Lake Malawi Species • Peacocks, yellow labs, and acei?

[momofzookeeper]

Hi, I recently got my fish obsessed son a new 46gallon tank. The tank is 36" L x 12"W x 24"H. I thought we would do some african cichlids. Looking for some suggestions as to how many we should put in there. Some of what we are thinking of are peacocks, yellow labs, acei, and maybe a type of synodontis. We also thought about a redtail shark. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated. Thank you!

[shiftyfox]

Acei grow too big and I wouldn’t put peacocks in there. If you had 18 inch width you maybe able to do a bit more.
You could try 4 yellow labs or a group of salousi - I wouldn’t put anymore than 5 fish total in there.
Plenty of rocks is a must.

[momofzookeeper]

Thanks, I like the idea of the saulosi, my son would love the blue. Now I just have to talk my husband out of the peacocks.

[DJRansome]

Agree with shiftfox. The male is blue and the females are yellow-orange. You want more females than males...if you have more than one male in the tank the others may fight or just not show the blue color.

If your husband wants peacocks, perhaps you would consider a tank that is 48" x 18" or larger.