African/other cichlids

D

dhamilton

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Nov 30, 2006
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Hi,

I've been trying to put together a stocking list for my new 75 gallon...I've never had African's so I'm a little cautious about their aggressive tendencies.

I've been really interested in the shellies (ie. N. brevis) so I want to make something that will accomodate them. I know they are a very small Tang cichlid, so it limits what I could get...

The fish I've thought about are as follows:

Red rainbowfish or Giant Danios as dithers
~5 N. brevis
1 juli (small 3" one)
some (no specific # yet) Yellow labs
* pair of kribs
* Firemouth?

I'm fairly confident that the first 3 can go together fine, but I'm a little nervous about the second ones. The kribs should be big enough, but I'm not sure if they're aggressive enough to hold their own. From what I've read, the N. brevis are peaceful, except when defending their shells, the yellow labs are peaceful and the juli is a little aggressive, which is why I'd only get one.

I've had kribs before and would setup a clay pot in the aquarium for them to gravitate to (might even put them in first so they can get settled in)...
I've never had a firemouth before, but I think he may be able to hold his own considering his size (would be the largest in the aquarium).

Can anyone comment on this? I will have a lot of rocks and hiding places, so I think I'll be ok...

Thanks,
David
 
Oh, and one note...

The type of water that they thrive in won't be a problem, since my LFS uses normal tap water for all fish...and he discourages people from changing tap water to suit the fish (which I've never done before either)
 
if you are setting up an african tank you will need lots of ocean rock for the fish to hide and aslong as you do that, a pair of kribs would be fine (because they would have lots of places to hide) to give you a rough idea of how much rock you would need i will post a pic of my tank when it was cycling that is if i can find my camera. :)
 
MbunaFishKeeper said:
if you are setting up an african tank you will need lots of ocean rock for the fish to hide and aslong as you do that, a pair of kribs would be fine (because they would have lots of places to hide) to give you a rough idea of how much rock you would need i will post a pic of my tank when it was cycling that is if i can find my camera. :)
Click to expand...

Kribensis do come from africa but thats about the only thing they have in comon with the cichlids of lakes Malawi,Victoria and Tanganyika. They can be aggressive when breeding but this aggression is compaired to that normally seen in a comunity tank and not the aggresion seen in a malawi tank. if you put them in with african cichlids from the lakes they will get ripped to shreads.

Not good at all:thumbsdown: Steve.
 
Aren't the ones I have listed fairly peaceful and small (but still territorial)? Would kribs still be attacked?
 
Maybe you should check your tap ph and hardness and set up for fish that are close to those parameters. Tap water my change a little throughout the year so it still needs to be checked per water change.
I dont agree with your LFS guy- he keeps angels and Tropheus sp in the same water?
Its pretty easy to get soft acidic water to hard alkiline. Its more difficult to do the opposite
 
LFS guy has been specializing in africans for 20 years or so and has never changed from tap water...

My tap water is 7.0 pH, and I'm not sure what the hardness is (but I'm sure it's fairly hard)...but yes, he keeps wild caught cardinals in the same water as his africans (I purchased wild caught cardinals from him previously and they are great quality...all of his fish are great quality from what I've seen and heard)

I have a feeling I won't be able to keep kribs in with these guys, but know it probably won't happen...

any insight on a firemouth? I've never had these guys before so I'm not sure what their temperment is like, but I think it'd get too big and eat some of the shellies...
 
wouldn't worry about changing your tap water - I agree with your LFS guy completely; a stable set of parameters is better than trying to guesstimate swings.

I wouldn't keep a firemouth with the shellies - I think you're right...it may in fact eat them esp. ocellatus (which btw I would add to your list for stocking). The kribs would be 'ok' with the shellies, but you have some better options for non shell dwelling cichlids which are from the lake...

If I was you I would do lamprologus ocellatus (2 - 4 pairs - beautiful little shellies), Neolamprologus Brevis (2 - 4 pairs - you already know about these), Julidochromis Ornatus (1 -3 pairs), Neolamprologus Brichardi (4 - 6 pairs - beautifiul cichlid, non shell dweller) and some synodontis multipunctatus catfish.

would be a fantastic tang tank :)
 
I'm trying to limit the number of aquariums that I'm running lol...I already have 2, one more than I originally planned 6 months ago :P


I want kribs and my wife wants yellow labs, so there's my problem :) Actually, my biggest problem is not really having much experience with any aggression from cichlids...the last kribs I had were in their own tank with dithers, and the only other cichlids I've had have been apisto's which aren't aggressive at all. I guess I don't understand why labs wouldn't go with kribs when I keep reading that they are very passive and non-aggressive...

Coler, in your setup would I be able to switch the brichardi for yellow labs? I know the labs are from Malawi and not Tang...I've also heard that brichardi's are extremely aggressive and I read on cichlid-forums that they shouldn't be kept with shellies?

Read some stuff on Firemouth's as well, and they definitely wouldn't be a good choice to go with African's (thanks for the above info, meemee)

People have such different experiences with fish, it's difficult to get a consensus about fish and their behaviour...
 
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