35 mixed cichlids all ages

Hello I have recently upgraded my smaller tank to alovely new 300l tank with crushed coral base and coral stones as decore when I bought the tank it had already bee set up for more than 2 years and there was 30 plus cichlids in the tank and 1 pleco some beautiful fish (pictures will followtommorow)

I am basically asking for any advcie on keeping cichlids anything advice for me on them anything you no that they enjoy need or require would be great it is my first time keeping these I have had the tank for two week now fish have settled in I have given the tank a good clean and have not lost any yet which is great
Just looking for any pointers to keep the well regards jay

 

HI Tropical jay, your profile says your tank is 350liter and you thread here says 300 liter, so first we probably need to confirm which is right, it will definitely make a difference.
then, we really need you to give us a better idea of the cichlids you have. using the description mixed cichlids is really not telling the whole story. many cichlids should not be homed with other cichlids, etc.

 

Welcome to fishlore!

Where did you get your tank from? Sounds like a fun project

As already mentioned, "mixed cichlids" isn't a very helpful description There are african cichlids and american cichlids, which cannot be mixed. Then, there are certain species within those groups that cannot be mixed. Also, what type of pleco do you have? Most should fit into your tank, but just to be sure

I'm looking forward to updates on your tank! Maybe even some pictures

 

Hello yes to confirm it is a 300l tank sorry for the mistakethere
As far as I can see I have been able to identify that they are african cichlids I have uploaded some pics in another thread that I have posted yest not sure if you can find it its under "my new look tank " let me no if you can find it have a look and get back to me I will aslo try to upoad them in this thread but I'm not to great with computers lol

 

pics of the tank I got from a friend after I put my new rocks and crush in

 

Ok, you have a few things going on here. first, I don't know all the species you have. it looks like the big one in the thrid pic is a Frontosa ( from lake Tanganyikan) looks like you have a smaller one as well. looks like you have sevearl Peacocks and even a Hap or two ( these are from Lake Malawi) but should not be mixed with Mbunas which seems to be what you have the most of. you have a 79 gl tank so that tells me you are a bit overstocked with 35 fish. the Mbunas themselves will grow to 4-6 inches depending on which species of Mbunas you have. understand that there are actually thousands of species of African Cichlids. when all these fish get to be adults it will become a very, very aggressive tank. (to aggressive if you know what I mean)
So, I recommend you get rid of everything but the Mbunas. which will be a tough road in itself as you may need to get some new ones to join them. Mbunas should have 1 male to every 3-4 females. this ratio will help spread the aggression over the tank more. you can keep the tank a bit overstacked with Mbunas, also to help spread the aggression. depending on the species of Mbunas you have ( I can only help with that if you can post pics of each different fish) the number can be between 18-24. along with this, you need a lot of rocks. you have some nice rocks in there already, but I would double that amount at least. many recommend 2/3rd of the tank filled with rocks. with 20 fish you should have at least 30 hiding spaces. these spaces can be tunnels, caves or just holes or space thru the rocks so the fish have a place to run when the aggression steps up ( and it will step up).
well, that's a start, probably not what you wanted to hear but the truth is, you have a lot going on in that tank and the aggression will be bad enough with just one of those groups, you honestly do not want all of them in there together as they begin to get older.
hope this help
Tom

 

Good advice from Disc61!

I had the same exact setup(with the exception of the fronts) ....NOT from my doing, but from my bf's wanting a variety of color. It will be a super busy tank with everyone after everyone... I also would rehome/get another tank for the fronts but id keep the rest...Id also add more caves/hiding spots ....I would try to get down to 25 fish....

They are huge pigs and eat just about anything...but their best diet will be veggie based...big leafed lettuce hanging off the side of the tank, was my favorite to feed/watch them eat...otherwise, I made my own food or ordered from kens.... is the african cichlid forum and a bunch of different threads about them....also if you use the search box, you can search the forum for just about any questions you may have with them.. Good Luck in whatever you decide!!

 

Thanks for your advice its a great help to be honest I did think there was too many fish in there and thought it would be a cae of having to rehome a couple
as for aggresion what sort of time scale do you think I have as its not easy finding new homes for older fish there doesn't seem to be any aggresion at the min in the tank but would prefer to get on top before it gets out of hand
also Mbunas I no its a hard one but which fish are the mbunas how do I no whaich to keep which to re home
I no the biggetst fish in there is a frontosa and there are two smaller frontosa in there do they need to go as the bigger one has been in the tank since fry

 

yes, I believe all the fronts need to go. aggression level will pick up in a few months, then from there it will continue to get worst as they grow.
to give you an idea, the darker yellow one you have is a yellow lab. it is an Mbuna. the lighter blue with darker blue vertical lines is an Mbuna
I would need a better look but it could be what is called an Mbamba. google Live Fish Direct this is a place you can buy online, look for the Mbuna link, it has several pages of pictures that will help you identify some of them. and give you an idea of the look of most Mbuna. they have a more rounded mouth, where most peacocks have a more pointed mouth area.

 

ok great thanks for that I am off today to try see if I can find a new home for a few of the fish and also got about ten small fish about 2months old that can be re homed I want to put some live plants into my tank is this a no go or are there certain plants that are ok with these fish

 

That would be a no go, the Mbuna should have vegeatation for their diet like cucumbers, lettuce , etc. they would just uproot your plants and tear them up.
Rocks, rocks and did I mention rocks, haha. you could try some silk or plastic but if you do, you should anchor them on the rocks some how, or they will uproot them as well.