FishProfiles.com Message Forums

hey everybody! i've kept south american cichlids for about 5 years now and i might want to try to start an african tank. i have a 30gal that i would put the fish in. i know that i would want a high pH and rocks(that could help with the pH). my main concern is stocking the tank right now.

i don't know which species would be cool and fit in my tank. i really like pretty fish that will swim up to meet me. i went to petsmart today and here is a list of some of the ones that i saw that i liked:


Venustus (giraffe)
Ice blue zebra cichlid
Acei
Bumble Bee
prange blotch peacock
Auratus
Electric blue cichlid

i don't know which if any of these would work in a 30 gal or what kind of cichlids they would work with but i would love to.

also if anybody has any other suggestions i would really appreciate it!!!

Too many for a 30 Gal.

The Venustus will eventually annihilate the cichlids, and out grow the 30gal tank in about 2-3 months.

I hade one in a 72 Gal, and it completely, and methodically elimated all 7 Ps.Demasoni that I had in there. It starved them out, never let them out of their caves to eat.

For a 30gal, I would think you could go with a couple peacocks, and maybe 1-2 Electric Yellow Labs to start.

Good luck!

72G Bowfront. 1 Sunshine Peacock, 2 Yellow Labs, 1 Ps. Elongatus, 1 Blue Ahli, 1 Red Kadanga, 1 Mel. Exasperatus, 1 metriaclima emmiltos, 1 Ancistrus.

14.5G 4 Neon Tetras.

Peacocks get to large for a 30g.

if you went with any of the mbuna which are smaller it would have to be one species. Honestly i think 30g is to small for the high agression most these come with. Even the labs being the most docile are a real pain with agression when not many targets to get lost in.

i aggree,some of those fellas get real nasty,for the list you mentioned above,id looking at atleast 100gal,as said above some of them venustus,are just plane nuts,even some of the small,mbuna,dont let there small size fool you,they are nasty little fellas!in a 30 gal,its guna take some reaserch,and even then,id say it still wont work,overall.id go with sin in style,30 gal is just to small for the aggresion,that comes with these fellas,can you maybe sell the 30gal,and upsize,even just up to a 55gal long,just that extra 25gal,will open up you choices much more,if you could go up to that,then you can add lots of rock work,then you can house more fish.....my first african tank was a 55gal long,and that worked fine once i got the rite fish in there,i had,borlyi,johanni,electric yellows,electric blues,rustys,cobolt blue,blue afra,checkersboards,i even ended up with some cross breeds,i just made sure evryone had a cave to call home,and that setup worked well for years,rite up untill i changed over to sa/ca cichlids,anyways just a thought,something to consider....

its not on your wish list but i make a suggestion. 30g tank is a really nice size for tang cichlids. they are just from a different lake. They are a good size smaller (some of them) and the agression is controlable.

With mbuna they fight for space with anything that threatens it so its pretty much out of your control. With tangs things like rocks,sand, even shells define territory.

Some come as small as 1.5 inches and live in colonies or harems. Most have far more personality too. The downside is this and it might be a deal breaker....color. They really arnt that colorfull, most have very nice patterns with a touch of color.

I started with mbuna and still have a 75g tank but have been workign on a tang tank (30g breeder) for some time. I gotta tell ya its a whole new program compared to mbuna. They (mbuna) really are all about food and they are either eating it or fighting over it. So much more to tangs thats far more interesting to watch.

Anyway i can toss some examples out there for tangs but no point if its all about the color. Tanganyika doesnt compare to Malawi (Mbuna) but thats not to say its all black and white. Give them a search see what ya think.

Some Julidochromis come with color. Brichardi, skip lelupi their agression is impossable to deal with. Some shell dwellers like Ocellatus. Just keep in mind when you look at these remember that what they lack in color they will make up for in interest.

And speaking of Tangs a Neolamprologus brichardi colony would be perfect for that tank (just get a pair and the first batches of young help raise subsequent fry). Not brightly colored, but breathtaking anyway. Brichardis would have to be in a species tank, though - they're too aggressive to keep with other fish. They do have their personalities and are really interesting to watch.

><>

no haps or peacocks for that size tank, go for mbuna, preferably the dwarf species. auratus is about as big as you could have in that size tank. say, is this u.k gallons or u.s gallons?

hi
woot woot woot woot woot woot