Tank set up ideas-opinions please

Wow thanks! now i have quite a few more options to think over! i had not looked into the peacocks because i thought they were too agressive, but i am definetly going to now! I will try and stay away from mbuna( i know actually how agressive they are-i wasnt sure if i could get away with more peaceful ones or not).

Well, off to amend my list!:)

Peace
Anna

BTW will it bother the fish if i do have plants in there-im a green kinda person lol i likethe way it looks, consider the driftwood dropped.
 
Plants are often not recommended for african cichlid tanks because they tend to get eaten and/or uprooted. (Many cichlid species are tireless diggers.)

For many of the mbuna species you list, a 55 is really the bare minimum. A 55 is really too small to benefit from controlled overstocking, so you are limited to not very many fish - maybe 7 or 8 max. At that rate, you might want to consider going with a single species of cichlid along with a small school of interesting synodontis catfish (e.g., petricola) or with a couple of trios (1M, 2F) of cichlids.

You want to avoid species that are conspecific to one another. For example, Ps. lombardoi and Lab. caeruleus are bad tankmates because the yellow labs will be picked off by the yellow male lombardois, who are excessively aggressive and will kill the labs to protect their territory. (And to the lombardoi, the whole tank will constitute their terriotory.) Yellow labs and a smaller blue fish (Ps. scolofi or Ps. demasoni) generally do OK as a mix. (The demasoni will fight a bit among themselves, but they won't mess with the labs.)

Picking compatible species is in large part knowing about how these fish look as they mature and picking species that look different. Size is an important consideration, too.

HTH,
Jim
 
I can drop the lombardoi as well, to be homest the only fish i have my heart set on is the socolifi i WANT that fish, so im open to anyother species that would do well with him. So, if i vary colors, and try to make sure that there are no two similar looking species, i should be ok?

BTW, the plants would be fake, but as i see it is highly recommended not to have any, i think i will drop them all together.


Anna

BTW Jim- If your a lumberjack and your ok...do you sleep all night and work all day ??:D
 
I think thats where my tank is headed, im looking up some more fish to put in as well, i should have some by tonight, i just need some free time to be able to read(feels like chicken with head etc...)

Anna


Jim, you go me, cant remember next line...But i hope You dont...um...wear ladies...um... clothing---your the other lumberjacks right????:D I love monty python!!! lets all do little dances and slap eachother in the face with fish!!! sounds fun doesnt it??(ok im odd i know it:cool: )-A
 
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How about this set up, there's less fish than the original so each can have his own 'space'

Lamprologus leleupi
Lamprologus Brichardi
Idotropheus Sperengerae
Labidochromis Zebroides
Labidochromis Caerules
Pseudotropheus socolofi

Will this work? it would still be in a 55...
I read up on the peacocks, and i found that they needed tanks larger than 48", and i cant currently even try to afford something larger than a 55(48") Im willing to drop the brichardi as well if need be.
I know haps were mentioned as good tankmates for a socolofi-are there any yellow ones??

Peace
Anna
 
Wow, you are really jazzed about your Socolofi. :)

Fortunately, they are not one of the more aggressive Mbuna. You can try it and if it doesn't work, fish him out. Just make sure you feed Spirulina often. He is the only herbivore of your group.

You can keep Peacocks in a 55 gal no problem. You could add a male to your group of six below without a problem as far as bioload. If it has a lot of blue though, it might become a target for your Socolofi.

Stay away from haps. Your tank really isn't big enough.

If I'm not mistaken, Zebroides are blue. Keep an eye on how the Socolofi treats it. The others should be able to hold their own, except for maybe the Sprengerae, which are very docile as far as cichlids go.

Oh, and try to get a Daffodil version of Brichardi. Better color and are quite beautiful when full grown.
 
Thanks! will do (about the daffodil) ill watch how the socolofi acts with the zebroides(hope it works out) Yall have been priceless there are juat a few things you cant get from books ya know.


Peace
Anna
 
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