Freshwater novice

[TeamPisces]

Hello,

My name is Willis. I managed a small saltwater aquarium a few years ago. I had to give it up. I am looking to keep another aquarium, but I would like to try freshwater this time. I like Cichlids from Lake Malawi. In my limited research, I have found that I like many of the different species of Haplochromines and Mbuna.

I plan to start with a 75 gallon tank. However, I am not ready to deal with any fry possibly resulting from fish breeding. Should I try to keep all males? If I kept females and males and a pair breeds, should or would the other fish eat the offspring?

Finally, I was thinking maybe 8 Pseudotropheus saulosi and 8 Labdochromis caeruleus. Can any other cichlids be kept with these two groups? Any non-cichlids? Any all suggestions/recommendations appreciated.

 

[Harleyrider5]

Welcome to the forum. This is the right group to talk to about African cichlids. A lot of experienced people here.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[TeamPisces]

Thanks. Can't wait to bring home the tank and get it up setup.

 

[TeamPisces]

Best laid plans

Well, I thought I would be able to get the 75 gallon, but I had to settle for a little less. I was surprised with a 37 gallon aquarium and stand. The specs on the tank are 30x12x22. Anyone have any suggestions on tank inhabitants? Any possibility of keeping anything from Malawi or Victoria areas? Here is a photo of the tank.

 

[Jefft]

It all depends on your plans my friend, like your title says "best laid plans" and all. If you are planning on staying with this one tank then get one breed your absolute favorite and stay with that one breed. Do not get more than 4 of any type if you are staying in this tank, the fish grow and they grow fast man. When I started it was a 10g.. then a 29g bowfront, then a 55g then a 75g, then a 30g cube, then a 40g breeder. Now, I daily fuss about the need for more tank space. Get the picture man? It is addictive and if you have the cash and no "determination" to limit or stay the addiction to your one tank you will end up expanding and a lot. Expanding is perhaps the best way to think of things. In other words accept the inevitable so to speak. LOL... That way you can go ahead and buy the various species you are interested in keeping at fry to juvie stage and not over tax the bio filter of your smaller tank. I have a 30g as I said and I keep all fry and juvies from my colonies in it so I can have upwards of 200 fry/juvies at times in this tank. If you go with several species you MUST commit to a schedule, (one your significant other is agreeable to). the schedule will be how many more tanks you will add, and where you will add them in your house. Your fish will grow and they can quickly outgrow a smaller tank which will bring about death on a massive scale as the fish battle for territory and Dominance. The general rule of thumb is for each inch of fish you need one gallon of holding capacity. The Haps will fool you quick man.. some grow up to 7 and 8 inches. The mbuna 5 or so.. Just make sure you are prepared for where things go after your initial purchase.Good LUck man!! Welcome to the forum..

 

[verbal]

One issue is most of the rift lake options are going to be pretty prolific if they are happy. Basically the two options are dwarf Tanganyikan cichlids or Haplochromis sp. Ruby - a victorian.

A traditional Malawi all-male tank won't work in that size. If you wanted something different, you could try an all-male West African Tank. It may take a little while to find the inhabitants, but a male krib, Anomalochromis thomasi and maybe a buffalo head(Steatocranus casuarius). Even though they aren't West African one of the Pseudocrenilabrus species would probably also work.

You could probably also add a small group of barbs(6) to the tank.

If you know that a bigger tank is in your future, you could use the tank to grow out a couple of African Cichlid groups. I think your original post has a couple of good species for a beginners.

 

[Andrew]

If you are interested in Malawi cichlids, I think you could do a group of 6-8 Pseudotropheus Saulosi in a 37g. You would get nice blue and yellow fish in a smaller space since the males are blue and the females are yellow.. I would not try to mix any other fish in it though.

