Setting Up An African Cichlid Tank? Help!

[Cheffi]

Edit: I've posted this in the African Cichlid section now.will probably get more response.

Decided against a community tank now. As said previously eventually I would like to have discus but with no experience they will breathe a sigh of relief that I'll wait at least a year.

I like the african cichlids and wondered if there are any experts out there that can make some sense of so much information it's making my brain ache.

I like very much the yellow labs. My tank (which is yet to be setup _ starting tomorrow) is 80 uk gallons. It has an Aquis 1200 external canister filter a 300w heater and 2 x 30w lights.

From these dimensions can someone please tell me which other fish would mix with these bearing in mind I prefer the 'brighter coloured' ones. Also numbers would be a help. I think the kind of setup I intend to do (sand, slate, large cobbles and pebbles, minimal plants) will suit these type of fish.

Or failing that is there a really good book out there. I'm just having problems working out which of them would live together and don't understand how many of each one can have to tank size. Also I don't want to make a mistake and thats why I'm asking so many questions, again (apologies). Thanks

 

[plantropimunity]

as i am sure you will find out in the african forum, the yellow lab belongs to the malawian mbuna group of african cichlids.
these fish will do best when mixed with other mbuna of similar temperment.
as for tank conditions i would recommend a ph of 7.8-8.0, a kh of about 11, keep your nitrate levels as low as possible by doing frequent water changes.
mbuna being rock dwelling fish, the proper environment for them is........rocks! good guess. make about 2 or three caves for every fish in the tank and they will figure it out. enjoy these fish. they are great.
i also recommend checking out cichlidforum.com for additional information.