[theanchorman]

Hi all, i currently have a tropical tank set up with a pair of kribs who have bred along with some neons, *** had the tank for about 3 years and as *** moved house *** treated myself to a juwel vision 260. *** bought 40kg ocean rock, sand from the previous owner, a tetratec 1200 filter and a 300w heater i was given and a eggcrate, so almost ready to go and i have a few questions i hope some people can help with.

1) should i / can i use some of the filter media out of the filter in my current tank or can i use one of these kits that adds media (tetrasafe i think?)

2) should i use some of my water from a water change from the current set up to help with cycling

3) stocking! i know people must ask this all the time and i have been researching but want to be sure the fish i get are compatible. i was thinking 3/4 species 1m 3/4f?
yellow labs
acei
demansoni (although i think you need 1 or 12? i like the thought of these as the females are similar in colour to the males?) or another cichlid similar (bright blue with stripes?)
3/4 synodontis

any help/advice would be much appreciated! (part stocking question and cycling question! wasnt too sure where to post)

thanks!

 

[dielikemoviestars]

What's the tank size? Is your African tank going to be a new tank? Or the existing tank, just with new fish? If it's the latter, you won't have to do anything except swap out the fish and buffer the water. If it's a new tank, run the new filter on your existing tank for a bit then transfer it over and add fish to the new tank immediately after.

You're right about demasoni - 1 or 12+. Those 3 species will coexist well; however, acei get pretty sizable and you'll need a large (longer than 4', preferably 6') tank for them.

Ps. Saulosi are a good alternative to demasoni - the males look like demasoni, the females range from bright yellow to bright orange depending on the strain.

 

[DJRansome]

This is a bowfront tank that is 48" long, correct? What is the measurement on the sides (not the middle)?

Post edited to remove vendor name.

I'd go 5-6 on the synodontis assuming you are going to get a social species like multipunctatus or lucipinnis...both highly recommended.

 

[theanchorman]

Thanks for the replies, I know I've probably missed out important information. The tank size is: 121L x 62H x 46W cm and it's a juwel vision 260l which is bow fronted. The exisiting tank is being given to a my aunt and her son so this tank will be a new set up with new fish, would the tetratec1200 filter be too powerful for the tank, it's about 2ft I believe. if I had salousi as a alternative to demansoni I would get the bright yellow colours I wanted from the females and the electric blue from the salousi male instead of the yellow labs so I could go with salousi and two other species and some cats? And maybe look at some albinos/reds/black colours. The other option is yellow labs 12 demansoni and Another species or Would this be overstocked with the 12 demansoni, would my filter cope with the set up I'm after in general? Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks again

 

[dielikemoviestars]

You more or less CAN'T overfilter a cichlid tank, so I wouldn't worry about a filter being "too powerful," unless it's literally blowing the fish all over.

Either option would work - while Red Zebras are typical "red" additions to a mbuna tank, they will crossbreed with both Yellow Labs and Saulosi females, so that might not be a good route to go for "red." You MIGHT be able to get away with a small, aggressive hap/peacock male with lots of red on it if you go saulosi, but not if you go demasoni - they're too boisterous. If you can find Ps. polits, that'd be a nice combination with saulosi, and as long as the m:f ratio of each was correct, you wouldn't see much blood, I think.

Questions are good. They save fish lives and lots of frustration

 

[GoofBoy]

Welcome to the boards.

1) should i / can i use some of the filter media out of the filter in my current tank or can i use one of these kits that adds media (tetrasafe i think?)

If you have media - use some, then do a fishless cycle. Read here & here.

2) should i use some of my water from a water change from the current set up to help with cycling

No - see above.

3) stocking! i know people must ask this all the time and i have been researching but want to be sure the fish i get are compatible. i was thinking 3/4 species 1m 3/4f?
yellow labs
acei
demansoni (although i think you need 1 or 12? i like the thought of these as the females are similar in colour to the males?) or another cichlid similar (bright blue with stripes?)
3/4 synodontis

Sounds good - more synodontis would not be a bad thing as would more 'lil demons.

