Stocking Question

[Bert]

I have a 75 gallon tank with a penguin biowheel 350 lots of rocks and plants for hiding
For fish I have:
1 frontosa
1 yellow lab
1 female Metriaclima Lombardoi
1 Colbart Zebra
1 Cyrtocara Moorii
1 rusty peacock
1 red peacock
1 OB
1 Rhino Pleco
1Tricolor shark


how many cichlids could I add and which ones should I add? I know the stocking isn't the greatest mix, the LFS had told me africans were all fine together. I now know that is not true. I'd prefer ones that were easier to sex to avoid having much aggression. Everyone has been fine that is in the tank. Any help would be nice, thanks!

 

[kj23502]

#1 I'd fix your tank first, before adding other fish. Frontosa's get 12" (In the aquarium, they should also be kept in larger groups)and your tanks not big enough for it. And get rid of Cyrtocara moorii "Because of this fish’s giant proportions, adults and even sub-adults should not be kept in aquariums less than 125 gallons in size." I'd get rid of the shark also. I'd get rid of the Lombardoi b/c they generally don't make good tankmates. Males are notorious for causing problems and having a female or 2 w/out a male is just asking for cross-breeding issues.

#2 I'd up the #'s of the fish you have already. Get 3 more yellow labs and doesn't matter asmuch as male or female with this species. And up the #'s of the cobalt (pseudotropheus zebra). If you have someone that knows their fishy stuff, maybe they can vent it for you to check if it's male or female and then go to a store and pick up what you need according to that.

I'm assuming you have male peacocks??

The biowheel isn't enough filtration in the long term. When you get close to fully stocking most recommend at least 8x tank turnover =600 gph.

*Just my thoughts

 

[Bert]

75 Is not a long term thing. I would like to get atleast a 125 with the next 8 months or so if that makes a difference. I had another smaller filter running int eh tank but that died. It was just a whisper 10-30i. my current tank dimensions are: 18" width 20" height 48" length.

 

[kj23502]

ok. I'd sit tight until you got a bigger tank, at which point you could upgrade fish and filtration