Any Oddball Fish Suitable For My Setup?

[didz04]

Hi I have cichlids at the moment in a 4ft 40g.
The fish that I have in there are:
1 African Congo cichlid
1 Yellow lab (will it be important for me to get more?)
Johanni cichlid
2 malawi cichlids
2 socolifi (blue) cichlids
2 Jewel cichlids (not sure what type though)
1 Dora catfish
1 Sucking loach

I was hoping for another type of cichlid that is very nice looking and would be fine with my setup. Would any of the Julidochromis be fine with them? Also are there any other types of fish except cichlids that would be fine with mine, maybe a 2 pictus catfish.
I have just made changed my tank setup full of rocks, I wanted to also check if these are Ocean rocks, if not then what type of rock isit and would it affect my fish in anyway (water quality)?

Any oddball type fish suitable for my setup?

Setting them up.

All setup without fish in yet

Its my best setup so far and also first real cichlid setup
Still haven't got any more pictures of the tank with fish in except videos, but will do soon.
Anyhelp and suggestions please and thanks in Advance.

 

[Blood_Parrot]

if its live rock then. live rock has living organisms that will die in fresh and cause high ammonia or nitrates in your tank which will indeed cause algae to go nuts. Live rock has a resale value per pound that exceeds the value of "base rock" which is clean and won't foul the tank. If you want the look of that rock in your cichlid tank, take the live rock to a store or sell it to another saltwater hobbyist and use the proceeds to buy baserock.

 

[didz04]

Actually this is ocean rock which I found out by someone in the tropical fish section and not live rock, are you talking about live rock that is used in marine tanks or can this type of rock be live also? The woman who had this last used this in tropical and also I have washed the rocks however I didn't boil the rock?
Could this actually have live organisms in them, I did find some small snail shells stuck on them. I'm pretty sure its not live.

 

[kniesh]

Thats not live rock, its ocean as you say. No living organisms of note to worry about. It is perfect for the set up you have, however I cant think off the top of my head any oddballs suitable for an african cichlid setup to be honest. Nice tank though.

 

[didz04]

Thats not live rock, its ocean as you say. No living organisms of note to worry about. It is perfect for the set up you have, however I cant think off the top of my head any oddballs suitable for an african cichlid setup to be honest. Nice tank though.

Thanks are there any other fish except cichlids that can tolerate high ph. I was hoping for a birchir as they seem to be hardy fish. I have kept them before on their own. I was hoping for oddball as I wanted something different in there like a puffer. Thanks for the help.

I was looking to add more plants as I only have 1 plant in there at the moment, not shown in pics. I wouldn't add any more ornaments or rocks in there as it has covered the whole tank and still lots of place for the fish to swim. There is also space at the back of the rocks near the back glass as I did it so the rocks don't touch the back glass to put on any pressure on the glass.
I know this is the oddball section but would acei cichlids be fine, are they african cichlds?
Thanks

 

[kniesh]

Yep, a acei cichlid would be fine in there.I think you need to decide on cichlids (African) or oddbaslls though, not both. Bichirs would be fine in there so long as you never used anything besides that rock to buffer PH, tbh it doesnt effect it that much in my opinion.

 

[didz04]

Yep at the moment that is all I am using the rocks as the main layout and have added a few plants, looking to fill the holes more with plants. I have stuck to African cichlids and might get a acei now, a few of them. What is their aggression level?

 

[kniesh]

They are only slightly aggressive so will be just fine in an african setup like yours. They will look nice too

 

[didz04]

Thanks , there is a guy in Nottingham who has a really good breed of acei with bright blue and yellow tails, he breeds them him self so might take a trek down there to see his fish house and give him sum dosh lol . I just bought a single lyretail cichlid really nice but might be getting 2 more. but they are quite expensive at £7.00 each, I'm just thinking might give in my Johanni and one of my socolofi cichlid as I have too much blue in there and get 2 more of them including acei's. I know acei are blue and yellow but they are really nice and always wanted them since I have had cichlids. They remind me of the marine tangs.

I will have to update pics

 

[kniesh]

Sounds good m8. I would prefer to buy from a private breeder like that, good idea that. Maybe think about a small group of Yellow Labs, that would add a bit of colour and in a group can be entertaining. Got to say I'm no expert on african cichlid set ups but if you over-filter the tank then you are best over-stocking the tank slightly. It helps with aggression.

I know this isnt always recommended either but if you are getting all 'low aggression' fish I would look at some Peacocks. They will add a lot more colour to your tank, there are some really nice ones out there.

 

[Aaron89]

oddball suitable for tank - tanganyikan eel

 

[didz04]

Thats a really nice eel and are these from where the most of the lake cichlids are from? Can you give me a link to more information about this fish, are these quite popular in the UK market as I have never seen these before?
Thanks fir the suggestion.