[stevenm1]

Hey guys and girls, just joined the forum and have a couple questions.
I just added my fish to my new 55 gallon African tank. I let the tank cycle and all the readings are good. PH=8.4,ammonia=0,Nitrates=5-7,Nitrites=0. This passed Sunday I stocked the tank with 2 Red Zebra, 1 Acei, 2 Electric Yellow Labs. 1 Rusty, 2 Johannii,1 Jewel(I just really like them),1 Clown Cat(Synodontis decorus).
This coming Saturday I want to add another Rusty to make them 2, and another Acei to make them 2. Are these additions ok at this point and for the future? This tank is an all male tank and with lots of hiding places and fake plants. I also used CarribSea African Cichlid Eco-Complete. My second question is that I think I have a relativly peacful tank besides the johanni and jewel, I would really like to get a Calvus and 2 Ragani to officially stock my 55 gallon. Do you guys thing that this would be a good stock list? Thank you very much !

 

[dielikemoviestars]

All male, huh? I'd keep it to 1 male per species, and make absolute sure you get rid of females immediately.

I'd skip on the Calvus. The RZs are nasty, too.

 

[morzan280]

ya if theres more than one male in each species then they'll fight ... red zebra's have a bad reputation and a worse attitude

 

[CichlidWhisperer]

In general you need to keep it to 1 male of each species. However, that is not necessarily true with Acei and IME they do better in groups of two or more. I have 4 male Acei in my all male tank and they hang out together and rarely chase one another and even when they do, it is simply a very mild chase without much agression. You Red zebras and Johannii will probably not be OK. If you have more than one male in your tank, chances are when they mature they will make sure there is only one! Electric Yellows and Rusties may tolerate more than one male, but some individuals of these species can be more agressive and you do risk having them torment or kill others of their species.

As for the Jewel, they should be kept in less alkaline water than mbuna and therefore are probably not the best to mix in this tank.

Calvus and Regani might survive in the tank, but probably would not be the best to keep in a mbuna tank. Calvus can take care of themselves, but are very mild personality fish and will probably be chased some.