Setting Up A Big Chiclid Tank

[calsonic]

Hi i am looking into switching over from discus to African chiclids and i need some advice as i have no clue about African chiclids

The tank i am planning to use is 6ftx2ft x2ft and about 650 litres and has a Eheim pro 3 2180 filter a 500 whatt heater built in and a pro 3 2075 with a v2 600 uv connected
I plan to change at least a 100l of water a week i will be refitting the tank with a new white light and a actinic blue and a dark bulb for night time viewing and i intend to keep at least one of the bristle nose’s from my old set up. i would like plate the back of the tank with slate At the moment i have a gravel and fertaliser substrate but i presume this would have to go so could you recommend me a substrate and can i keep my old food? how hardy are they?

The fish i am considering at the moment are

Electric Blue Johannii,
Yellow Lab,
Frontosa
Common pleco,
Bristle nose
Red top trewavasae
Cobalt Blue
Pundamilia nyererei
Mpanga elongates
Powder Blue Cichlid
Cukko catfish
Elephant nose
Ghost knife fish

Although the bottom three I’m not so sure about my friend said they would be fine but he is new to fish keeping

 

[calsonic]

how do you think the following stocking sounds

anscistrus sp x2
common plec x1
labidochromis careuleus yellow x10
cynotipa afra x8
pseudotropheus crabo x8
Labidochromis Hongi Red Top x8
powder blue x8
yellow tail acei x7

 

[wolfwolf]

Fairly new to cichlids myself but I do not think you should have two lab species in the same tank. I recommend checking our cichlid-forum.com Lots of info specifically for cichlids.

 

[calsonic]

thanks for the link i will take a look a bit later cheers

 

[fatheadminnow]

It should all be fine, as long as the Cichlids you have are form the same lake, and that you maintain the 3 females for every 1 male rule, provide plenty of hiding places for them as well.

-FHM

 

[Davo86]

how do you think the following stocking sounds

anscistrus sp x2
common plec x1
labidochromis careuleus yellow x10
cynotipa afra x8
pseudotropheus crabo x8
Labidochromis Hongi Red Top x8
powder blue x8
yellow tail acei x7

Wouldn't personally go with a common due to their size and the rocky setup required for africans, Instead I would up the number of ancistrus or add a couple of spotted bulldog plecos.

As said above with similar species like the two labs you have there is a chance of hybridisation which is something you don't really want.

Personally I would go with Peacocks rather than mbuna but thats my two cents.
would also consider a few synodontis species (of which the cuckoo catfish is one)

 

[calsonic]

why are hybrids so bad?
and are there any good chilid shops in east anglia you could recomend

 

[fatheadminnow]

Hybrids are a cross breed of two species.

If this happens, it will mess up the gene pool. So cross breeding is something that we try not to do, but something that can;t be stopped sometimes.

-FHM

 

[Davo86]

Well you will struggle to rehome them as anyone who knows about african cichlids as they will stay far away from them due to spoilt bloodlines etc.

 

[calsonic]

im sure i can rehome them or give them to my frends pirhana
will playsand and coral sand mix be okay?

 

[forby3]

hi i have malawi i use alot of ocean rock and coral gravel for mine in my tank i ahve 12 x yellow lab 3 x yellow tailed acei 2 x rustys 3 x albino's 2 large common plecs 1 synodontis multi

 

[calsonic]

hi i have malawi i use alot of ocean rock and coral gravel for mine in my tank i ahve 12 x yellow lab 3 x yellow tailed acei 2 x rustys 3 x albino's 2 large common plecs 1 synodontis multi

i love the black and grey fish in your sig thingy im probally going to order about 150kg of play sand from argos and maybee 25kg of coral sand the play sand will be about 30 and i can give away what i dont use

 

[8inary]

i did a similar things...

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLGa8d9L1SY

 

[forby3]

wow thats like 10 bags of play sand buy the way how deep are you putting the sand

 

[calsonic]

with a 25 kg sack of coral sand on the bottom as a buffer i estimate about 2-3 inches i herd they like to dig thats as deep as my discus set up is with gravel