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Please Help! Stocking List

982 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  DJRansome 
#1 ·
I am new to this site but super excited to talk fish with someone besides the poor guy at my LFS.

I have a 125 tank just waiting for me to pull the trigger on a stock list. This will be my first cichlid tank, and , I'm suffering from analysis paralysis. So that's why I'm here to get some wisdom specific to my situation from more than the 1 dude at the store.

I plan to get my stock from <vendor name removed>, which I'm mentioning only because they're actually local to me. That gives me the ability to physically go there and pick out exactly what I want, etc.

Once I was advised to go with Mbunas and another time with Haps/Peacocks. The only thing of which I'm certain right now is that I will eventually overstock to 50 fish, and my first purchase will be 20.

PLEASE help! What are your specific suggestion? I've read many other posts that read, "decide what you like"...but I will most like a tank that thrives! So that's what I want to create.

Finally, I need to understand the pros (besides cost) and cons of stocking juvies $4 each vs young adults at $20 each. If it's just about their coloration, I can be patient to a degree....5 months? No problem. 5 years? Not so much. Haha

Thank you thank you thank you for reading this little novel and in advance for your reply. :)
 
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#3 ·
Welcome to Cichlid-forum!

I like 5 species of mbuna in a 72" tank with 1m:4f of each depending on the species. Labidochromis caeruleus and Cynotilapia sp. hara are good first choices. For the rest choose different genera and fish that look nothing alike (no yellow, no blue, no bars).

Rusties? Pseudotropheus cyaneorhabdos maingano (double the numbers of these)? Albino socolofi?

Cycle without fish using ammonia and stock all 50 juveniles at once. Buy 8 unsexed juveniles of each species and plan to remove extra males as they mature and cause trouble.
 
#4 ·
DJRansome said:
Welcome to Cichlid-forum!

I like 5 species of mbuna in a 72" tank with 1m:4f of each depending on the species. Labidochromis caeruleus and Cynotilapia sp. hara are good first choices. For the rest choose different genera and fish that look nothing alike (no yellow, no blue, no bars).

Rusties? Pseudotropheus cyaneorhabdos maingano (double the numbers of these)? Albino socolofi?

Cycle without fish using ammonia and stock all 50 juveniles at once. Buy 8 unsexed juveniles of each species and plan to remove extra males as they mature and cause trouble.
Thank you for your reply! Being new to the site, I didn't realize I had any replies, and I thought I'd done something wrong with the post, and like a blonde, I posted the same question 5 minutes ago, and I can't figure out how to remove my initial post.
 
#5 ·
james1983 said:
For the stocking numbers you want and to have the most color quicker I would pick mbuna. You may not end up as heavily stocked as you want, but with haps and peacocks you're only looking at maybe 20 fish and they take longer to color up.
20 fish total in a 125gal tank? I have that many in a 90 that's still not fully stocked.
 
#6 ·
I would do 20 in a 90G but only if it was mixed gender. My perfect number for all-male in 72" is 18. And for mixed gender in a 72" tank I like to end up with 25 after removing extra males.
 
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