Okay so my Mum just losther last goldfish to some sort of internal bacteria that would not respond to any of the many medications I tried, I'll be strelising the tank, then Mum wnats to set it back up again. She quite likes African Cichlids, so asked me too look into it for her, she's not that crash hot on the net LOL. I generally help her set up and sort out stocking for her tanks, so this isn't that different, except I know nothing about African Cichlids, American cichlids I'm fine on, got them down pat but africans...

So the tanks your standard four foot 55 with overpowered filtration as it was set up for goldies, everything will be dried out and then soaked in vinegar to ensure no nasties are left behind.

So I ahve some questions
I get that there's three seperate groupings of africans, but can they be mixed? or will the aggression be too much?
Which group has the most colour? particularly the vibrant blues, yellows and oranges...
How many of what size fish would I be looking at for the 55? I was thinking 9-10 4-5" fish? I saw that number somewhere or other for african cichlids but if its wrong let me know!
What sort of buffers are needed for pH? can they live in natural pH 7.4 water? if not what's best? standard pH buffers, crushed coral, dead coral or cichlid salt (whatever that is)?
Is all that rock work really needed? Mum isn't a fan of that, she's got the tank filled with plastic plants at the moment....

Any good webbys are appreciated as well, I'm on the cookie cutter website, but any others'd be great as well.

Oh and I do maintenance on the tank as well, Mum just feeds the fish and arranges the decorations, so I'd be the main caregiver but I keep marine tanks so if the water needs to premixed it shouldn't be too hard.

Emma

There is Lake Malawi which has Mbuna (very aggressive), Peacocks (aggressive), and Haps (also aggressive). Lake Tanganyika which has Frontosa, Tropheus ect plus small tangs and shell dwellers. They're also aggressive. And Lake Victoria.

You can mix some but not all. Depends which species you are interested in ???



For your size tank, Lake Tankganyika is out of the question unless you have small tangs or shellies but im assuming you'd rather have Lake Malawi if what you want is colour. Mbuna and Peacocks are very colourful, especially the Peacocks. You can mix some Mbuna and Peacocks together but not all as some Mbuna are too aggressive. And most Haps grow to large for a 55gal.



About 12 is what is usually recommended. Either 4 species at 1m-2f or 3 species at 1m-3f... Some people 'overstock' and have more due to aggression wiht Mbuna. Depends how you feel yourself once you start stocking..



They need at least 7.8ph and no less, ideally 8.2ph. You can use limestone, ocean rock or any other mineral rock to buffer your water, or/and use coral or aragonite sand also.. or use African cichlid salt's. Cichlid salts are like minerals to harden your water and raise the ph. Some do all (raise ph, gh, and kh) some do one or the other.

Btw, what are your tap water stats ? i.e ph ? gh ? kh ?



For Mbuna yes (aggression issues.. hiding places, territory ect.. besides its what their natural habitat is madeup of, and algae grows on it which they spend their day gracing on). For Peacocks, not as much, but some.



Some articles you may be interested in ...

Mbuna
Peacocks

Afrcian Cichlids
Peacock Corner
Home Made Cichlid Salt
Feeding

Good Luck

This post has been edited by darrel69: May 16 2008, 04:28 PM

somebody translate for me..

Which part dont you understand, Waterbender ?

NM, I was being sarcastic.

Ha, i should'av known

This post has been edited by darrel69: May 16 2008, 06:19 PM

Nooo, not you, I would have never guessed sarcasm from you.


Cuticom, darrel have given you some great advice, have a read over the links he posted and get back with any more questions you have.

And as for your mom not liking rocks in the tank, have her take a look at these beauties.


Sorry for the edit, the &%@* cat is jealous of my laptop and took the most opportune moment to lay on it and hit the enter key.

This post has been edited by dthoffsett: May 16 2008, 08:25 PM

Thanks for that!

Mum's not sure on them now though, the prices klind of put her $15 per fish and twelve fish...

I might end up just setting the tank up as an american cichlid tank... not sure but thank you so much for all the info!

No problem, good luck setting up the tank.