How many cichlids could I stock into a 100-125 gallon tank. I am going to buy one after the first of the year and want to stock it with different colors of cichlids. Thanks for any help.
how many?
- Thread starter Jon-AL
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Honestly, I am not sure. I am very fascinated by them. All I know to call them is african cichlids. Their colors are great. I have had oscars in my 55 gallon. They out grew it and I had to give them away to a friend that had a 125. It is my understanding that these others are not as aggressive. That is part of the reason I wanted them. Thanks
African cichlids, or rift lake cichlids, orginating from lake malawi and the T lake I cant spell can range from anywhere to being really pasive happy like a Yellow lab to being horribly mean like say an auratus and johanni. If you want somthing really easy to keep and not so agressive i would not go with mbuna, these are fish from lake malawi and are quite the nasty little buggers. I have a 55g tank of them and they just cahse each other all day. If you want more pasive go with either haps or peacocks, they are smaller and less agressive and more often than not come in a multitude of colours when the mbuna are usually morphs of red yellow or blue and ussually solid or striped ( with the exception of johanni and aratus, which i think are just magnificent in colour, but are the most agressive in my opinion). If you could tell me what agression you want in a tank i can tell you what you what u can have and how many most likely. Me i personally like the mbuna because they are fiesty and are sleek and powerful, yet will not bust your wallet, like some peacocks will or haps will, and they are relitively easy to keep and breed.
Personally i think a 125 would be nice for a male hap/peacock show tank.
Come on over to http://www.malawimayhem.com, they specialize in malawi cichlids, and join the forum there. We will help you plan out a tank right down to the species, and they have some good species profiles there as well for you to browse.
-Diana
Come on over to http://www.malawimayhem.com, they specialize in malawi cichlids, and join the forum there. We will help you plan out a tank right down to the species, and they have some good species profiles there as well for you to browse.
-Diana
I don't think I want them to get too big. Like as big as the oscars got. They were over 14" long. Just huge. And I don't want something to throw water all over the floor either. I want a lot of fish in the tank and breeding would be awesome. My 55 gallon is now a community tank with guppies, so I am waiting on them to breed. After the attitudes of the oscars, I am over the aggressive stage for now.
Well, a 125 doesnt make a good breeding tank because you would be constantly struggling to catch the holding females. Unless you just let them spit in the tank, in which case 99% of the fry would be eaten. If you did make the effort to remove rockwork and such to catch holding females then you would need to set up extra tanks to house the fry. Hey, i do it, but im saying its a little bit of a pain in the bum 
Haps and peacocks come in all sizes, from 3" full grown to upwards of 10". It all depends on the species.
I love mbuna as well, most of what i keep are mbuna, and a large mbuna tank would make for a colorful show, but you will need LOTS of rockwork in that sucker. Its best to see what fish you like and go from there. I started out liking mbuna the best but i have grown onto the elegance that haps have.
Haps and peacocks come in all sizes, from 3" full grown to upwards of 10". It all depends on the species.
I love mbuna as well, most of what i keep are mbuna, and a large mbuna tank would make for a colorful show, but you will need LOTS of rockwork in that sucker. Its best to see what fish you like and go from there. I started out liking mbuna the best but i have grown onto the elegance that haps have.
Sounds like you should look into Mbuna species then if you don't want big fish. They are colorful, but are territroially aggressive and reach a size of 4"-6". Mbuna consist of quite a few different species and divided into may location varients.
Cynotilapia, Gephyrochromis, Iodotropheus, Labidochromis, Labeotropheus, Metriaclima/Maylandia (zebra types), and the Pseudotropheus are the more common types. 1000s of them out there, some harder to find then others.
Here is a shot of some of the Mbuna I keep in my 75 gallon. There were a couple Haps in the tank in that picture, but it was 90% mbuna at that time and now is 100% mbuna. Pseudotropheus Acei are the blue/purple ones with the yellow tails at the top of the picture. A very social fish, mine trust me enough to swim into the fish net, and into my hands. One of my favorites.
Cynotilapia, Gephyrochromis, Iodotropheus, Labidochromis, Labeotropheus, Metriaclima/Maylandia (zebra types), and the Pseudotropheus are the more common types. 1000s of them out there, some harder to find then others.
Here is a shot of some of the Mbuna I keep in my 75 gallon. There were a couple Haps in the tank in that picture, but it was 90% mbuna at that time and now is 100% mbuna. Pseudotropheus Acei are the blue/purple ones with the yellow tails at the top of the picture. A very social fish, mine trust me enough to swim into the fish net, and into my hands. One of my favorites.
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I love mbuna, but they do get rather agressive, i kept for a while an oscar with them and he was beat up most of the time. He is gone now that i have my new tank but in my opinion they (mbuna) are quite a bit more agressive than oscars. So if you are over the agression than the hap/peacock show tank is wonderfull. Breeding is iffy in a tank that size as others have said, I have trouble catchign things in a 10 gal 
Oscars and Mbuna are two totally different fish, it wouldn't surprise me that it would get beat up. They aren't the best tank mates, different water conditions and diets.
Some Mbuna are more aggressive then others, true. Just saying its a option since they want a smaller fish and they would get a wide range of colors.
Some Mbuna are more aggressive then others, true. Just saying its a option since they want a smaller fish and they would get a wide range of colors.