[Lucifer]

Hi
I have a 160g tank im thinking of putting malawi cichlids in there. I was wondering how many i would be able to put in the tank. I wanted to add electric blues and yellows to the tank as well as maybe johanni, was wondering what other nice malawi cichlids i could add to the tank. I like the yellow and blue colouring on fish and would mind one of two that have a red or orange colouring to mix it up. If anyone could give me some ideas that would be great.
Thanks
Nick

 

[DJRansome]

What are the dimensions of the tank?

 

[Lucifer]

6ft x 2ft x 2ft

 

[Paulbearer]

That is a 180 Gallon tank....unless you are talking about the volume there. But in the US it's 180 Gallons. That exact same tank i'm getting and it's a great size.

 

[Gibbs]

It all depends on what you like in the end.
I personally like to see all Mbuna or all Hap/peacock tanks with a few exceptions like Yellow labs and Acei which can fit in with either.
The beauty with haps is you can have a mass collection of individual genus and species which provides you with an amazing assortment of colours.
Mbuna rather living in groups and will breed reasonably safely

In your size tank Haps will thrive like they won't in smaller tanks, as for a number it all depends on your filtration which assume will be good which will allow you to have many.

I would go haps but you could also go with breeding colonies of mbuna

Good luck champ :thumb:

 

[zazz]

thats what i did in my 150g....yellow labs ...acei ..plus haps....i hope it will result in the whole depth of the 24' tank being used and not too much aggresion...which seems to be the case so far but its very very early days.

 

[F8LBITEva]

Haps, Peacocks with yellow labs!!!!!! post pics!! 180G is my dream tank

 

[why_spyder]

I would do a mixture for a tank that size. Of course, I would have about three species of Cynotilapia (sp. hara, sp. black mbamba, and sp. lion) and then Labidochromis chisumulae, and to finish off the mbuna part, a Metriaclima (fainzilberi or zebra chilumba) species. Another mbuna I would consider to mix in or replace with is Labeotropheus fuelleborni.

For non-mbuna, I would go with a Copadichromis (geertsi, melas, or azureus) species and a Aulonocara (sp. yellow collar, hueseri, or sp. lwanda) species.

 

[gherlevi]

Only other thing to consider is your level of patience. I had a tank of haps, labs, and acei... and everyone got along wonderfully. But, about 1/3 of the haps had full adult coloration after a year. If you get juvies, it might be awhile before you see all the colors. (though a larger tank should help encourage that?)

I'm setting up a 125 (same length, shorter height) and I'm opting for six different groups of mbuna. Instant color!

Guess I'm not as patient at others

 

[Gibbs]

That is a big part of keeping haps and peacocks that really interests me, watching them colour up and maturing. A hap is for ever changing as they move through the different stages of maturaty