Hello! New to the forum and new to Cichlids. Setting up a 55

[gfry]

Hello, everyone!

I've kept fish in the past but never Cichlids and my 55-gal tank, which is located at my office, has sat empty for about seven years since we moved our business across town. About three weeks ago as I was walking by my empty aquarium, that fish bug bit me again, pretty hard, and I've been itching ever since. At first I was thinking about a freshwater community tank of some sort, perhaps with some Swordtails, Gouramis, and Tetras but changed my mind after considering more carefully the natural water parameters at the office - nearly ideal for African Cichlids, pretty terrible for anything else. I did some reading about Cichlids, found you folks, did some more reading, and some more reading, and some more reading. And now I have some questions.

First, let's start with my local water parameters:
pH: 7.6 out of the tap but rises to 8.4 after sitting for a while
KH: 13
GH: At least 25 - I stopped counting after 25 drops.

(I'm guessing a few African Cichlid keepers might be a bit envious of my city's water supply.)

Here's my aquarium setup:
55-gal
2 AquaClear 30 Filters (150 gph each)
2 AquaClear 20 powerheads driving quick-filters (125 gph each)
1 Aquael Unimax 250 Pro canister w/11 watt UV sterilizer (190 gph)
1 150 watt ViaAqua stainless steel heater
Gravel substrate about 2" deep in front, 3" in back.
Some rocks, and fake driftwood that provides a decent amount of caves and cover.
A few nice looking fake plants, mainly to hide the filter and heater ugliness.
I also have an old Magnum 350 canister filter with a gravel-vac attachment I'll use to clean the gravel.
I've just started the fishless cycle process.

As far as stocking, I was originally considering Tangs because the water quality here is a closer match for them but the more research I've done, the more I fell in love with the colors and different varieties of Mbunas. I used the cookie-cutter setup in the library as a guide and here's what I'm thinking for a small Mbuna community:

4 x Metriaclima estherae sp. “Cherry Red Zebra”
4 x Pseudotropheus sp. “Acei”
4 x Labidochromis caeruleus sp. “Yellow Lab”

All three of these species seem to be pretty monomorphic so I'm thinking there will be a nice amount of color amongst the population.

Questions:
1. From what I've read, the water is a bit harder than ideal for Mbunas. Will they be OK in this water?

2. I figure I'll be getting around 600 GPH through the various filters. Is that enough for these three species in a 55?

3. Any thoughts on this population? Alternative suggestions?

4. I realize that generally there should be a single male to three or four females per species, but I'll be ordering these fish on-line as juveniles so they won't be sexed. I can't stand the thought of "culling" or euthanizing any of these beautiful creatures. What do most folks do if there turns out to be too many males and aggression becomes a problem? I know a second tank is an option (I'm considering setting up a 29 just for this purpose) but my budget is pretty strained. (Translation: the wifey is getting upset at what I've spent already and I haven't even bought fish, yet.)

Thanks for taking the time to read my long post. Any comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated!

George

[cjacob316]

most people order excess so that in the end you should be able to end up with one male to however many females, then bring the rest to an lfs, the going rate is 30% of what the sell that species for, i use this to buy new fish, decor or food, pretty nice.

with yellow labs, apparently ratio doesn't matter as much as with others so you may not have to get rid of any of them

i think your water should be fine as long as it's stable, and the filtration sounds good as long as it picks up enough waste
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55 Gal Malwai/Victoria 29 Gal Haplochromis sp.44 "Red Tail" fry tank 29 Gal soon to be Tanganyika 1.5 Gal Crowntail Beta

[Guams]

I don't know if this will be a concern for you or not, but Metriaclima estherae and Labidochromis caeruleus are known to hybridize quite prolifically. If you plan on letting "nature take it's course" within your tank, they'll be fine as most of the fry would probably end up as a quick snack. But... if you plan on keeping and/or selling or giving away fry, the hybrids made by those two species are frowned upon.

I have a 46 gallon bowfront that houses 4 Labidochromis caeruleus, 3 Ps. acei, 2 Cynotilapia sp. White Top Hara's, a small colony of Ps. demasoni, and a Synodontis petricola. If it's an option for you, you could replace the M. estherae with a colony of Ps. demasoni. Although they should be kept in groups of 12 or more to reduce aggression (that's what common practice is), I have 7 and they're doing just fine.

I find that colors of the Ps. demasoni, Ps. acei, and Lab. caeruleus make for a nice looking tank.

[gfry]

Thanks, cjacob316 and Guams.

Do you think P. saulosi would be a better choice with the M. estherae and P. Acei? Since they are a bit smaller (and more aggressive), maybe six saulosi and 4 each of the other two species? Or is it best to only do saulosi in a species tank?

I love the demasonis, but I'm a bit timid about mixing those with the others in my first cichlid tank.

[steelers fan]

if it were my 55 i would go with 15 demasoni, 6 yellow labs and 4 or 5 white tail acei. male to female ratio does not really matter with this mix since the labs and acei are two of the more docile of the mbuna and the dems will be too busy chasing each other around to worry whos male and whos female. also i would change the substrate to sand (probrably white pool sand). this will make the substrate easier to clean and will show off the mbunas natural home digging ability. you have plenty of filtration. dont be timid with demasoni...they pretty much occupy each other. as long as you have enough of them theyll be okey. yeah theyll chase each other but thats what they do best and usually no-one gets hurt...that is as long as you have 15...and throw in an albino bristle nose pleco or two

[gfry]

Thanks, sf. Just curious... is there a logical reason to choose the white tail Acei over the yellow tail? Or is it a personal preference?

[EmagdniM]

You can def. bump up your numbers and add more fish if you'd like...lets see some pics when u get it goin! Unless you're worried about selling the fry, hybridization is a non-issue...
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55 Gal 48x12x20

2 - Xystichromis phytophagus
5 - Metriaclima estherae (Red)
5 - Labidochromis sp. "Hongi"
6 - Cynotilapia afra (Cobue)
6 - Labidochromis caeruleus (Lion's Cove)
5 - Synodontis petricola

[steelers fan]

youll have alot of blue with the dems and the white tail acei are stark black...so just another color

[keyguard123]

Hi to all.
I am new one for this side. It will be great help of having chat and discussions with you guys. Hope the chats and the discussions will be interesting and full of knowledge.
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diätpillen

[gfry]