 

[TeamPisces]

It all depends on your plans my friend, like your title says "best laid plans" and all. If you are planning on staying with this one tank then get one breed your absolute favorite and stay with that one breed. Do not get more than 4 of any type if you are staying in this tank, the fish grow and they grow fast man. When I started it was a 10g.. then a 29g bowfront, then a 55g then a 75g, then a 30g cube, then a 40g breeder. Now, I daily fuss about the need for more tank space. Get the picture man? It is addictive and if you have the cash and no "determination" to limit or stay the addiction to your one tank you will end up expanding and a lot. Expanding is perhaps the best way to think of things. In other words accept the inevitable so to speak. LOL... That way you can go ahead and buy the various species you are interested in keeping at fry to juvie stage and not over tax the bio filter of your smaller tank. I have a 30g as I said and I keep all fry and juvies from my colonies in it so I can have upwards of 200 fry/juvies at times in this tank. If you go with several species you MUST commit to a schedule, (one your significant other is agreeable to). the schedule will be how many more tanks you will add, and where you will add them in your house. Your fish will grow and they can quickly outgrow a smaller tank which will bring about death on a massive scale as the fish battle for territory and Dominance. The general rule of thumb is for each inch of fish you need one gallon of holding capacity. The Haps will fool you quick man.. some grow up to 7 and 8 inches. The mbuna 5 or so.. Just make sure you are prepared for where things go after your initial purchase.Good LUck man!! Welcome to the forum..

Thanks for the advice. I do have plans to upgrade to a bigger tanks, but it is so far in the future that I will probably make this a one species only tank for the time being.

One issue is most of the rift lake options are going to be pretty prolific if they are happy. Basically the two options are dwarf Tanganyikan cichlids or Haplochromis sp. Ruby - a victorian.

A traditional Malawi all-male tank won't work in that size. If you wanted something different, you could try an all-male West African Tank. It may take a little while to find the inhabitants, but a male krib, Anomalochromis thomasi and maybe a buffalo head(Steatocranus casuarius). Even though they aren't West African one of the Pseudocrenilabrus species would probably also work.

You could probably also add a small group of barbs(6) to the tank.

If you know that a bigger tank is in your future, you could use the tank to grow out a couple of African Cichlid groups. I think your original post has a couple of good species for a beginners.

Thanks for the help. I will using this tank for at least the next couple of years.

If you are interested in Malawi cichlids, I think you could do a group of 6-8 Pseudotropheus Saulosi in a 37g. You would get nice blue and yellow fish in a smaller space since the males are blue and the females are yellow.. I would not try to mix any other fish in it though.

Thanks. You really think those Saulosi would work in this tank? I thought I might be limited by the length.

 

[verbal]

Thanks for the advice. I do have plans to upgrade to a bigger tanks, but it is so far in the future that I will probably make this a one species only tank for the time being.



Thanks for the help. I will using this tank for at least the next couple of years.



Thanks. You really think those Saulosi would work in this tank? I thought I might be limited by the length.

Lots of rockwork(or fake rocks), some fake plants or java fern couldn't hurt, a good male/female ratio and a close eye on the tank. One nice thing about saulosi is the male/female difference is quite clear.

Also because you will br crowding this tank, good filtration is a must.

 

[Tony]

Welcome to the club, Willis! I do love my Malawi cichlids.

I'd certainly go with salousi in that tank. It will work.

Even in a larger tank though, I wouldn't mix salousi with yellow labs as they are known to hybridize.

If you wanted to control fry, stick a couple of small Synodontis catfish in there and they will take care of any that survive. Mbuna will eat fry, but are not as proficient as these cats. Look for a smaller species as most of these guys get big - either S. petricola or S. schoutedeni. They aren't very common, but can be found from time to time through our sponsors.

Hope to see you this Saturday at the convention!

 

[TeamPisces]

Welcome to the club, Willis! I do love my Malawi cichlids.

I'd certainly go with salousi in that tank. It will work.

Even in a larger tank though, I wouldn't mix salousi with yellow labs as they are known to hybridize.

If you wanted to control fry, stick a couple of small Synodontis catfish in there and they will take care of any that survive. Mbuna will eat fry, but are not as proficient as these cats. Look for a smaller species as most of these guys get big - either S. petricola or S. schoutedeni. They aren't very common, but can be found from time to time through our sponsors.

Hope to see you this Saturday at the convention!

Thanks for the advice. I will probably not be able to make Aquamania due to prior commitments. I saw your youtube vid of you tank. It was amazing. Beautiful fish.

 

[turfboss]

Welcome to the forum - lots of good advice above - hope you can make it to our next meting - there are other members in your area - split the cost of fuel and ride together.

George

 

[Tony]

Thanks for the advice. I will probably not be able to make Aquamania due to prior commitments. I saw your youtube vid of you tank. It was amazing. Beautiful fish.

Thanks bud. Sorry I missed this post.

I need to update my videos on Youtube (including the one in my sig).

Really do come to the April meeting. You won't be sorry you did. :happy0180: