stocking options (yeah another one)

[pavemike]

I have recently purchased a 150 gallon (72"x18"x27") and decided to take the plunge into cichlids. I have had numerous tanks over the years, but most of the inhabitants were friendly schooling fish, but most seem pretty blah. Anyhow, I'm currently doing a fishless cycle, so i have a little time to find exactly what what i want. I've found that I like the looks and temperment of the malawian cichlids, and I've decided that I would like some yellow labs and around 14 Demasonis. I am currently building up a rock wall with plenty of caves to hide in, along with some plants (would perfer silk, but i have a large planted tank i can steal some java ferns/vals/etc from). PH is at 8.2, which is in the malawian range from what i read. After all this babbling, my questions are what else (if anything) can I put in with these guys. numbers of fish and the simpleton name along with the scientific name would be great, remember I'm new to these guys. Also i have a fluval 405, emperor 400 HOB filter and a powerhead rated at 400 GPH. Is this overkill on filtration/water movement, or should i get something else to strap on to add more movement? Thanks for the help!

[jm1212]

how many labs?

how much rockwork do you have?

[pavemike]

I was thinking of 6 yellow labs. As for rockwork, it goes about halfway up (14" or so) and runs the length of the tank. I am also adding in a small wall at the halfway point, think a small T if looked at from above. Nothing to tall, just something to break the line of sight of any alpha males i get. I guess i should have added into the above post that i also have a sandy bottom with about 20% of the bottom being covered with a rocky sand (river rocks mixed into the sand)

[kay-bee]

I have recently purchased a 150 gallon (72"x18"x27")...I've decided that I would like some yellow labs and around 14 Demasonis....what else (if anything) can I put in with these guys. numbers of fish and the simpleton name along with the scientific name would be great...i have a fluval 405, emperor 400 HOB filter and a powerhead rated at 400 GPH. Is this overkill on filtration/water movement, or should i get something else to strap on to add more movement?

You can add quite a few more mbuna's, for example 15-20 demasoni, 6 yellow labs and room for 10-15 more mbuna (or more if opting to overcrowd for aggression control).

You may want to get two to three additional mbuna species (in groups of 4-6 each, 1 male per several females per species) or more species and smaller groups of them. Add the most aggressive species last and, avoid adding mbunas which resemble demasoni's (and exception can be made, howver, if those species outclass demasoni-aggression).

You could add even more filtration and/or water flow to your 150gal to what you already have. Overfiltration is a good thing, and as long as the water flow isn't interfering with the fishes' swimming througout the entire tank or disturbing the substrate, higher flow may be recommended as well. For example on my 125gal I run three HOBs (2x Aquaclear 110/500gph each, 1x Penguin 350/350gph) and a Filstar XP3 canister/350gph. And until I relocated them to some tanks which needed them more, I also had two Maxijet 1200 powerheads/295gph each with this set up.