Stocking a 125g tank and need some idea's.

steve p

steve p

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Mar 6, 2007
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Hi all, just like to start by saying what a great site this is. I've just started setting up my new 125g tank as follows.

2 x Aqua One CF1200 canister filters 1200 L/hr
2 x Tetra HT300 w heaters
2 x powerhead 402

This is my first cichlid tank and i would appreciate some help on stocking. I can't decide whether to go for african or american cichlids as i find there are so many beautiful fish of each type. I would like to keep aggresion down as much as possible and i've read that over stocking with aricans can help this. I would like some help with compatabilty and also substrate etc..

thanks:rolleyes:
 
How many gallons are your filters rated up to? GPH/LPH do not help when determining if you have enough filtration, we need to know what the box clains it can handle, then you cut that in half.

My favorites are Lake Malawi peacocks. They are more beautiful than mbunas (the usual African cichlid), and nowhere near as aggressive.

I think sand is a more natural and easier to deal with substrate. It is more of a pain to setup, but worth it.
 
Thanks for your reply. My filters claim that they can handle a tank capacity of 500 litres each. If this is acceptable around how many peacocks will i need for the tank and can i put other types in with them.
 
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A South American cichlid tank centered around an eartheater species of your choice, perhaps Geophagus steindachneri and a school of larger tetras would be interesting and they are not a tough species to breed.
 
The Geophagus steindachneri is a very nice looking fish, will i be able to keep other american cichlids in the tank. If so will i need to put tetra's in as im not realy fond of them. Thanks for your input
 
I have got about 20 in my 150, so almost that many if you keep up with the water changes. These fish are beautiful enough, you don't want any other fish to distract from them. The options are limited for tankmates, but the peacocks themselves come in a large assorment of colors and patterns.
 
If I had a 125 gallon I would put an assortment of Mbunas and some colorful male Peacocks.

Yellow Lab
Red Zebra
Saulosi
Socolfi
Kenyi/Lombardoi
Cobalt Blue Zebra
Acei
Demasoni
Johanni

A couple Red Empress Peacocks and some Yellow Peacocks would spice up the mix.

Make sure you do a lot of rockwork with many hiding places to lower agression. Sand would work best for these cichlids.
 
steve p said:
The Geophagus steindachneri is a very nice looking fish, will i be able to keep other american cichlids in the tank. If so will i need to put tetra's in as im not realy fond of them. Thanks for your input
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I have a lone male in a 125 gallon with an assortment of New World cichlids, including a blue acara, a chocolate cichlid, a fish that resembles Geophagus surinamesis, a jurupari, a Bujurquina vittiata, and a Nicaraguan cichlid. This won't work for everyone, and this probably won't be the stock list when they are all full grown, as some (esp. the chocolate) get much bigger.
 
If you are going to do Lake Malawi cichlids they do best with just one type in the tank, that means mbuna OR peacock OR open water haps. They have not evolved to co-habitate peacefully, if at all. Mbunas are too aggressive for peacocks and they do not reside in the same regions in the lake.
 
Thanks for all the info, I've been to my lfs today and they have suggested that if i am going for a tank full of mbuna i should add them in numbers of around 15 at a time. They also say that i can keep around 70 fish in a 125g tank. Do these numbers sound correct as im worried that adding 15 fish at a time will cause spikes to the water levels, also 70 sound like a lot of fish.
 
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