies!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sara Posted May 13, 2005 Report Share Posted May 13, 2005 Hmmm...thanks Rahim. I guess I'm just not being clear enough as to what I want. Well, that, or the person who answered the phone wasn't paying much attention Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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