New tank ~ new to cichlids

[vequalsir]

My fiance just found me a 50 gallon half hex aquarium off of craigslist.

I'm looking to make this a cichlid tank, but I'm a little daunted by the huge number of species available.

I'm looking for fish that will be colorful and get along well. Being new to cichlids, I'm also looking for fish that will be easy to raise.

I have a magnum 350 for filtration. The tank has a sand substrate, and I have lots of rocks for scaping. I'm not sure what other information is required.

Looking for stock ideas.

Thanks,

[GusBus27]

I vote male peacocks.... lots of color & low aggression, you could maybe get away with having some shell dwellers as well, they like the sand & although they're not from the same lakes, from what I've noticed tend to mind their own business... they would give you a little variation...

[ibr3ak]

What are the dimensions?

You could try a species setup with dwarf mbuna, like saulosi for example or a colony of demasoni if the tank is at least 3" long.

[toddnbecka]

That size tank is too small for peacocks, better suited to dwarf mbuna. If you want color, nonstop activity, and have another tank for fry I'd say 15 demasoni and a handful of yellow Lab's.

[KarlTh]

Not an ideal tank shape and size for cichlids of any ilk, IMO. The footprint would suit apistos (this is in the general cichlid section after all) but that would leave a lot of empty midwater and above. The difficulty with rifties is going to be building up the rockwork. Hexes are high for their capacity.

[toddnbecka]

50 gallon half hex aquarium
Not the same as a hex, shape is more like a bay window.

[KarlTh]

What would the dimensions be?

[vequalsir]

I'll post the dimensions later this evening. It essentially does look like a bay window. It's 48 inches long at least.

The best way to describe....picture a 55 gallon tank with the fron corners flattened out. /----\
I I

[ibr3ak]

If it's like a 55 with flattened corners it could even be fine for some non dwarf mbuna species as well, check some of the profiles on cichlid-forum.com tell us what you like.

[KarlTh]

Yes; if it's that long then there are a lot of options. Are you thinking rifties, South American, Central American?

[vequalsir]

Still @ work so no measurements on the tank yet. I've done alot of reading today and thinking about Malawi rift. Mbunas sp?

[vequalsir]

Here are the tank dimensions: 48" long in the back 35" long at the front. Front to back is 12.5" and it has depth of 21"

[vequalsir]

Here is a sketch of the tank..

added as an attachment

[ibr3ak]

Should be fine for most mid-sized mbuna, check here, tell us what you like:

http://cichlid-forum.com/articles/african_cichlid_genus_gallery.php

[vequalsir]

I'm inspired by ibr3ak's mbuna tank.

I really like the activity and colors.

[ibr3ak]

Thanks vequalsir :), the all male tank can be very colorful and lively, but it also involves lots of work and headaches, for that reason I would advise anyone who is new to africans, especially mbuna, to start out with groups of species, rather than an all male setup, which can be just as colorful and rewarding.

The problem with all male setups is you need time to establish a sort of "equilibrium" to avoid aggression, stressed out fish and deseases that might result from that stress. You'll also need a very good back up plan to swap out the more problematic fish or those that are not aggressive enough, as well as possible females (either through an lfs who's willing to do trade in's, as was in my case, or other fish keepers), in the end if you're just getting into africans it might prove to be more trouble than enjoyment keeping them.

The tank in my sig has gone through several changes itself, after an all male mbuna I switched it over to an all male peacock, which was fun for a while, very minimal aggression (though some fish did make it back to an lfs for a trade-in), it was nowhere near the difficulty of an all male mbuna tank. Sad to say though the tank crashed one night and a couple hundred bucks worth of adult peacocks were gone. Right now it houses a group of yellow labs (that have already spawned a few times, though only one of the females held to term) and a group of aceis.

But whatever you decide to do good luck and post back.

[vequalsir]

I didn't realize that the tank was a sausage fest. LOL

I was thinking about keeping 3 species at a 1:2 or 1:3 ration male to females.

I was thinking a group of yellow labs (lion's cove)

cynotilapia afra

and

pseudotropheus saulosi

[ibr3ak]

Cool, try to go for at least a 1:3 ratio.

Also I'd be cautious adding saulosi with similar colored afra (blue with dark bars) as that might result in extra aggression.

[ibr3ak]

P.S. if you're hard set on going with afras, look for white top haras, they mix ok with saulosi and have better looking females (nice blue, not drabby like most other afra females).

[vequalsir]

I'll have to check that out.

white top hara's it is.