200 + Gallon Stocking Query...

[jaarus]

Hi all,
I am to be getting a large tank, minimum 210gallons upto 262 gallons (US) depending on cost.
I have read loads about malawi cichlids and they seem to be the front runners at the moment after discounting both marine due to cost and discus due to my wife not being overly taken with them

As you guys have experience that I just cannot get by reading info about each species (there are A LOT of them!!)


I like smallish fish - upto about 6" ish not a big fan of those behemoths!
I like Electric Yellow Labs (who doesnt!) but would really like an explosion of colour in the tank as by getting this new tank I am being made to sacrifice my other tanks - fair trade off though I think you will aggree!

Could someone suggest some stocking options?

 

[matt295]

not great with malawis but with that size a tank i would suggest oddballs or new world cichlids

 

[dthoffsett]

More important than the amount it holds, is the footprint of the tank. So when choosing a tank, get the one with the largest footprint rather than the most gallons, while mbuna will go to the top of the tank, they mostly utilize the bottom. I'm not great with stocking on large tanks, but I don't see why you couldn't get by with around 40-60 fish with excellent filtration. You might be able to get more, but like I said I'm not that great with large tanks. With a large tank like that, you have several options stocking wise. First you need to decide if you want a few (4-6) of a bunch of species, or large groups (10 or more) of a few species. You also need to decide if you want an aggressive set up or fairly peaceful (by mbuna standards) set up, although with a large tank you can get buy with more aggressive species because they'll have plenty of room to set up territories. There are hundreds of species, and plenty of colors to choose from, if you are going to buy them from your lfs, you should go in and write down all of the species they offer, and then research them, if you are going to buy online, you have more species to choose from.

Here are a few suggestions for colorful fish that will get along well.
Yellow: Yellow labs (labidochromis caeruleus) http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=713; probably one of the most peaceful mbuna, however they get along well with most any other species.

Purple: Pseudotropheus Acei http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1460; another very peaceful cichlid, they spend most of their time towards the top of the tank, out in the open, and can work as dithers with the shy species.

Solid Blue: Cobalt Zebras (metriaclima callainos) http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=787

Orange/Red: Red Zebras (metriaclima estherae) http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1730

White: There are albino morphs availble in several species, but probably the most attractive are Snow-White (or snowflake) Socolofi (pseudotropheus socolofi-albino) http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1786

Mult Colors: Bumblebee Cichlids (Pseudotropheus Crabro) The females are a lovel yellow with brown barring, and the males are dark blue with darker barring http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=845

Cynotilapia Afra: http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1675

Labeotropheus trewavasae http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1696, these come in several color morphs.

Brown Purple: Rusty Cichlid (Idotropheus Sprengerae) http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=707

These are by all means not all of the species you could keep, but the ones I'm more familiar with.

Here are a couple different articles that will help you out with setting up, etc. Good luck!
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aqua..._setup_list.php

 

[caboose_122]

all the mbuna that dthoffsett said would work great all of them look great and are a great addition to almost any mbuna tanks

heres a few more that you could use:

pseudotropheus sp. "aggressive bars" http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=836

pseudotropheus sp. "aggressive gray head" http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=839

pseudotropheus sp. "crabro blue" http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=846

Pseudotropheus elongatus http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=855

Pseudotropheus saulosi http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1

Tropheops sp. "Yellow Chin" http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=987

correct me if im wrong on this.

i was going by aggression and size so

probably a few wont work with one another

 

[jaarus]

Thanks all - good to get a few species to research as there are literally thousands so this has helped me narrow it down a bit!


Thanks again