Help-new To Africans

[Waterbox]

I have gotten a little bored with the American Cichlids I have so I am going to switch my tank over to African Cichlids until I build up my fish room. So I need a little advice if you could.

I have a 48 gallon I believe, it is 48" long, 14" wide and I think 16" tall. I currently have a lot of river cobbles in the tank stacked for caves and sand for substrate. In order to raise the Ph, I was thinking about mixing crushed coral in with the sand, but would I be better off just putting some of the coral in my filters instead? I have 2 Emperor 400 filters with boxes I can fill with the coral. Also, will these filters be sufficient for an Mbuna tank?

Once I clear these questions up I'll be going to my LFS to see what kind of fish they have and hopefully you guys can give me some advice on what species to keep

Thanks in advance.

 

[curiousgeorge]

I'm no expert by any means, i use crushed coral as a substrate and also in the filters

I run Fluval a 305 and 205, and also a fluval 4+ internal that i keep meaning to remove(tank is similar size to yours)

What is the turnover rate of the filter you have?

All the best!!!

 

[Waterbox]

Each of the filters are rated at 400 gallons per hour, so 800 gph with them both running. I wanted to run a cannister filter and one of my Emperors but im just a broke student.

 

[laknarf]

Best way to increase the PH is to add baking soda, yes baking soda, as sold in the grocery store. If you are adding without fish in the water add a few table spoons. The baking soda will not bring the ph higher than 8.2 which is a good reading

 

[dthoffsett]

What is your actual PH?

Your filters are just fine for the Africans. And as long as it is 48" long it will work fine, I'd aim for a total of 12 adults, 3 species of 4 individuals each. Let us know what you have available so we can help with stocking.

And if you haven't already done so, this article is a must for all mbuna keepers IMO.
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=27706

 

[Waterbox]

Thanks alot for the help guys, yes I have read that article several times dthoffsett. I like your cat by the way, looks just like mine hehe.

My tap water Ph is 7.2, but I have not set up the tank yet for the fish with anything to raise the Ph. Would My Ph alright if I put Crushed coral in both of my filters but left the substrate as regular sand? I could also do the baking soda thing as mentioned earlier for my water changes or whatever.

Ok the 12 adults sounds great to me. For the species I was thinking this-

4X Yellow labs, electric yellows you know
4X Cynotilapia afra
4X Pseudotropheus Acei

If these fish are OK together, how many of each fish can I put in when theyre young in order to get my gender ratios?

Thanks for the help

 

[dthoffsett]

Thanks alot for the help guys, yes I have read that article several times dthoffsett. I like your cat by the way, looks just like mine hehe.

My tap water Ph is 7.2, but I have not set up the tank yet for the fish with anything to raise the Ph. Would My Ph alright if I put Crushed coral in both of my filters but left the substrate as regular sand? I could also do the baking soda thing as mentioned earlier for my water changes or whatever.

Ok the 12 adults sounds great to me. For the species I was thinking this-

4X Yellow labs, electric yellows you know
4X Cynotilapia afra
4X Pseudotropheus Acei

If these fish are OK together, how many of each fish can I put in when theyre young in order to get my gender ratios?

Thanks for the help

The fish you listed will be great together, and the added bonus is that with p.acei and l.caeruleus you don't need to worry about m/f ratio (which is a good thing since they are very difficult to sex). With the c.afra, you'll want 1m/3f, so if your lfs will let you return extra males, you'll probably want to get 6-8 juveniles to start with.

Your PH is on the low end for mbuna, however, since you'll most likely be getting tank-bred fish, you don't really have to adjust it much. I'd just add crushed coral to your filters to help buffer and call it good. I wouldn't even worry about adding baking soda.
-Dawn

 

[Waterbox]

Cool that sounds sweet. I'll head down to the river tomorrow to get some more stones then get the fish!

So all I need to buy as far as fish goes should be:

4- Labidochromis caeruleus

4- Pseudotrophus acei

8-Cynotilapia afra

Thanks alot for all the help Dawn, much appreciated.

 

[Waterbox]

if instead of getting the afra I got some Pseudotropheus saulosi, would they be able to hybridize with the Pseudotropheus acei? I like the looks of the salousi more but i dont know if they would be able to breed with the acei or not which in which case I would not want hybrids.

 

[dthoffsett]

if instead of getting the afra I got some Pseudotropheus saulosi, would they be able to hybridize with the Pseudotropheus acei? I like the looks of the salousi more but i dont know if they would be able to breed with the acei or not which in which case I would not want hybrids.

Since p.acei and p.saulosi look nothing alike, the chances of cross-breeding are slim. Usually the only time cross-breeding in the tank happens is if you have similar looking speices, or not enough females. For example, I have a single female p.crabro in my tank, she has been trying to breed with the males (I have l.caeruleus, p.acei, & m.callainos), she hasn't been successful yet, but if I were to have a p.crabro male in the tank, she wouldn't bother with the other males. Hope that made sense.

However, if you were interested in breeding to sell, you should set up species only tanks just so there is no possibility of cross-breeding.

 

[Waterbox]

oh OK, thanks a lot dthoffsett. You have been a huge help.