My 55Gal.(Us) Cichlids

[Yanks15]

Finally feel like it's done as far as rock scape. Stocking is a little heavy due to wrong fish being sent on original order. The right fish were sent and now I have 25.

3- Pseudotropheus sp. Red Zebra
3- Petrotilapia Nkhata Orange
4- Cynotilapia Jaol Reef
4- Cynotilapia New North Reef " Hara Afra"
4- Labidochromis caeruleus Nkhata Bay
7- Iodotropheus sprengerae

Let me know what you guys think.

Thanks,
Steve

 

[pbase5583]

looks really nice, what kind of camera you used, i never take good pictures that good and i have a 16 megapixel camera too. but i have a 65 gallon about to stock it, any ideas?

 

[Yanks15]

Thanks. I have a Nikon Coolpix camera. It has a bunch of settings so I just play with it until I get decent pictures. Usually shoot at night with only tank lights on. For your tank, with 65 gallons you could stock quite a bit. Mine is pretty over-stocked for sure. I do plan on pulling out males as I can identify them so I can work toward a 1 to 3 ratio if I can. I'd say stock what you like but do plenty of research. I chose to try and keep a relatively peaceful tank (as Mbuna go) so I tried to stock accordingly. There are some people that prefer a species only tank which look great too. In the end it's all about what you like. Good luck with it.


Thanks,
Steve

 

[pbase5583]

i love electric yellow and electric blue, any suggestions for them, i do like the bumblebee cichlids but idk about them as of aggresiveness

 

[Yanks15]

Yellow Labs are pretty popular. They have great color even when young and pretty much get along with anybody. Electric Blue? Do you mean Nkhata Labs like the ones I have? If so, it's probably not best to keep Yellows and Blues together. Most people feel it best to not keep different types of species together. They will cross-breed and may be more hostile towards each other. That is held in general with con-specific aggression. Bumble Bees(Pseudo. crabo) are great looking but..... get very big(8") and are pretty aggressive. I would love to have a 125gal(US) species only tank for them some day. I've read that they live with a specific catfish and have an interesting relationship due to the Bumble Bees ability to change colors drastically. If you like the Yellow Labs or Blue Labs, than maybe a species only tank is for you. Check Cichlid-forum.com. They have great info on just about all Mbuna as well as other cichlids. Just don't fall in love with any one fish because finding a lot of them can be difficult.


Thanks,
Steve

 

[pbase5583]

Well its not that I am stuck on that one fish just a starting idea. If cross breeding is a problem then i will not get the blues. but i wrote down some i like any suggestions what ones to lean towards?

Red top ndumbi
yellow fin mbamba
cobalt blue zebra
electric yellow
orange johann
pruple lupingu
polit
red zebra
snow white (pseudotropheus socolofi)
white lab
wehite top
daktari(yellow acei)
Elongatus jewel spot


I do not favor any besides electric yellow but i do not know what to get. I just wrote the ones i like down and dont know who to get and how many. I was thinking between 15-25 cichlids in total(As the lfs advised me to do). I like the red zebra even though they look orange. I want a colorful diverse tankI(some yellow, some blue, some orange, some white, and some black) anything really

 

[Yanks15]

You could do maybe 5-6 each of...

Yellow Labs
Socolofi/or Cobalt Blue
Lupingu/or White Top Cyno.
Yellow Tail Acei
Elongatis Jewel Spot


Some of the others are pretty aggressive so you would have to decide. Hopefully by getting 5/6 of each you can par back to a 1 to 3 male to female ratio. You can also get more of maybe 3 species and look to get 2 to 4/5 male to female. I was also interested in the Jewel Spots but couldn't really locate any in time for my initial stocking. I may try to add some later on. My Red Zebras were bought as "Cherry Reds" so I am hoping that when they mature they will redden even more. If not, than I still have color contrast in the tank.


Thanks,
Steve

 

[pbase5583]

ok i will try. I am moving on the first so i am going to stock then

 

[pbase5583]

is that too many 5/6 each would be 30ish?

 

[Yanks15]

I myself have 25 in a 55gal(US) tank. I do plan on culling (not killing) them back when I can identify males and females. So if you start out with juvenile size (1"-2") fish and you put in 25-30 fish, I believe you will be fine. If you are looking to get sexed fish, than you could stock accordingly to the 1-3or4 m/f ratio straight away with maybe 25 total. Overstocking is very popular and often times needed for Mbuna to lessen aggression. Even though some types of Mbuna are labeled as "peaceful" they can still be fairly aggressive compared to most tropical fish. Again, the choice is yours and nothing replaces researching each fish and finding compatibility. Looking at other peoples stocking can give you a good idea of what works together, especially in established tanks. I am fairly new to Mbuna so I will not have all the answers but there are several on this site that have been keeping them for years. You may get differing opinions because lets face it, fish are not much different then people and one person may have had a bad experience with a particular fish that others have not. But in most cases more information is better than less.

I forgot to ask.... is your tank already cycled and ready to go?


Thanks,
Steve

 

[pbase5583]

yea i just got 3 yellow labs and they are great, dont seem too thrilled with the caves but love the tank