Buying all Juvies after the fishless cycle

6 -yellow labs
6 - acei
15 - demansoni
5- synodontis

Would make for a great tank.

Iodotropheus sprengerae will get you a purplish/reddish hue if that would be something you are looking for.

Good Luck.

 

[theanchorman]

Thanks for your advice goofboy and dielikemoviestars. what's thinking behind more synodontis? I know more demasoni's is to help with aggression amongst themselves, presumebly if I wanted to I could replace the acei with the rustys if I want to go for a different colour, I never knew stocking a mbuna tank would be this hard, so many things to consider, is what you mentioned a good number for stocking and do you think the demasoni are a risk as they can be aggresive? I do love their colours though!, The other options are saulosi but I'm stumped as to what would be nice with them :s
almost time to start cycling (even though i've had my kribs and tetra set up for 3 years I never cycled my first/current tank)

 

[GTZ]

Buying all Juvies after the fishless cycle

6 -yellow labs
6 - acei
15 - demansoni
5- synodontis

Would make for a great tank.

Iodotropheus sprengerae will get you a purplish/reddish hue if that would be something you are looking for.

Good Luck.

I think that's a bit much for what is essentially a 55g with a bowfront. It's gotta be around 13" or so from front to back at the sides. The 46cm (18") is measured in the middle.
With that, I'd eliminate the Acei in any combination and go with:
Labs (6), Synos (3) and Demasoni (12), even that might be a stretch, IMO.
Without Demasoni you could replace them and add a 4th species.

 

[dielikemoviestars]

I, too, would nix the Acei in that tank, but I think you could do Labs, dems, synos, and 1+ species. Hadn't thought of rusties - that'd be nice, too.

 

[DJRansome]

I always like the socolofi with the labs and demasoni.

 

[theanchorman]

As far as the dems go it seems if I have 12 it limits me to what I can put in with them in a 55g even though I love the look of them, would having 1 dem be compatible along with socolofi (maybe snow White),yellow labs and synodontis?, I do like the red zebras aswell but it seems keeping them with the yellow labs is dangerous due to crossbreeding? Just trying to look at all my options!.

 

[GTZ]

As far as the dems go it seems if I have 12 it limits me to what I can put in with them in a 55g even though I love the look of them, would having 1 dem be compatible along with socolofi (maybe snow White),yellow labs and synodontis?, I do like the red zebras aswell but it seems keeping them with the yellow labs is dangerous due to crossbreeding? Just trying to look at all my options!.

Dems are only limiting in so far as they take up 2 species spots and you should avoid other blue/black barred fish. Socolofi are fine with them whether you have 1 or 12.
If you're not planning on trading/selling lab/zebra fry then crossbreeding is fine. I would think that the synos will take care of any fry in any case.

 

[DJRansome]

Actually 12 demasoni take up one species slot. This is partially because they are half the size of the "usual" mbuna.

I would not have a problem with this:
5 -yellow labs
5 - socolofi
15 - demansoni
5- synodontis lucipinnis

 

[theanchorman]

Ok so in a 55g I could have 12 dems 5 yellow labs and another species of 5 socolofi/red zebra/rustys (or any others that people would reccomend would go well? and 3 synodontis ( these would stop any crossbred fry from the labs and zebras?

 

[DJRansome]

Better to go with a larger group of synodontis, if you get 5-6 you will see them out and about more.

Synodontis multipunctatus do a better job than lucipinnis on fry control IMO. They will help with but not eliminate unwanted fry. You may still have a survivor occasionally that you will want to remove from the tank. The probably is a hybrid can look exactly like either adult so if an unwanted fry matures in your tank (a) you will no longer know which can be sold as pure and (b) the hybrid will spawn and produce more hybrids.

I hate euthanizing fish. For me it is preferable to either stock fish unlikely to hybridize, or keep only females of the more aggressive species creating the hybrid risk. In my tank I keep only red zebra females and don't save fry from them.

The choice of socolofi or rustys will minimize the risk so you can save fry from all.