Allie

Here are the pix of my african cichlid tanks...started with 7 baby fish in a 10g right up to the 80g.
80g (I changed the rocks around a lot to mix up territories)

Allie

Thanks..I believe we had the dark rock background on it. It did look nice but SO much work.

alan l

was that a front i spoted beut tanks you should be proud of them

Allie

Nope no fronts just Lake Malawi africans

azzman

hey allie, how many fish did you have in the 42g and can you remember the footprint size? I want to know how many i should
have in my 40. Nice tanks btw.

Allie

Thanks....I had around 18 juveniles & 1 adult Red top zebra (big digger) in that pix...I knew I was upgrading so I kept getting them. You could have about 16 fish. I don't recommend any fancy plecos tho. Ours hid from the Africans ALL the time. I was told by a guys who is into plecos that the Africans water is too dirty for fancy plecos...they don't grow as fast in it.

Sabi

The tanks look wonderful Allie!

azzman

Iv just got a bristlenose, he doesnt seem scared of them at all.
Did your large zeb cause havoc? ive heard they are pretty evil.
Ive got a albino zeb because i heard albinos are less aggresive
because of their poor eyesight or something?

Allie

The RT zebra was a DIGGER...everyday he'd have a sandpile in the front of the tank, move rocks...he would try to breed with my red & cobalt zebra females. He was a wet pet tho...he had such personality. I sold him to a friend...the tank he was in broke and he and the Oscar (yes an Oscar) both died. They were best buds...to funny to see.

I think BN plecos are a little more hardy than my Snowball or Blue panque.

azzman

ok allie you seem like you know what your yalking about,
heres my again revised stocking list. Can you spot any troubles
hat i may have.

1 red top ice blue
2 OB peacocks
1 rusty
1 yellow lab
1 red empress
1 albino red zeb
2 peacocks
1 blue dolphin

and also what is your opinion on adding aquarium salt, im reading both yes and no?

thanks, aaron.

Allie

I have had probelms with my peacocks being aggressive but some other people had no problems at all. I would watch them just in case. The red top ice blue...is a zebra so it all depends on his individual temperament. Once they start to mature you will see who the dominant fishies are. You can do an all male tank being as the males are the colorful ones...and they have nothing to fight over except territories.
I only add aquarium salt to fix a sick fish. I am sure there are some benefits if you use cichlid salts...the ones that are suppose to mock their natural environment. I have read everything I need to know about LM african cichlids...plus I got a lot of info from FishNfry who visits here. I bought most of my africans as babies or juvis from her.
ALl my fish got along fine until they started hitting the 10 month old range...then I had an evil male Red empress, Steveni peacocks and my zebra males were getting feisty too.

azzman

so you had trouble with peacocks? ok i thought they were some of the calmer cichlids.
Well i guess ill just have to wait and see what happens when they mature. Thanks for the
advise allie, ill keep you posted.

Allie

So did I....imagine to my surprise when I had evil 1 Eureka and 2 Steveni males.

PPK9110

wow, beatiful, i like the 80G one, i've already had a hard time keeping african cichilids, they get too territoral, and evetually started fighting and dying, i don't know how you manage to keep all of them like that, i'm impressed.
the only african cichilid i still have doesn't even get alone with two mollies as tank mates, sucks.

Allie

I sold the set up and all the fish back in March. I wasn't expecting them to be sooo territorial either.

azzman

they cop a lot of bad press dont they?

Allie

Not really but it's b/c most people including myself, need learn more about which species can truly go together...some are just too aggressive/ territorieal to be with others...I had 4 types of zebras in my tanks OB Blueberry, Red, Cobalt and Red Top (oopsy) 4 males & 2 females. Not a good idea. Zebras are one of my favorites but pick only zebra species per tank.
Someday I will have a tank of Malawis again...but now I know exactly what I want.
I have had yellow lab breeding trio, eureka peacock trio, Steveni peacock pair & red and cobalt zebra pairs, deep water hap pair, electric blue hap pair, cobue afra pair AND the single males: Cobue, yellow top and white top afras, red top zebra, OB Zebra "blueberry", ps saulosi and 2 ps acei, 2 ps polit unsexed.
I had too many of the same type. Live & learn.

azzman

At what size roughly do they mature and their aggresive sides come out?
I ask because my male red top ice blue and male sunshine peacock are both
at 4" and theres no aggression with either of them.

Allie

Wow mine were about that size...the Eureka was smaller and he was Satan. I think in general it all depends on the individual fish's temperament. My M.Chipokae was aggressive at 2"...they can start mating at 3" at least with most Africans. I think with Red Top ice blue or other zebra types it depends on the fish. My red zebra pair, well not mine anymore...just had their first batch of fry 2 months ago...they are at least a year old now. He was nearly 3" before he showed much interest in his female.

PPK9110

yeah they're really aggressive, sometimes even though they're the same specie. are there community cichilids?
i'll probably sell my last cichilid also, get something else instead.

Allie

Lake Malawi cichlids are a community of their own...there are sooo many species.

azzman

hopefully our australian cichlids are pretty chilled out.
wishfull thinking.

Allie

Is any cichlid calm? Even the mildly aggressive ones are feisty lol.

azzman

well guess what, my 4" peacock has turned bad, he beat up on
my new cynotilapia puplican and chases everything in the tank apart from the zebs,
i think theve got him covered. am taking him back shortly to swap for couple more
cynotilipia, have you had those before? at the mo ive got a afra and the puplican
which is also called a kingsizi? i think, from what ive read they only grow to 4"
and are supposed to be mellow.

Allie

I think they need to up the aggression on profiles about peacocks...I had 3 males that took over the tank, one was only 3.5" the other ones about 4"...beautiful fish but nasty demeanors.
I think they are in the zebra family...I haven't had any myself. I haven't heard about any nasty behavior either. You never know until you try them out...what may have worked in one person's tank may not work in another. It depends on the individual fish at least from what my experience and other people I know who have kept Africans.

Allie

80g before I sold it

FishnFry

Hmm looked good esp the borleyis. They've really grown up nicely. Do you miss those africans?

Allie

Not really...they stressed me out. lol IF I ever have an african tank again...I am not going to have as many species as I did before. I know what I like and don't like now. Rone wants a red zebra blue male/yellow lab tank. I think the orange, yellow and blue would look great.