i have a 30gal long or a 55gal corner witch is better?
i want to keep some african cichlids. i was thinking a few electic blue, maybee a few electic yellow.
i would also like something orange in the tank... ideas?
would it be posible to breeed these fish with them all together?
also besides the ones i named if they are not sutible what should i put in the tank?
sorrry for all the questions.
alll the help u have is greatly apprecated.
-matt (forgive spelling errors)
Neither tank is really 100% suitable for mbuna such as Yellow labs which you refer to as "electric yellow". Once again, not sure about "electric blue" as many african cichlids can fit this name. If you absolutely had to pick a tank however, I would go with the 30 gallon long. Mbuna means rock dwelling and that is exactly what these fish do, they prefer the foot print of the tank, so a corner tank really is not ideal at all. If I were you I would just wait and go for a 55gallon 4 foot long tank. They really aren't that expensive, I got one for 40 bucks off craigslist.
As far as the actual fish you are planning on stocking this with. If you do go with a 30 gallon, I would not recommend any type of mbuna such as "electric yellow". The minimum size tank for these fish would probably be a 4 foot long tank at least. If you did end up stocking this tank with mbuna, only one species would be ideal, and you would have to end up moving them after time because they will outgrow the tank.
If you do end up getting a larger aquarium, a good orange colored cichlid you may consider would be a "red zebra" they are called red zebras, but are a very orange color. You could also consider Ps. Saulosi, the males of this species are a striped blue, and the females are a very nice orange/yellow color.
As far as breeding, yes you can breed these different species of fish, but it is highly recommended that you do not do so. If you do end up breeding different species creating "hybrids" you should never distribute these back into the system. Hybrids destroy the hobby for all of us as they dilute the gene pool of our fish.
Hope that helped. Also here is a cookie cutter setup for a 30ish gallon tank if you decide to go with that.
http
/www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_29g.php
The 55G would be better as it would give you a few more stocking options.
Not so for the mbuna he is naming, the foot print of the aquarium is actually more important. The height hardly makes much of a difference.
