Need help deciding on new fish.

[Herefishyfishyfishsy]

I have a 28gal bowfront tank (dimensions 24.5 long x 15 wide at the bow x 19 high) that has been empty for awhile and I would like to start an african cichlid tank. I've never kept africans before, so I'll need some that are for beginners. Also, has anyone had any experience w/Orange Leleupi (neolamprologus leleupi)?

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[fufanu360]

are you thinking all malawi or all mbuna or what you thinking, i dont think your supposed to mix, i would go will some yellow labs, so elecetic blues and stuff, make it color full!

 

[wrs]

they said neolamprologus leleupi which means they want to do lake tang fish. That is a great size for neolamprologus leleupi. It would need alot of rockwork and a high Ph.

 

[Herefishyfishyfishsy]

Yea!!!, I was really hoping that I could go with neolamprologus leleupi!! So I need a lot of rock work, how many fish do you think I should get, and can I put anything else in with them. My tap water is already 8.4PH, but it has pretty low hardness for the lake tangs (11dgh); so, I was thinking of getting white fine grain argonite rock for substrate. Any thoughts? Thanks for the help.

 

[wrs]

maybe get some tang buffer. You could also maybe get some shellies, or maybe 6 or so of the fish you want, so that they can pair up and mate.

 

[Herefishyfishyfishsy]

Well, I've decided on 4 Orange Leleupi. So what kind and how many shellies would anyone recommend. Sorry for all the questions, but I'm new to this.

 

[freddyk]

As far as the leleupi go, you only have room for one pair, with the shellies involved. Starting off with 4 is a good idea, to ensure you do get a compatable pair, but you'll probably find you need to remove two of them at some point.

You're looking at about 4 to 8 shelldwellers, depending on what type you want to go with.

Your water is fine as it is, there is no need to add anything. The general hardness of 11 is perfect, the ph of 8.4 is perfect. aragonite is a good way to help buffer the water, especially if you have a low KH, and the fish will enjoy it as well.

 

[Herefishyfishyfishsy]

Thanks for everyones help so far, but I have just a few more questions.
I've decided on 2 neolamprologus leleupi
3-4 neolamprologus ocellatus
Could anyone recommend some dither fish just for something else to be in the tank.
Also I've had problems w/plecos in the past (bought from my lfs, very short life ). So what kind would be a good one that will be hardy and not get beat up by the occies. Thanks so much.

 

[freddyk]

The bristlenose pleco's seem to be a good choice for pleco (bristlenose applies to a variety of fish under the Ancistrus family, and not all are algae eaters, but the 'common' one is a pretty good algae eater and will ignore any other tankmates).

I've seen a number of tough tetra's work in setups like this -serpae, congo, columbian... just make sure to get a large enough schoal to provide the appropriate comfort for them. The tangs generally see them as non-threatening and they'll be ignored.