[kerbchek]

I've been trying to decide what to do with my 46 bow front aquarium for quite some time. I was planning on getting several Calvus and removing some of the males to trade back to my LFS and then move on to another breed to add to the tank...

... well, I may still do that - however, after looking through the 40 gallon "cookie cutter" stock list suggestions in the library section of this web forum, I noticed Copadichromis Azures & Placidochromis Electra recommended at 4 each...

It got me thinking... were there any Haps or Peacocks recommended for a tank this size? I think the Copadichromis Azures & Placidochromis Electra are awesome looking as well as the Ruby Red and Red Top - I like a lot of the fish in the Aulonocara group -

I could do a species only tank of the Ruby Red, Red Top, Copadichromis azures, or Placidochromis electra to start with... or something else someone maybe will suggest -

I still want to have Calvus someday, but I'm new to Cichlids and think maybe some of these other species might be easier to start with (or maybe I'm wrong...)

THANK YOU for any suggestions... (I'm still in the learning stage - no fish have been purchased yet...)

 

[Fogelhund]

There aren't any Haps that are regularly available that I would keep in a tank of this size. You might get away with some of the more passive Aulonocara in a tank that size though, such as; Aulonocara hueseri, Aulonocara baenschi, Aulonocara kandeense, Aulonocara maulana, Aulonocara maylandi, Aulonocara stuartgranti (Neon Dorsal varieties only), Aulonocara sp. ''Chitande types".

Only one variety, if you plan on breeding.

 

[kerbchek]

Thank you for the suggestion of Auloncara species. I've read through the profiles and found some very beautiful fish... It's going to be an awesome tank... I have other tanks available around the house if it won't work, but then they'd be living out of the basement instead of in our main living room....

the Auloncara stuartgranti Ngara "Flametail" looks pretty awesome and had similar characteristics to some of the ones you mentioned in the above post... maybe a consideration? Also it's available from the on-line supplier I've thought about purchasing fish from...

I plan to stay with one species right now and for this tank... how many could fit in a 46 gallon - maybe get quite a few juvies, and remove males as they mature to get the right male/female ratio... then the extra males can start a 55 or 75 gallon "all male" hap/peacock tank someplace else in my house... By the way, what would a good male/female ratio be - 1:1 or one male for several females...??

Thanks again for the suggestions and ideas.