Cichlid-Forum

Hello Everyone!

I am not new to the fish keeping hobby, have kept numerous fish/plants over the past 6+ years.

How ever I am new to the African Cichlid game

I am looking to see if my stocking would be acceptable (i think it is with research I have done), but wanted people that have done this before to review before I drop money into this

I came into possession of a 72 Bow front 48x13x23, and it is currently cycling.

Right now the stocking Idea I have is:

5 Yellow Labs
5 Rustys
5 Yellow Tail Acei
5 Red Zebra
(trying to keep it colorful and vibrant)

I really love the demasoni, but I hear its extremely hard to keep the peace w/ them. Is there anyone to pull it off w/ the demasoni w/o keeping a species only tank? I have read around on here and heard 12+ may work, but I'm not sure with the above stocking + 12 demasoni would be too much for this tank.

Thoughts?

That's way too many fishes for a 48" tank, even without the P. demasoni. I'd go with the yellow Labs and another relatively mellow Mbuna, preferably a pretty blue one. Good luck.

Agree with sir_keith. I would skip the acei (too big) and don't mix the yellow labs and red zebras as they crossbreed.

Thanks for the replies everyone!

sir_keith wrote:That's way too many fishes for a 48" tank, even without the P. demasoni. I'd go with the yellow Labs and another relatively mellow Mbuna, preferably a pretty blue one. Good luck.

Okay, I'm not trying to stir any pots here, and I know (Aquadvisior) is not the end all be all for stocking an aquarium. But with those 4 matching it shows i'm at a 120% stocking level. Everything I read seemed to show i needed to over stock? What would your max stocking level for this tank be?

Also, do you have a blue mbuna that you could suggest to go with the Lab's and Rusty?

Thanks for the information!

DJRansome wrote:Agree with sir_keith. I would skip the acei (too big) and don't mix the yellow labs and red zebras as they crossbreed.

Okay, thats understandable; is there another Redish/Orange Mbuna that I could replace it with?

Thanks for the information!!

How about 3 species with 1m:4f of each?

There is not a red/orange mbuna. Cynotilapia sp. hara are a nice blue mbuna.

DJRansome wrote:How about 3 species with 1m:4f of each?

There is not a red/orange mbuna. Cynotilapia sp. hara are a nice blue mbuna.

How about 3 species with 1m:4f of each? -- Sounds pretty solid! Thank You!


Cynotilapia sp. hara are a nice blue mbuna - That is one gorgeous fish! Are these relativity common to find?

Not in a LFS but you always get better prices and quality if you order fish online from a reputable vendor. You also have an active fish hobby group in Ohio...maybe from a local hobbyist. This is from a Facebook post I saw:

Jeff Natterer shared a post.
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Visual Storyteller
· December 25, 2020 at 12:23 PM ·
Ohio Cichlid Association
December 25, 2020 at 12:07 PM ·
As a holiday gift to the hobby, the Ohio Cichlid Association has decided to make public at least parts of the 3 sessions of the 2020 Virtual Extravaganza. They are now available for viewing on the OCA’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/results... Here is the list of contents for each session, including the speaker and presentation title, Vendor Spotlight videos and interviews, and other segments, as appropriate.
Friday Session
Frank Reese, of Blue Zoo Radio
Zoogari Pets
Tangled Up in Cichlids
Cobalt Aquatics
Discussion with Jeff Cardwell
The Wet Spot
Imperial Tropicals
Saturday Session
Imperial Tropicals
Mike’s Cichlids
Ad Konings: “Tanganyikan Cichlids from the Central Tanzanian Shore”
Dave’s Rare Aquarium Fish
Swiss Tropicals
Sunday Session
Haakon Haagensen: “New Loracariidae Imports”
Jim Smith Fund Grant Announcement
Virtual Fish Show Results and Awards
We hope you enjoy the video recordings of this ground-breaking event!
Merry Christmas!!!

Thank you very much djransome! I have some paths and appreciate the advice!

I am not endorsing all those vendors, but they are speaking at the event and you may make some contacts with hobbyists in your area. I am familiar with Dave of Dave's Rare Fish and Ad Konings is a well known researcher who has published several books on Africans from that list.

DJRansome wrote:I am not endorsing all those vendors, but they are speaking at the event and you may make some contacts with hobbyists in your area. I am familiar with Dave of Dave's Rare Fish and Ad Konings is a well known researcher who has published several books on Africans from that list.

Thank You Sir, I joined a couple of those groups and will keep an eye out.