55 Gallon Tank! Help Me Cichlid God's!

[iairj84]

Hey guys I'm all new to cichlids but not new to fish at all, I'm more a community fish guy at this point but would like to take me new 55 a new direction. Cichlids are what I'm thinking are going to be great for this tank. So maybe you guys the Cichlid god's so to speak can help me figure out a good stocking level for this tank. It will be overfiltered with an eheim classic, I believe 2217? Let me know what you guys would do if you had a tank this size available. And please try to keep the fish easy to find (in the US) or easily ordered by most fish stores. I'm not totally familar enough with cichlids to know what to get. Thanks again guys!

Oh and one more little thing. I love german blues so if it would be possible to incorporate them into the mix that would be awesome, although I know they're not Old world cichlids.

 

[fishfishfish]

well since i am a syno finatic i will have to say u will need a few synodontis to add into your malawi tank.i have petricola and eupterus in mine.may i recommend pseudo. acei (yellow or white tail).they are great cichlids in my opinion.u should stay away from zebras.they are abit nasty.

 

[MEePStER]

there are many great malawi cichlids. any type of cynotilapia afra would be good (there are so many different types about 19 that im aware of. probably one of my most favorite species of cichlid)

this might help a bit when looking for cichlids mbuna: http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/category.php?cat=2

hop this helps you and good luck with the tank!

 

[Boids-n-more]

Since you want the blue rams incorperated i'm going to say you can't. The rams like soft water and the africans like hard water. if your willing to part with the rams i would say some brachardi's ( they do better in groups ) , yellow labs , Albino scofolis add a nice white to a fish tank , Metriaclima Callainos are nice , blue haps have nice dark shiney blue with a white mohawk lol.

 

[dthoffsett]

Yup, I second Boids-n-more, the rams and old world cichlids wouldn't work due to different water parameters, feeding, and agression levels.

The best way to pick out fish, is to go to your LFS, write down the species you like, research them, then post on here for help with stocking levels and compatability. Here are a couple of links to get you started.

http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_55g.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/spec...r_beginners.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/aqua..._setup_list.php
http/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/introduction_list.php

 

[iairj84]

I dont need the rams. I can always incorporate them into a community tank later on. I would really like to get some bigger cichlids. The yellow labs are beautiful and I would never mind having them in my setup. Their was another yellow variety cichlid I saw with the labs, it looked a lot like the yellow lab it just had some stripes I think. Maybe a mixture of some yellows and blues would be most dramatic and good looking. My ph is at 7.6 so if I could get some that would be fine without needing to do much to the water that would be great. I will be adding some driftwoods as well.
Thanks again for your help guys. I am looking forward to creating a beautiful tank with some lovely cichlids!

 

[Boids-n-more]

use some crush coral in your filter and that will buffer your water hardness to 8.2 . The driftwood will soften the water and most africans like rock structures. Heres a pic of my 55

heres my blue hap

and heres a pic of a few of the fish with different colors.

I hope this helps you out in your quest for your african tank.

 

[iairj84]

Thanks for the links, I missed those the last time I posted....

I'm liking the looks of your 55 gallon a lot. Are the rocks in the middle of the tank or at the back? It's hard for me to tell but they look really good! Did you silicon them all together? I'm going to have to check out rock places around town tomorrow and see what they have. I will also go by the various fish places and check out what they have as far as cichlids and then I will write them all down and bring the list back and see what you guys think of my choices... Thanks again!

 

[Boids-n-more]

There at the back of the tank and i didn't silicone them togeather. They are placed on some ugf plates to dispurse the weight more evenly. The bottom colorful pieces are petrified wood and the rest is lace rock with some algae growth on them.

