Starting an African tank

[parrotfish100]

With my tax return close at hand and an extra 55 gallon salt setup sitting in the garage, I've decided to start an African Cichlid tank. All I need now is a filter, heater, and maybe some buffer, sand, and rocks

My question to you is:

Which would be more interesting- Peacocks, Taganyikan, or Malawi?

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

Oooo tough choice! Errr peacocks are malawi... your questions is whether you want peacocks, haps, or mbuna... OR tang? Well I would nix the haps from Malawi since they should be in a larger tank. Peacocks would fare well in a 55 gallon as would most mbuna. Tangs would also do good.

I'd be torn between a peacock tank or a Tang tank since I already have mbuna.

Oooo your evil its too hard to decide.

Do you want lots of action, color, and/or breeding?

-Diana

 

[crabguy]

new tank

i got from a friend a 52gal flat back hex tank. thinking about setting up an african tank. i have an emperor 400 filter. is this all right?

 

[parrotfish100]

Actually I was thinking of a mix of Mbunas and a pair or two of peacocks. Is that a possible mix?

You're right, Peacocks are malawi, but I just listed them seperately 'cause I've seen exclusive peacock tanks.

 

[w6wat]

Mbuna such as Yellow Labs go with just about anything. They are less agressive than other Mbuna.

Peacocks are great, and there will always be posturing and aggression so the tank will never be dull. Other Haplochromes are often less colorful (excluding elecric blues) and very aggressive.

Tanganyikans are really great, and you can put a few varieties in a tank of that size, however, some can be quite aggressive when breeding. They are interesting and smart.

I think you'll get some very nice color and have an active tank if you choose Peacocks. They also get a little larger in body and finnage than Mbunas. They would be my first choice as a display tank. If you want to breed, then I'd go with Tanganyikans. Mbunas would be my last choice even though interesting, active and colorful. They are downright mean more often than not.

 

[parrotfish100]

Mbuna such as Yellow Labs go with just about anything. They are less agressive than other Mbuna.

Peacocks are great, and there will always be posturing and aggression so the tank will never be dull. Other Haplochromes are often less colorful (excluding elecric blues) and very aggressive.

Tanganyikans are really great, and you can put a few varieties in a tank of that size, however, some can be quite aggressive when breeding. They are interesting and smart.

I think you'll get some very nice color and have an active tank if you choose Peacocks. They also get a little larger in body and finnage than Mbunas. They would be my first choice as a display tank. If you want to breed, then I'd go with Tanganyikans. Mbunas would be my last choice even though interesting, active and colorful. They are downright mean more often than not.

How many peacocks would you recommend for my 55g? So I could put a few Yellow with some peacocks? How about the blue with black stripes? Sorry, I forget the latin name.

 

[ceatwood]

How many peacocks would you recommend for my 55g? So I could put a few Yellow with some peacocks? How about the blue with black stripes? Sorry, I forget the latin name.

Depends on what you want, do you want several males, one of which in good color and the sub-dominants in lesser color, or one in spectacular color and a few drab females?

 

[~*LuvMyKribs*~]

I would not mix different types of peacocks together for fear of hybridization since all the females look pretty much the same.

I would maybe do a group of yellow labs (4, 1m/3f) a group of P. acei, and a group of peacocks. About 4 of each would be good.

If you wanted to do more than one type of peacock, I would only do males. However, then you run into the challenge of trying to get them to color up with no females around

How about the blue with black stripes?

You wouldn't believe how many mbuna there are that are blue with black stripes :

-Diana

 

[parrotfish100]

Rofl, yeah, I know there's tons of 'em!

Ok, so 4 Yellow Labs, a group of Pseudotropheus acei, and a group of peacocks. That sounds good. I want the peacock to be at it's best color, so a male with about 2-3 females would be good? How about other Psedotropheus? Are they generally the same temperament as P. acei? I found a list of the Pseudotropheus, and I really liked the P. cyaneus and P. demasoni. I think I've seen P. demasoni in my local fish store, but not cyaneus. Is that one ever available?

 

[ceatwood]

I don;t know that I would mix in any Pseudotropheus with a Peacock and mates. I would imagine you can get away with the 4 yellow labs and a male Peacock and three females.

All of the Pseudotropheus I kept were agressive and with Peacocks posturing/breeding I think you might run into some bad fights. But take it with salt, I never have kept Peacocks yet....