Stocking New 120 gallon Tank

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Rck_Freshwater

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Hi All -

My new 120 gallon (48.5 x 18.5 x 30.5) is currently cycling and I am going to stock it with African Cichlids. It’s running a Eheim 2262 canister filter and a trigger system sapphire 26 sump (sponges bio-balls, refugium). Pictures attached.

I have kept community tanks in the past and currently have a 45 gallon community tank. This will be my first time keeping Cichlids. I am thinking about keeping the following in the tank:

1) Aulonocara Baenshi Benga (4 makes and 4 females)
2) Copadichromis Azureus Mbenji (4 males and 4 females)
3) Protomelas Taeniolatus "Red Empress" Namalenje (4 males and 4 females)
4) Common Pleco (1)
5) Pictus Catfish (2)

I’d love your thoughts on stocking. I wanted to stay in the Peacock and Haps family.

Also, has anyone ordered from The Wonder of Cichlids online? I’ve heard good things about them, but curious if others have any experience!

Thanks for the help!
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Hi and welcome to the forum :)

What is the GH (general hardness) and pH of your water supply. This information can usually be obtained from your water supply company's website or by telephoning them. If they can't help you, take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and get them to test it for you. Write the results down (in numbers) when they do the tests. And ask them what the results are in (eg: ppm, dGH, or something else).

African Rift Lake cichlids come from water that has lots of minerals in and a pH above 7.0. If your water is soft and has a pH below 7.0, you will need to buffer it with a Rift Lake Water Conditioner.

You should also look into different catfish if you have hard water. Pictus catfish and suckermouth catfish (Plecos) come from soft acid water. Pictus also occur in groups and do best when there are 6 or more of them.

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When keeping big predatory cichlids, it is best to have 1 male and 1 female. With smaller Rift Lake cichlids (like the ones in your list) you can have 1 male and a group of females. If you have several males they will fight over territories and the females. Eventually you will end up with 1 male and a group of females.

The fish you have picked aren't outwardly aggressive for cichlids but 4pr of each species in that size tank is a bad idea.

If you want colour, then get males only.

If you want to breed them, get 1 male and 3 or 4 females. Try not to have species that resemble each other because many cichlids will cross breed with other species.

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If you ever buy another tank, try to get one with a better surface area. Whilst tall tanks look great, they are a pain in the %^^ to clean and work in. Tanks that are long and wide have a better surface area and can hold more fish because there is more room for the fish to swim. Fish swim left to right, not up and down.

If your tank was 4ft long x 2ft wide x 2 ft high it would be a better size for the fish.

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Whilst you don't have any fish in the tank yet, the following might be useful if the fish ever get sick. It's long and boring but worth a read when you have some spare time.
http://www.fishforums.net/threads/what-to-do-if-your-fish-gets-sick.450268/
 

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