african cichlid set up

[Bizz]

i was just wondering what would be good set ups for a lake malawi or lake tangabyika 40 gallon tank. Looking for something colourful and with lots of action with limited aggression and fish that aren't all the same colour. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

kyle

[Nerine]

I like Electric yellows and victorian haps...my mix is electric yellow (labidochromis caeruleus), victorian haplochromis obliquiden, snow whites socolofi and albino zebras I had an ice blue zebra but he passed on due to age
make sure you have lots of hiding places for them! mine love the greek style pots and medusa head I put in for them.
good luck picking out your fish

[darkdep]

The threads from the last week in this forum have a lot of great tips for African setups.  Seems we've been discussing it a lot lately  I would suggest going through those...I only say this because I don't want to participate in any more "How to set up an African tank" threads.  

:lol:

(of course I'm kidding)

I can speak for Malawi; you can't go wrong with Yellow Labs as a base fish.  No aggression there for sure.

Don't get TOO sold on the "low aggression" idea tho...it's part of the charm and interest of an african tank.  As long as nobody is taking fatal wounds, let em be as they are in nature.

[Bizz]

would the tank be to crowded if i added 5 labs and 7 Pseudotroheus saulosi. Wolud there be a problem as the labs are almost the same coulors of the female saulosi's and are the saulosi's a good choice because instead of the saulosi's I could add 5 socolofi's. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks.

Kyle

[darkdep]

Whoa cowboy, that's WAYYYYYYY too many fish for a 40gallon.  These fish will grow up to 6" each.  

I wouldn't recommend more than 6-7 TOTAL fish.  You might want to consider just going saulosi's, as then you still get the blue/yellowish colour mix.

[slickshooter]

I've never kept Salousi myself however I wouldn't say that is WAY to many fish .
Most would agree it is usually better to overstock a little with Malawi's. Whereas its the opposite with other fish.

I had (give or take) 30 Malawi's in my 75G for well over a year with no issues.

One issue I could see is filtration don't be afraid to overfilter!
I have 1340gph flowing thru my tank with my three filters

[darkdep]

Yeah, controlled overcrowding is possible and sometimes desired for Malawi setups, and 30 fish in a 75gallon could be feasible, but a 40 gallon tank is too small for that many fish full grown.  17 adult Malawi in a 40gallon is just too many

[pegasus]

Guess how many there were 3"-5" fish in this 75gal?
They were sold a year later from the same tank.
In no way.... That why I will never breed for LFS again.
Hint..... 3 digits

[Bizz]

Could I get away with 3 labs 1m/2f, 3 red zebras 1m/2f and 3 powder blue's, again 1m/2f. it gives yellow, blue and orange and from what I hear they are compatible together. Thanks.

Kyle

[darkdep]

That still is crowded...but not horribly so.  Might become an issue when they are full grown tho...

[Julie]

Just to give you an idea, I have 6 cichlids in my 20 gallon - 2 rams, 2 african butterflies (dwarfs).  I also wanted to try the yellow lab and the blue african with black stripes - is this is a zebra?
These two guys are around an inch now but the tank is very high maintenance and fully planted.
I will be looking for new homes for the last 2 once they grow a little more.  So in a twenty I would say 4 dwarfs are enough.  Though I may even move the rams to another tank.

Julie

[Bizz]

Which catfish should I add? What do you guys have in your tanks? This info would be great.Kyle

[Adam]

Tanganyikans are super territorial, as are malawis.  You will soon have an alpha male, and in such a small tank, I wouldn't be surprised to see some deaths.

[slickshooter]

My tank is roughly twice the volume I don't think you can just divide everything by 2 and come out ok but maybe it'll help.

In my 75G I have :

1m-1f Kenyi
3m-8f Red Zebra (Metriclima Esterae)
2m-3f Yellow labs
7 Acei (unsexed)

Some on here would argue that my tank is overstocked with the 25 Mbuna I have.
To them I say check how many fish per square foot there are in parts of malawi.

The couple keys I can give you for that tank are keep your ratio of m-f (male to females high. Atleast 1m-3f .

Provide lots of rockwork and hiding spots. I use pvc piping with gravel siliconed to it
http://ottcan.fotopic.net/p13639232.html

Skip on getting some form of catfish for now.In my opinion most of them make more waste than the clean up plus take up valuable floor space in your smallish tank.

I think you mentioned earlier you wanted 3 Labs 3 RedZebra and 3 of something else that was compatible (memory fails) I say go for that combo.
What you could also do seeing as colour is your goal it seems. Get 3 yellow labs, 3 Orange Blotch (OB female)Red zebra,1 Blue (male) Red Zebra and maybe 2-3 Acei.

That would give you orange,blue,yellow and black in your tank and we'd also have matching tanks  :wink:
Check the link up there to see my fish and caves.

[darkdep]

I also wanted to try the yellow lab and the blue african with black stripes - is this is a zebra?

Can be.  There are several species that look like this; several "Zebra" species, Cynotilapia Afra, and many others.

[Adam]

I could see it being a kenyi.  These are quite commonly paired with yellow labs in commercial aquariums.

Kenyi have a well deserved reputation for becoming vicious.

[darkdep]

Bizz:  A great catfish group for Africans are the Synodontis catfish, of which there are several varieties (I'm partial to the Multipunctatus myself).

Also, 25 malawi in a 75 gal is a lot different than /2...12 in a 40 for example is way too many.

[Adam]

Even a multi in a 75 could be a little large.  I would go with the petricola if you can find any.  I believe they max out at about 3-4 inches.

[darkdep]

Yeah, but a Multi looks so much better

[Adam]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.