Africans In A 3 Foot Tank - Is It Doable?

[Wills]

Hi all in the process of setting up a second tank - or at least its at the planning stages right now All I know is it needs to fit in a 3 foot gap and is most likely going to be a Fluval Roma 125 and the tank has to house the fish for life as an upgrade on this tank is not an option.

At the moment my two routes of interest are Puffers and African Cichlids. And it really is 50/50 but I dont know what to do.

The African tank came into thought this morning so been doing a bit of reading and been to a shop to talk to someone but neither in all honesty have made things any more clear....

All I know is if it is the African tank I go with the fish need to be colourful, Im not a massive fan of shell dwellers as I just know my partner would call most of the beige..... To let you know where I am upto on working out what I could have? Is this list - which is a Tanginikan set up. This is what I was looking out for at the shop just to see what they look like in the flesh rather than photos and the three species I was interested in are - Julidochromis Regani, Neolamprologus Leleupi and Lamprologus Occelatus.

Do you think they would work?

So that list is what I was going to look at in the shop but then I got there started talking and he was explaining that I had a lot more options than I thought...... now I want to believe people in fish shops and this is genuinely a good one but I cant believe that my options are that broad. He was telling me that some Mbunas would work in the tank is this possible?

If anyone could give me some example stock lists and also ideas of filtration, (I know you need to over filter on these tanks) that would be fantastic!

Thanks Wills

 

[KittyKat]

I keep Africans in a 100*50*45(ish) cm tank without problems, but the size does restrict that will fit and a decent filter is, in my experience, a must. I have a colony of P. demasoni and a few labs in there.

 

[Wills]

Ah right that sounds pretty good actually What make of tank is that you have? Its about perfect for the area that I have for the tank And also seems to give quite a few options for decent fish How many do you have in your tank all together?

I really dont know what to get yet lol. Got a few books about cichlids mainly for my Americans but might have to peel open the African Pages tonight haha!

Wills

 

[Wills]

I have had the plug pulled on this plan now so its not going to happen, pretty gutted - very gutted as since fallen in love with the one I saw today.... gutted gutted gutted - I knew she wasnt listening to me when I was on about it yesterday but she could have said something before we traveled an hour and a half to gather inspiration for a 3 foot fish tank.... bah

thanks for the help though Kat
Wills

 

[ben3486]

Wills.....what the heck is that in your sig?!!!!! Its amazing!!!! what do i need to have he/she in a nice tank lol

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Wills.....what the heck is that in your sig?

!!!!! Its amazing!!!! what do i need to have he/she in a nice tank lol

I think that is Wills' female Nicaruguan Cuchlid, Hypsophrys nicaraguensis.
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?genus=Hypsophrys&species=nicaraguensis&id=938

 

[Wills]

Hi Ben yeah thats Elsie my female Nicaraguan cichlid They are great, females stay quite small and get the colouration above where as the males are much larger and go a golden colour with a fine black pattern to their scales. She is quite boistrus but does not have any thing to back it up with and as a result gets beaten by anything and everything she ever starts a fight with. The smallest fish I have her in with are lemon tetras but not sure how she would fare with stuff like Guppies as I could imagine she might go for their tails though not 100%. Her hobbies include digging and carrying twigs

For females I would say about a 40/45 gallon tank as a minimum but for males your looking at 75g minimum as they do get pretty large often upto 10 inches where as females stay between 4 and 6 inches

Thanks for noticing her

Wills

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Her hobbies include digging and carrying twigs

Wills

Sorry, but that line cannot help but make me think of Blind Date for fishes!

 

[KittyKat]

Just in case this does ever come to happen...

What make of tank is that you have?

AquaOne AquaStyle 980

How many do you have in your tank all together?

12-15 demasoni and 3 adult + ** fry labs.. If I was to start again, I would keep the demasoni as are, but have only female labs (probably 4-5 or so). Also 1-2 6-8" plecos used to work well in there.

 

[bluefire]

I keep africans in a 3ft tank, currently i have Pseudotropheus salousi 1m 3f and pseudotropheus zebra 1m 3f. Ive had it going fo about three months and have had no problems, ive got a couple of amazon swords in these as well which have managed to keep my nitrates near on zero. It is fairly well filtered with a eheim 2213.