55 African Cichlid Build Ideas?

Hey all...we've moved twice in two years - broke down a 55 and gave it away and moved cross country, built and stocked a new 36, and cycled a 10 that's planted but empty...we have now snagged a 55 with a stand and now my husband wants me to build out a colorful African cichlid tank...maybe labs, etc. I know to do more hardscape than plants, and I've read extensively about aggression and how to mix species, but I've never kept African cichlids. So. I would love any suggestions anyone has for a beautiful cichlid tank as we think about a new build. We have pretty hard water already and I can adjust around different setups, I'm just looking for any of you experts to weigh in on an optimal tank! Thanks in advance!

 

My choice would be a group of Lake MalawI Peacocks. I plan to get some myself eventually.

 

I second the peacocks.

If you wanted to go the planted route, a pair of kribensis with congo tetras and upside-down catfish (Synodontis nigriventris) for an African community setup with cichlids as the centerpiece.

 

Mbuna come in plenty of different colors and you can have quite a few in a 55.

 

Hardscape with Limestone rocks. Small grain river gravel, or sand substrate. Elevate the hardscape (stack rocks). Most plants will be lunch.
As noted, Aulonocara / Peacocks are great. Go for a male only tank. They grow to about 6". Seven or eight Peacocks along with a few low octane Mbuna such as Yellow Tail Aceis & Yellow Labs would look nice. YoYo Loaches would make a good clean-up crew. Here's a pic of a couple of my camera shy Peacocks.

 

My choice would be a group of Lake MalawI Peacocks. I plan to get some myself eventually.

They are beautiful and interesting!

I second the peacocks.

If you wanted to go the planted route, a pair of kribensis with congo tetras and upside-down catfish (Synodontis nigriventris) for an African community setup with cichlids as the centerpiece.

Oooh...this is a good plan. I love my planted tanks and wasn't sure how to make that work with African cichlids.

Hardscape with Limestone rocks. Small grain river gravel, or sand substrate. Elevate the hardscape (stack rocks). Most plants will be lunch.
As noted, Aulonocara / Peacocks are great. Go for a male only tank. They grow to about 6". Seven or eight Peacocks along with a few low octane Mbuna such as Yellow Tail Aceis & Yellow Labs would look nice. YoYo Loaches would make a good clean-up crew. Here's a pic of a couple of my camera shy Peacocks.View attachment 586099

Your fish are beautiful! Thank you for the info!

 

Congrats on your new 55 gallon and the upcoming new build !

We set up our first African tank and it's been running for a bit over 2 months now.

Coincidentally it's a 55 gallon also. Only keeping African cichlids for 2 months doesn't make me qualified to give a ton of advice on them, but I'll share what I've done so far.

It's an all-male tank comprised of Mbuna from on-line retailer/breeders, plus a couple of $8 male Peacocks I found on sale at PetSmart, ha... Also has a syndontis multipunctatus catfish and 2 syndontis petricola catfish to help clean up.

I was originally going with all Peacocks, but instead went mainly with Mbuna since generally they are smaller than Peacocks.

I used Quickrete pool filter sand as substrate and some limestone for decor. The sand and limestone were cheap and look decent. Every couple of weeks I rearrange the rocks, so they don't get too territorial.

The Mbuna grow fast ! They always act hungy.

A week after setting up the 55g...

Day 1: 55g Mbuna tank plenum installed

• Islandvic
• Jul 13, 2019
• 1

2 months later...

55g Lake Malawi tank

• Islandvic
• Sep 10, 2019

Lake Malawi 55g

• Islandvic
• Sep 10, 2019

I still need some more rockwork though. It's a work in progress. Eventually I will put in some more limestone.

Off the top of my head, our Mbuna include: Maingano, Cobalt Blue Zebra, Green Mbweca, Red Top Ndumbi, Yellow Top Mbamba, Yellow Lab, Rusty, Purple Afra Lupingu, Yellow Tail Acei, Ice Blue Zebra, Red Exasperatus, Elongatus Usisya.

The two main diggers that enjoy making pits in the sand has to be the Mbweca and the Maingano!




With your new build, make sure you give your cichlids a lot of filtration.

They will appreciate it.

 

Congrats on your new 55 gallon and the upcoming new build !

We set up our first African tank and it's been running for a bit over 2 months now.

Coincidentally it's a 55 gallon also. Only keeping African cichlids for 2 months doesn't make me qualified to give a ton of advice on them, but I'll share what I've done so far.

It's an all-male tank comprised of Mbuna from on-line retailer/breeders, plus a couple of $8 male Peacocks I found on sale at PetSmart, ha... Also has a syndontis multipunctatus catfish and 2 syndontis petricola catfish to help clean up.

I was originally going with all Peacocks, but instead went mainly with Mbuna since generally they are smaller than Peacocks.

I used Quickrete pool filter sand as substrate and some limestone for decor. The sand and limestone were cheap and look decent. Every couple of weeks I rearrange the rocks, so they don't get too territorial.

The Mbuna grow fast ! They always act hungy.

A week after setting up the 55g...

Day 1: 55g Mbuna tank plenum installed

• Islandvic
• Jul 13, 2019
• 1

2 months later...

55g Lake Malawi tank

• Islandvic
• Sep 10, 2019

Lake Malawi 55g

• Islandvic
• Sep 10, 2019

I still need some more rockwork though. It's a work in progress. Eventually I will put in some more limestone.

Off the top of my head, our Mbuna include: Maingano, Cobalt Blue Zebra, Green Mbweca, Red Top Ndumbi, Yellow Top Mbamba, Yellow Lab, Rusty, Purple Afra Lupingu, Yellow Tail Acei, Ice Blue Zebra, Red Exasperatus, Elongatus Usisya.

The two main diggers that enjoy making pits in the sand has to be the Mbweca and the Maingano!

View attachment 586892

With your new build, make sure you give your cichlids a lot of filtration.

They will appreciate it.

Thanks for the tips! For some reason I can't load your photos but the video of the mbuna digging is awesome. I didn't think of moving hardscape around, so I'll have to think about planning for that. Filtration will be on point for sure...I prefer to be over filtered rather than overstocked to be safe!