Central Americans or Africans that is the question.

[dcallen]

Hi,

Okay I thought that I wanted to put Africans in my 70 gallon tank, but I've been reconsidering going with the Central Americans. Are the Central Americans more peaceful than the Africans? I don't really want a tank full of Africans that are always fighting amongst each other, rather I would prefer a more traquil tank. Any thoughts on what to stock the tank with would be much appreciated. I currently have one juvenile yellow lab in the tank and nothing else. Thanks again.


Tank Specs:

70 Gallon
1 Eheim 2213 Cannister Filer
1 Emperor 400 HOB Filter
1 300 watt heater

Substrate:
Shell/Gravel Cichlid mixture

95lbs. of Holey rock and a mixture of other rocks.


:)

[inxs]

Yes, CA/SA cichlids are more peaceful - if you have a pair of discus or angels or perhaps a few dwarf cichlids.

CA cichlids for the most part are large and extremly aggressive. You would be able to house one or two of a majority of the species, a few not at all due to size but never a colony and on in most instances not a mixed community.

If you are looking to have a bunch of fish go for the africans with the CAs you can usually have one or maybe a pair that will become very personable like a pet.

[scott]

If you do go with the CA/SA you will need to change the substrate as the shell mixture will drive up your ph and kh to high for new world cichlids.

[dbcb314]

there are peaceful africans and there are peaceful americans. there are also evil africans and evil americans. on average, i would say that africans are more aggressive, but there are some mean american cichlids. and some americans gets huge. it just matters which one's you choose.

[dcallen]

Hi,

Thanks for the input. So if I decide to stick with the Africans what would be a good choice, to go with the yellow lab? I was thinking of all male peacocks. Thanks again.

[ChilDawg]

You might have a problem with that: selecting all males can't be reliably done early on in life, and larger Malawis are more sensitive and more temperamental, so you may have some fights from starting a gentleman's club in a tank...also, your bacteria would not be able to easily handle such an infusion of fish, and if you added them one by one, territoriality would become an issue in a heartbeat.

[dcallen]

ChiliDawg,

Thanks.. That said what and how many would you recommend to add to the tank that would co-exist with the yellow lab?

Thanks again...

[ChilDawg]

I think that a yellow lab species tank would be pretty neat, so I'd just add 5-7 juvies slowly as the cycle ends. Either that, or I would try cycling using something cheaper, but that would produce the waste that equivalent #s of juvies would, and then replace them with the juvies. You unfortunately don't have a lot of options for fishless cycling-type techniques, unless you send this yellow lab back.

[dcallen]

ChiliDawg,

Good point, and I should have added the Bio Spira before I added the fish, then I would have been good to go by now. I didn't even find out about the Bio Spira until this past Friday and by then I had already added the fish. I guess you live and learn. Yeah I have always liked the yellow labs, and a species tank would be a pretty cool idea. I take it that 7 or 8 yellow labs would be okay for my tank and they wouldn't fight too much?
One other thing, any thoughts on how long it will take for the nitrite levels to drop? One test showed about 1.6 and the dip tester showed approximately 4.0-5.0 ppm. I'm not sure which one is correct.



Thanks....

[ChilDawg]

There is information in the Freshwater Newbie forum on what you should do to finish fishy cycling. Unfortunately Malawians are pretty sensitive to this, so your fish may not make it.

I think that, with some rock, that many Yellow Labs would be okay, but anyone with experience with Labs can feel free to say otherwise, as I am just going from theory.

[dcallen]

ChiliDawg,

Thanks so much for the advice on this. I really want to do it right and I want to keep the fish strong and healthy. I have had problems in the past with keeping some fish alive, it's probably more ignorance on my part than anything else. It would be really cool to raise fish from juvenile to adult and have them around for 5 or more years.


Knowledge is power.


Thanks again,


-Don..

[dbcb314]

i think the first idea would have worked, with the male peacocks and lab. ive seen it done in a smaller tank (55). my aunt had this set up. and yes, they were all males, and there wasnt much fighting (compared to africans at least), and my aunt isnt even the best fish keeper.

i cycled one of my tanks with a malawi cichlid. he didnt mind at all.

a whole 75 gal for one type of fish when there are some many africans to choose from? sound boring to me.

[nanahachi]

hey dcallen, im posting in another of your threads, with similar concerns..i hope im not hijacking your thread too badly :p

I have a newly started 20g, and I cant decide between Americans or Africans. I love blue malawis and the like, and my LFS said theyd be fine if overstocked. they would stay smaller and less agressive. however, the thing that occured to me is that if i go african, my pH will have to stay high...and i would have few to no plants. therein lies the problem: I have a compact flourescent light, 65W for a 20g tank...and having no plants would result in crazy algae.

Or I can go with Central/South Americans, which would allow me to have blue rams, some algae eating shrimp, and plants. only problem...i love the simple look of my tank right now, with fine Black Beauty gravel, and a few smooth, rounded rocks from business parks. no plants, only 1" stubstate...i love it.

i'm confused and cant decide

like dcallen, I'll have to be careful choosing peaceful cichlids regardless.

[ChilDawg]

If you wanted Malawis, a 20g is wayyy too small. Recommending stunting as a method of aggression control is irresponsible, IMO, so I would say go with shellies, or, if you want plants, go S/A.

[nanahachi]

wow, 2 mins later...thanks chilidawg.

yeah, i was wondering about that myself.
some ppl have been recommending tanganyikans, and not malawis, maybe(?) for that reason. however, at the lfs, they said that the pretty, brightly colored tangan.s get to be 8-12" which of course it WAY too big for my tanks.

does that mean im stuck with CAs?

maybe i should start a new thread, but i kinda thought 2 Amer or Afr. threads would be...well too much.

thanks for the help

[ChilDawg]

The shellies from Tanganyika would work, but if you want some plants, you should go with some of the S/A dwarves.

[dbcb314]

plants and africans dont work at all. they will be destoryed.

[ChilDawg]

Not quite true. Rift Lake Cichlids might be kept with plants, but it's rare to see that work. However, there are many riverine fish from Africa which wouldn't mind planted tanks (look at the Kribs).

[dbcb314]

i dont consider a krib an african, its what a i call a fake african. it just isnt real aggressive to be considered a real african. you can put that thing with tropical fish.

[scott]

I think where the species is from ditates wether it is American or African not an individual's opinion but thats just me.

[ChilDawg]

Originally posted by dbcb314
i dont consider a krib an african, its what a i call a fake african. it just isnt real aggressive to be considered a real african. you can put that thing with tropical fish.

I concur with Scott. You'd be extremely wrong to call the Krib a non-African...plus, there are some among the fish which you, too, would call Africans that are less aggressive than the Kribensis.

Would you call C/As Africans because of their aggression levels?

This lunacy has got to stop...your opinions, when in blatant opposition to actual facts, are not valuable enough to be posted.