A couple of pics of my 75

[jbn7474]

Here is the 75 I just set up. My regular cam isnt working, I had to use my web cam that couldnt reach out all the way. I posted the thread about wanting to African and need advice a couple threads down. Anyhow I had melachromus Autraus and socolifi, I went to three pet shops and they had no good africans to choose from so I ended up getting a group of 6 of pseudotropheus demasoni. Seems to hold similar aggression. It was either that or peacocks or labs. Those are the only other groups of fish they had.

[cschilly]

Nice! Got any close ups?

[RDTigger]

Nice! Got any close ups?

When they get the regular camera working...

[jbn7474]

Just found my battery charger, so I will have pics as soon as its charged..

[jbn7474]

Here is my other pics of the 75 now that I found my battery charger.

[Pittbull]

I would bump up the Demasoni total to 12

[efors]

I would bump up the Demasoni total to 12

Yes, that is needed due to their conspecific aggression.

[jbn7474]

Wow 12 of those guys, they are expensive, they were 10 bucks a piece.I hope they all live lol.

[Pittbull]

They wont unless you bump them up and make sure you have more females than males pretty aggressive and territorial towards own species.. That's why you either do 1 or 12 of them..

yep pretty expensive i have seen them on-line for like 5 bucks a piece but cant recall where..

[Coler]

Yep add to the demasoni if keeping them. To be honest its not a great mix in theory with the blue socolofi in there...not sure how that will work out...

And eh demasoni with auratus lol you are going to have a lot of heat in there...keep a close eye.

[jbn7474]

Thanks guys,
I sure will keep an eye on those crazy little buggers. I am gonna get 6 more and see what happens. If they all massacre each other than I am going back to south american and get a JD and green terror

[Coler]

If they do go nuts, just bear in mind that that is basically down to the mix in the tank - there are lots more peaceful african stocking approaches than this one - good luck with em.

[jbn7474]

Thanks for all the advice. I just got 5 more to bring the total to 11 demonasa, I couldnt find anymore around my area other than the 6 I bought yest. and the 5 they had left in the tank today. The store said that they will proabably get more in a week or two. Would this 11 be enough or should I add more. So far they all seem to be getting along, but I am sure its cause they are all babies. To be honest their isnt a whole lot of choices for Africans at the pet stores around here. They have the assorted tanks, but the species tanks are limited. So that is how I eneded up with the selection I got. I will give it a run though and see how they do. They are very active and the color contrast of the yellows and blues are beautiful.

[Schneider]

I think you should do ok with 11. They probably will increase your stock in short order when they reach breeding age anyhow. If I were you I would try to make absolutely sure you only have 1 male auratus and 1 male socolofi. The auratus males turn from bright yellow(juvenile & female coloration) to a darker dirty yellow as adults. Their aggression also goes through the roof at this point. I would remove all but one male when they mature. Tanks with this many aggressive fish require frequent observation to avoid unnecesary mortality. I you do have fish deaths occuring, my suspicions would immediately go to a dominant auratus. Auratus guard very large territories in the wild. Some have been observed guarding territories nearly six square feet. This is why they can be so aggressive since most peoples tanks are much smaller. I think since all your fish are aggressive and agile you have a fairly good chance of success. You definitely will observe plenty of activity since all these fish are very active.

[jbn7474]

I really appreciate everyone that has answered. Your knowledge of things has helped me off to a good start. I guess I didnt pick the best group of guys in the tank, but I have my fingers and toes crossed that they will tolerate each other as time goes on. I will keep an eye on the males of the auratus and socolifi species.

My last question is looking at my pics do you think I have enough cover in there for territories. I dont have a ton of rocks, but for the ones I got I tried to set it all up the best I could. Those two roman ruins building offer alot of places to hide, and I have to caves in the back with statues. I set the rocks in fron of the caves with the lava rocks on the side. How does this all look in your eyes? I am only asking this cause I am a newbie to the african cichlid lifestyle.

[jbn7474]

Oh yeah, was just thinking, would any dither fish such as australian rainbows to help reduce some of the aggression or those skunk botias?

[Pittbull]

Go with Preacox rainbow fish as dithers their pretty fast..