Help Us Stock A 55 Gallon

[Larkspur]

My boyfriend has I think (6 ?) African Cichlids. They're all different colors...blue...blue with orange fins...yellow...yellow with cream stripes...yellow with black stripes...orange.

I don't know ANYTHING about them other than they're mean. Like colorful piranhas. They ganged up on the new guy for about a day, but now they accept him.

My boyfriend and I are researching some ideas on how to stock the 55 gallon he is using in the near future when he buys a house. He isn't using it yet. Right now the young fish are in a 36 gallon still located at relatives home.

What other fish species can tolerate the lower end of the pH level that these fish require as well as hold their own or not be a prime interest of these cichlids? We figured we will add these fish first after the cycling process and then add the more aggressive fish (the cichlids) later after the more peaceful species have established territory.

I read clown loaches can live with them. The only trouble is the clown loaches at Petco are less than 2 inches long. They look like a good cichlid snack! Also wondering about the sharks (the black ones with red fins?) I know those are a little more aggressive.

Also, I have a BN catfish living in a 5.5 gallon. It's still a juvenile, but will it be okay when it grows larger to live in the 55? If not, I also have a 29 and my boyfriend has a 36 so either way he has a larger tank for the future.

Any suggestions and advice is much appreciated!

 

[Larkspur]

Doing some research on my best guess for type of cichlids he has.

So far I am pretty confident he has:

1 electric yellow lab
1 red zebra (orange despite name...)
1 electric blue (red zebra)
1 Bumblebee cichlid (named bumblebee so i guess it fits)
1 yellow lab (possibly, has faint cream/yellow stripes and no black on dorsal fin)

last one is this (?) unless there is another type that can be lightly striped and blue with a pale orange fin?
labeotropheus trewavasae

A little concerned with 2 of these fish. The Bumblebee from what I read is NOT a beginner fish. And I finally found the blue one with orange fins and it looks like its male and is going to be aggressive too. Happy at least the yellows are somewhat more passive.

All these fish were purchased from Petco. The first 5 were bought for my boyfriend as a gift from his friend. The bumblebee one we actually bought 2 or 3 weeks ago from Petco too. I think they're listed as "rainbow african cichlids" or something at Petco.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

From what I've recently read, Malawi Cichlids need to be kept in larger numbers than traditionally used for peaceful communities for any given tank size. Given less fish around them, they will pick a spot which provides food and defend it with their lives. However, when relatively tightly packed, they realise it is not possible to defend an area, because while fighting one fish, another few invade the security zone!

For a 55g tank, I believe something close to 15 Malawis (typically two or three species, with one male of each species) and a BN Plec is the ballpark for peace and harmony.

due to the "overstocking" nature of these setups, which produces more waste, I've read about using filters that are rated for tanks at least twice the size.

 

[Larkspur]

So basically buy more cichlids so they're crowded and can't pick and choose a single individual to terrorize?

Makes sense.

My albino BN plec is a baby. It may be a while before he can live with them.


I think most of the cichlids he has are male. Not a good thing. I guess when he and I go back to pick more we'll look for what is our best guess several females. Might try going to the locally owned store. The fish store owner may be able to tell us with confidence which ones are female. I'd rather not have my bf add more males and make things worse off.

We probably would have never gone with cichlids, but his best bud was the one who bought them and the original 36 gallon tank. His friend has kept cichlids for years, but doesn't even live here in the same city. We've got a lot of learning to do!

 

[Larkspur]

Talked to my local fish store today. The owner of the store said to have as many as 30 cichlids as long as that filtration can keep up. We probably won't go more than 20 though. He also said to stick with the synodontis. Most other fish will be bullied too much to coexist happily with the cichlids.

 

[roadmaster]

The fish mentioned with exception of Bristlenose will need hard alkaline water rather than soft water. ph 7.8 to 8.6. would suit them I would think.

 

[didz04]

Peaceful catfish can get along really well with African cichlids in my experience, as they realize that they are no harm to them so they dont even bother. I have kept pictus catfish and right now I have been keeping a Dora catfish in with them and with no problems. I think it depends on the setup aswell, if you have chosen ocean rock to cover most of the tank and try and make as many holes and caves around the tank then they dont usually pick a spot and get territorial. I have realized that one of my female cichlid hangs around on the left side of the tank more than the right, it could be due to breeding habits as she spawned a month ago and is showing the same patterns.

Like mentioned before the more cichlids the less territorial fish and you will even get away with having bigger and small cichlids together in the same tank. I had 7 cichlids ony at one time and it could be quite tense but once I added 2 jewel cichlids they just all spaced out and there were less aggression in the tank within a day. At this point you could get away with more peaceful fish in there like catfish but nothing like tetras or fish that could fit into their mouths.

I would say that the african cichlids are more aggressive than the red-tailed shark, because there is a certain aggression in fish where they attack now and then which are called sem-aggressive however cichlids are totally they opposite as these can go on all day without tiring and even kill another cichlid if one gets too dominant. However, there is a fish called the 'bucktooth tetra' these are very aggressive shoaling fish which means they stick together and normally are reccomended in groups of ten otherwise they will kill off each other, if these are in with cichlid then these would put them to the corners of the tank and the tetra would be the dominant fish swimming around. They could even put a side a group of piranhas and likely to kill them, people think piranhas are aggressive and are the most dominant fish in the tropical market but they are not.
Watch a few youtube vids on these and you will see what I mean, however only have them as a species fish and don't ever put these in with your cichlids lol.