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if you do choose to go with discus, you can order the through your LFS and pick them up before they put them in their tanks to save stress of being caught and released a few times...i always do it with fragile species i get like my rams

I agree with everything that everyone has said. The Africans can be a nightmare if you don't stock them right. You will have them killing each other non-stop. The discus is very picky when it comes to water quality. Don't forget that they are very different fishes. The africans like hard, high ph with rocky hiding places. The discus like soft water with low ph and usually need long plants to hide in. You can learn alot from your local shop as far as their care is concerned. I vote for Lake Malawi africans!
Make sure and check out my favorite...Lamprologous Brichardi!


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The calming qualities of a good aquarium are irrefutable

Im going to say, not to go with africans. I hated mine. They're the most overrated fish ever. Have you thought about medium sized south americans. These are some of the coolest cichlids there are. Acaras, Severums, Festivums, Dwarf Pikes, and some Eartheaters would all fit into your size range. If you want there are some bigger ones too. They are also a lot cheaper than africans and discus, and a lot tougher. You can mix them with a lot of others to make a nice community with some agression.

You'd have much much more activity and less stress with africans, whichever lake you choose. Discus would need LOTS of water changes, and are far less forgiving.

Also, there is a demand for most africans, and they are relatively easy to breed in large numbers also, so with a 150, you'd initially have cichlids that will pay themselves off, if not more.

For discus, they are spectacular specimens if you put the time into it. If you're dedicated for them, go for it. Theres also a market for their fry, but they relatively are not as easy to breed as most africans.

african what, tanganyikan or malawa,

dicus are tough, b/c it really depends on the type/ color u are looking for, my friend bought 2 6-7 inches discus at wholesale price for 250, and they didn't look anything fancy to me but maybe they are.



me personally would go with african. Why? b/c with disucs u can go wrong in alot of ways, so to get more for ur money, i wouldn't go with fishes that can get sick easy like dis, and when u often see them at lfs they are high priced and not in the best health, the best thing i can tell u is find an online source for dis, so they are cheaper and in better health.