[m1aman]

I want to set up an African tank with this 55g I have. I want it to be mostly open water with a couple of small pieces of driftwood and some rocks. Though I have kept Africans in the past I am a long way from an expert. I would like it to be a species tank. My favorite colors are blue and yellow.

Is this doable? What do you guys recommend?

 

[DJRansome]

Because you want mostly open water and bright colors you might consider peacocks from Lake Malawi. The scientific name is Aulonocara so that you can look then up in the profiles.

Maybe 8-10 males, one from each species, no two looking alike. Two nice yellow ones are baenschi and stuartgranti Maleri Island. A nice blue one is stuartgranti Ngara also known as Flametail.

If you don't mind mostly rocks, you could consider mbuna from Malawi and stock mixed gender groups.

If you don't mind subtle colors and like a variety of shapes and interesting behaviors you could stock Tanganyikans like shellies, calvus and cyprochromis (non-jumbo like utinta).

 

[m1aman]

Thank you for your response. After looking through the profiles I see the choices are somewhat overwhelming. I do have a lot of large and medium sized smooth stones so I could easily do a Malawi tank as you suggested. By mixed gender groups are you saying multiple males and females of the same fish?

 

[DJRansome]

A mixed gender 55G tank for Malawi mbuna could have three species of fish with one male and four females of each.

Take a look at the cookie cutter tanks in the Library under Quick Reference.

 

[m1aman]

The cookie cutter tanks were very helpful! I do see some fish in there I like and it helped narrow down my choices.

I really appreciate the effort that has gone into making this site. Very impressed.

 

[DJRansome]

The main advantage of the cookie cutter tanks for me starting out was some hint of which species could be good tank mates. Enjoy your research!