[fishysteve66]

Hi, I'm new to this forum and new to cichlids but have ran tropical community and reef marine aquariums in the past so have a good understanding of basic principles of fish keeping. However I know very little about cichlids and I have a tank cycling at present that I'll be stocking in a couple of weeks and would appreciate some guidance on the stock choice.

The tank is 4ft, 60 US Gal with 300 GPH external filter. My tapwater is hard - 19 dGH and 14 dKH. pH is 8.2. I have Caribsea Cichlid Mix Sand and a pile of rocks with lots of hiding places. I was thinking about stocking in one hit with small fish. Initial thoughts are as follows:

3 x Synodontis Petricola
Aulonocara Hansbaenschi (Blue Peacock)
Aulonocara Sp. (Strawberry Peacock)
Protomelas Taeniolatus (Red Empress Hap)
Labidochromis Caeruleus (Yellow Lab)

I realize I'd be mixing Mbuna with Peacocks/Haps but as I understand it Yellow Labs are compatible with Peacocks?

I was thinking 1m to 3f for each species (16 Cichlids + 3 Synos).

Should I drop a species and go with 1m to 4f (15 Cichlids + 3 Synos)?

Any advice appreciated.

 

[james1983]

I would drop one peacock species and change the red empress to something that stays smaller.

 

[DJRansome]

Agree. And I would drop the strawberry since it is a hybrid and they can be larger and more aggressive than some other peacocks.

Think in terms of 1m:4f in each group.

 

[fishysteve66]

Thanks for the advice. I'll drop to 3 species, 1m:4f. I wasn't aware strawberries were hybrids.