After weeks of preparing, hours of washing dragon stone (never again!) and research into Cichlid-friendly plants, I've finally got things set up. I still want to try and increase the height of the aquascaping, but I'm "fairly" happy with this as a starting point.
Does anyone have any tips for new fish in the next few weeks? I'm looking at a blue dolphin as an option - I really like them.
I know I might get slated for including a couple of OB Peacocks in, but they seem to be getting on just fine (at the moment). I do have another small backup tank if things don't work out.
-Your aquarium is large enough that you can probably make it work. I used to have multiple mbuna aquariums and I would have to remove a hyperdominant fish from time to time. I had a 55 gallon “brute” tank to put them in. It had male, Kenyi, Socolofi, and Bumblebee cichlids among others. And I never had a death or seriously injured fish from that aquarium. The secret…..the rockwork. I had both real and artificial rocks all the way up to the water surface in several spots, with enough caves that each fish had multiple choice for a territory. There were more rocks than swimming space.
Now, before anyone rushes out to set up their own, it was not an enjoyable aquarium as far as a display tank. The bumblebee male was dominant, and he was visible most of the time; however, the other fish would stay hidden except for feeding time. I had a large fish room and devoting an aquarium for this purpose was no big deal to me. But I would not want to do that if I only owned a few.
My point to the OP. You’re likely going to require more rockwork in the future to make it work. How much will depend on the personality of your fish. Just keep a close eye for aggression and be prepared for it.
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