 

[iairj84]

Well to make matters a little worse for me both of the reputable fish stores in town are less than knowledgable with cichlids. Their was a guy their that knew his stuff but he was busy with other customers.... The store that had more cichlids had a number of tanks and the few that were listed that I liked were:

Snow White Socolofi. 1.5-2'' Currently... I reall like the looks of these but have hear they dont work well with malawi's
Rubbernose Pleco's (Never seen one before at a LFS, can be a community fish if need be) 1.5'' currently
Syn. Eupterus (Cool looking fish, I can see why they're reccomeneded by fish fish fish) He was only maybe 2'' max at this point.
Brichardi- I actually came to find out there's a local breeder around here that breeds them. Again very cool looking fish and maybe 1.5'' currently.
Electric yellow cichlids (Yellow Labs i think) I really like these guys and most definately will want at least a few IF possible.
Peacock Cichlids - Seem like good looking fish too.


The rest were labled malawi cichlids or african cichlids. I dont know quite enough to pick out certain types. Although there was a yellow one with stripes I think looked nice. The majority of these fish were around 1.5'' They were 3/$10 which seemed like not a bad price.

 

[MEePStER]

Although there was a yellow one with stripes I think looked nice.

the fish didn't look like the one i have as my avatar did it? if so this might help http/www.fishforums.net/Melanochromis-Auratus-t188436.html but if it is i wouldn't recommend them they are super agressive.

 

[fishfishfish]

Syn. Eupterus (Cool looking fish, I can see why they're reccomeneded by fish fish fish) He was only maybe 2'' max at this point.

they are indeed great fish but very boisterous if they dont have a hiding spot.also, i wouldnt get a rubber nose.i had one for about a month in my first malawi and after that month, he was gone.i got a clown pleco to help clean the rocks and bristlenose plecs to clean the glass.i would go with a bristle if i were u. also, there are more synos available.they come in all shapes and sizes.but most have some sort of spot pattern.i love my petricola but ive also wanted multiplicantus,ocifellar,angelicus,and granulosus which sell for a shiney penny.

 

[iairj84]

Thanks for the input guys... No the yellow ones I saw had stripes going the opposite direction.. almost zebra like. I will hold off on the rubbernose and possibly go with the clown. Any other input on what would go well with 2-3 yellow labs?

 

[dthoffsett]

Did it look like this?

If so, it's a juvenile or female pseudotropheus crabro. Great fish, not suitable for a smaller tank as they get up to 8 inches.

Your other choices: Yellow Labs (labidochromis caeruleus) Great fish, lovely colors, peaceful by mbuna standards, and all but the most agressive fish don't bother them. They do best in groups of 5 or more, sex generally doesn't matter.

Snow White Socolofi (Pseudotropheus Socolofi Albino) http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1786, another nice fish, they are Malawis and to be more specific mbuna (rock dwelling cichlids from Lake Malawi). When I upgrade tanks again these will definately be added. I understand they are a bit more boisterous than yellow labs, but still fairly peaceful.

Brichardi (Neolamprologus brichardi) http/www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1601 These are from Lake Tanganyika and while you can mix fish from both lakes, I wouldn't advise it for a beginner.

Peacocks These are also from Lake Malawi and can be mixed with mbuna, but I think many of them would get too large for your tank, and you have to be careful with the mbuna added to match diet and so the peacocks don't get bullied.

With adequate filtering you could safely have 4-5 individuals of three different mbuna species along with a couple of catfish.

Other mbuna suitable for a peaceful tank: pseudotropheus acei, metriaclima estherae (red zebra), metriaclima callainos (cobalt zebra), iodotropheus sprengerae(rusty cichlid), pseudotropheus socolofi(powder blue).

Whatever you do, avoid the mixed african cichlid tank, most of the fish found in them are hybrids, and without knowing the parents of the fish, you could have a ticking timebomb in your tank that may one day decide to kill all of the competition.

 

[iairj84]

yes the fish looked very similar to that one there. It was deifnately juvenile being only maybe 2''

I definately like the yellow labs and am thinking 5 would be great. 3 Socolafi's would be good as well. I am thinking 3-4 pseudotropheus socolofi would be a great addition to bring some blue into the tank while keeping it midly aggressive.

I won't be able to afford to purchase all of these guys at once, so is their a special order in which I should purchase these guys so that they wont hurt each other while establishing territory? I would probably purchase each group at a time unless their was any special reasons not to.