New tank - cichlids only plan including angels

[TTboy79]

Hi there,

Just ordered a new 100cmx40, classic 180L.
In another tank I currently have 3 angels, a couple just formed and they’re chasing the third , which I’d leave in there (it’s a community tank with tetra platies and so on).

I’ve been keeping and breeding for a long time different mbuna species in a similar tank years ago, and now it’s time for Americans.

What piece of advice could you give me about:

Stocking: couple of medium sized angels + ? I love blue colour so I was thinking EBA? And also rainbow cichlid? Would it fit 3 species?

Set up: I keep cryptocoryne in flower pots, plus some anubias so I wouldn’t plant anything, so a thin layer of sand would work? Or large pebbles?

Mbunas are good to overstock so I’d fit 15-20 but how about the sa counterparts? They form couples so what’s better to do?

Thanks

 

[Byron]

Circumstances are quite different between African rift lake cichlids and the neotropical cichlids. Obviously water parameters are at opposite ends of the spectrum, but I am referring more to how one stocks tanks, with numbers, species, etc.

Unless you have very large tanks, no more than one cichlid species is advisable. I'll zero in on angelfish since you have three and are now seeing the issues beginning.

Angelfish are a shoaling species, they live in groups of up to about 30 in their habitats, and they should never be fewer than five or six. However, one or more pairs might form, and then the trouble really begins. In tanks too small--and this means anything under six or more feet in length--a pair is not likely to tolerate intruders. In the wild, this is never a problem, because the pair, or the other fish, move away out of harm's way. This is not possible in tanks less than what I've stated, and that can mean harassed and then dead fish, depending upon the individual fish.

You need to separate the pair from the third angelfish, ASAP.

The pair should be fiine in the existing tank, though some or all of the other non-angelfish may have to be rehomed. It all depends upon the pair. But space-wise, they should be fine. These are likely commercially-raised angelfish, not wild caught, so expect any spawning to not go well; the first few attempts with tank-raised fish often find the pair eating the eggs, it happens, but eventually they should settle down.

When you separate the angelfish, the lone "third" is a problem. It would be best to return it to the store; adding more angelfish is not at all likely to work. Angelfish form hierarchies very soon after they are placed in a tank, and they must all be added together, and be at roughly the same age/size. There are always exceptions, but please don't assume this will be the case here. A picked-on angelfish could be even more difficult, because of the history.