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i have a few question about my african 6ft tank around 160(us) gallon i think 74*24*20 ish. I currently have 12 fish all medium in size in there and a trip to the aquarium this saturday, the fish are as followed
2 Trewavasae (pair)
2 E Yellow (pair)
2 Hreshakei (breeding like crazy)
1 acei
5 assorted peacocks
please accuse any spelling errors

I would like to know what plants i could put in the tank if any.

Also my male trewavasae seems to be the boss off the tank and untilAecently he was the boss of the female now she is full grow and is dishing out a bit of punishment to him, any ideas to why that is.

I am looking into a small venustus to grow larger obviously i think its best if i grow a small one up that way he does instantly be the biggest fish in the tank, or is it not a good idea at all.

with currently 12 fish and decent rock formations how many more fish could be introduced into the tank and what is the recommended amount

any replies would be greatly appreciated, answerign any or all of the above

cheers
- Shannon

I think that it's better to have some Anubias tied to Rocks or Driftwood. I am not sure if they'll be eaten or not, but Cichlids will uproot most plants, as they like to dig alot.

I would get 2 more femal Elec.Yellow, so the male will have 3 to chase & not 1.


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I have onion plants in my african tank and they work wonderful. Easy to care for and fish do not like the taste of them. However, I have read the rhino pleco will eat them and this is the only fish I have read about that will do this.
If you go with them look for plants with the biggest bulbs possible and avoid and anything with signs of bulb rot. Make sure you leave as much of the bulb exposed above the substrate as possible or they will rot. To get to root will require to bury most of the bulb at first but once plant has rooted itself remove the substrate from around the bulb.
Here is the scienctific name: Crinum thaianum
If you do a search on google for Crinum thaianum, it will bring up numerous website to research more info.

On the stocking issue will depending about the variety of selection of the LFS. One of the more common malawi haps that I like is the Placidochromis milomo. Commons names include VC-10 or sometimes refered as big-lipped cichlid. Here is a link for more info
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1217
They are usually common at most stores and have good personalities.

Bunch the plants in 1 area and you "shouldn't" have a prob with digging, rocks in the rest. A forest so to speak. I only use Swords and Bamboo. Other plants seem "messy" to me, but I do not have a green thumb in aqua. Worried about the assorted peacocks. All male? What type and size? A male Venustus is a stunning attraction, but will soon become most dominant fish in tank. Takes about 1 year to go from 1" to 5-6" if you have "clean" water and good food.Awesome fish, but it may make Peacocks less brillant as it gets older. If the tank is OK or "peacful"(as cichlids go) so to speak, look into some bottom fish(Synodontis/and BN plec). You've got the room for more fish, but adding more cichlids to "pairs" already established, is rolling the dice. If you do so, like you said, get them small.

well with the peacocks there all small except 2 a male/female there which i am not sure if the large is a peacock but looks very similiar they seem to be gettign on fine, as they are small and no signs of aggression. i also have a hongi i forgot about him, he has his little cave in the back of the tank and is by far the most aggressive, only to the extent that if someone goes near his cave he will attack, can someone help me out with my trewavasaes the aggression is not settling down and the make is bruised on both sides.

thanks for all suggestion
- Shannon

This is why africans shouldn't be kept in pairs. You need to get atleast 2 more females for all of the mbunas. Then get rid of the peacocks which are incompatible with mbunas. The mbunas are going to be too agressive for the peacocks.

do you think iam that dumb keepign them in pairs, he killed the other 2 man logn ago she survided and when reached full grown turned on the male so the female is not the dominant of the 2, have you also noticed that trewavasae are cave dwellers and spen 80% of time under rocks and that peacock spend less than 20% in rock, notice how they don't interact much, man the onyl agression in the hole tank is between the male and female trewavasae which areb oth full grown i might add, so i doubt any aggression is going to nadomly start happening. Man i would prefer help rather than random critism

Im not calling you dumb but africans should be kept in trios. Also trewavasae are one of the more herbivorous mbunas and cant handle the protein that peacocks need to thrive. It is possible to keep them together as far as diet if you fed only NLS. But the agression factor is still there. What happens when the peacocks mature and want to become the dominant fish. The trewavasae would kick the crap out of the peacocks. Also random agression can suddenly appear in african tanks if the stocking ratios arn't good. Even then the male can turn agro. I was just giving advice based on experience and research I've done.

sorry i realised i was beign a bit egotistic not really intended i apologise. Can you atleast help me out by telling me why suddenly the female trewavasae is beating the hell ouf the male, hes the king of the tank and now hes hiding at every sign of her, he got a small chunk missing from his side otherwsie in good health i am really confused and startign to get worries

with all rift lake fish 1 dominate falls another takes its place
many ppl think only the males r dominate but this not the case ill use melianochromis cyanohabdose for examp[le i have no clue howda spell it but bare with me i breed these beauties there mbuna with no sexual dimorphism
i have 10 in my tank 1 dominate male 1 dominate female there both the brightest coloured n largest in the tank
i have over 350lbs of rock closer to 400lbs in my tank they have alot of holes n caves as well as silk plants (mbunas eat live plants anaubius mite live mite not but silk is the best) 1 day the male will rule the tank the next it mite b the female they have there territories staked out well but when one wants to increase there territories the male n female fight
usually the male wins n the female retreats other times the male retreats the the female gets a few extra holes
the only common ground betwenthem is a burried cave with slate rock bottom on which they breed
the other 8 fish of there kind pass through the tank with no aggression ive always had the same dominate male with changing sub dominates but the dominate female has changed several tmes in thetank

there is no clear way to explain mbunas aggression other then to say there jsut aggressive like living with ur parents u can b calm n relaxed n then the next minute want to choke them n move out they have there own personalities n when they want a few more rocks as theres theyll fight for it if there content then ur lucky
i hope this helped