Thinking about Africans & I need YOUR help!

[Mettle]

I've never been a huge fan of Africans. But I'm starting to go that way... Just a little. And I figured this was the best place to go as a starting point as there's so many African enthusiasts in OVAS.

I will soon probably be freeing up my 55 gallon tank. And I wanted to know what my options were for Africans. I know that's rather vague. But I know I want to do Lake Malawi cichlids. I'd like ones a little more on the aggressive side, as well. And I'm not overly fond of the colour yellow.  :lol:

So I guess that's a start.

I was thinking for the tank that I might do white sand? Or at the very least a very fine gravel - as I don't like simply sand. Ideas on that?

Anyway... Any ideas would be great. I'm seriously thinking about doing this now and would love some help. Also anyone that has some fish for sale - that'd be cool to know about as well.

Thanks for any and all help.

[kennyman]

I have a 55 g Malawi tank and if its aggressive you want  . . . Im having trouble with the Kenyi harassing the heck out of the P. elongatus.

Kenyi males are bright yellow, and I know you dnt want yellow, but no way should you have more than one in tank. These guys are nutso. He attacks my hand when Im arranging rocks and doing gravel vacs. He actualy took a run at the vac tube yesterday while I was placing the hose end in the bucket. He got sucked in, swam out and started pushing at it. I see him soimetimes presed face fist up agianst the front of the tank pushing for all hes worth. Guess since enveryone else runs from him he needs to keep in shape somehow. The females are a nice liliac blue with black bars and youd prolly want four or five of them to the one male.

Right now I have one big yellow fish sitting in the middle of my tank with four crowded around the heater on the extream right and two hiding in the bottom left of the tank. If any of the move 6 inches off the glass he takes a run at them.
But If I were to try this agian I'd try a cihchlid that bonded insted of the plygamous nature of typical Mbuna. Probly a tang shell dweller or something.

[darkdep]

I'd suggest P. Demasoni.  I LOVE the look of those guys, and from what I hear they are fairly aggressive.  They don't get too big (4" max if I recall) so you could get a bunch.

[Mettle]

The P. Demasoni look a little like convict cichlids, lol.

In a perfect world I'd like to try some different types. Not all just one variety. But I don't want to deal with tiny lil' yellow labs that'll hide all the time.

We had an awesome duo at my store of kenyi. Gorgeous fish... However they were sold today.    I've been thinking about buying them for a while but never had the room. (And still don't right now.) Guess I took too long.

[Mettle]

Maybe I'll go to a place like Pet Smart and pick from their incredibly random 'misc. africans' tank. LOL.

[Mettle]

Are Malawis or Tangs hardier?

And could I do a cool tang set-up in my 55 gal? (I know they're not really as aggressive - but it might be cool!) And does anywhere in Ottawa have tangs in?

Also... for malawis... how are the different peacocks?

Thanks!

[kennyman]

dont do the assorted!

I was at both Big All's yesterday and they have megga cichlids at good prices

The P. elongatus I have are still at superpet on Terryfox and they are asking $29 ea for them. You can get wild ones fresh from Africa for cheeper!

I found this site to be a great help for researching cichlid stuff.

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/

[gvv]

Try to avoid to put different fish with same color pattern into the tank - there is possibility they will fight. Another sugestion put fish with the same temperament and try not to mix mbuna with peacocks, as they have different food requirements.
About agression: more fish you have less agression (overall) you will get. When I had about 36-38 fish (didn't remove fry for some time and they managed to grow up) in my 55G there were no agression at all or it was spread between this number of fish, but now when I downsized to 12, even I made more hiding places, the agression grow.
And have a look at the site kennyman mentioned. But always remember that sometimes what is applicable to one hobbyst could be not applicable to another - I'm talking about there suggestions on the tank residents "Cookie Cutter Setups".
Regards

[pegasus]

try not to mix mbuna with peacocks, as they have different food requirements.

This maybe a sound advice ... that I don't fallow in any of my tanks. All my tanks are mixes of Tang, Malawi and Victoria.

For the peacocks ... not more than one specie per tank if you intend to breed them as they hybridize so easely ... you will and should never sell those fry.

Tell us which specie you would like to start with and we could give you our recommendations for the others.

My 2 cents...
-Stay away off the demasoni for now, unless you would like to get a colony as with the tropheus.
-Get a second tank ready... (30 gal+) not as hospital but for a second house for the victims.  
-

Maybe I'll go to a place like Pet Smart and pick from their incredibly random 'misc. africans' tank. LOL.

A total NO-NO never buy assorted africans.
- Yellow labs don't hide... do they? Mine are all over the place in 5 different tanks.

[darkdep]

My yellow labs don't hide either.

[Mettle]

Well, in terms of the Africans.

I'm not sure what I want to do anymore.

There are three options...

Option 1: A more peaceful Tang set-up with some variety to it. I'm sure this would be more calming and peaceful. And since my 55 gal is by my desk, I think it might be good for when I go back to school in the fall. But may distract my studying.  :lol:

Option 2: Aggressive Malawis. I really like the albino zebras and kennyi. Are there any other species of these types? And how many could I cram into my 55 gallon? I've definitely heard that more fish - less aggression. And I have many options for filtration. Could go as heavy as two Fluval 404s (what I have on there now). I think that's fairly adequate... Any other suggestions for fish to go in with the two I've mentioned?

Option 3: Nigerian biotope set-up with kribs, African tetras and African butterfly fish.

I'm just not sure what I want! I think I'm leaning most towards the more aggressive malawi species.

And I was kidding about the 'assorted Africans' thing.

[kennyman]

Not sure why you want agression, But as Gvv mentioned less fish will give you more teritorial attitude. I have 7 total in a 55g and I have an agression problem. A trio of Kenyi and a trio +1 of P.elongatus. Thats the male P.e in my little icon over <----- there.

I thinhk its the hard way to do it, but keeping a colony of one species or two colonies of very differnt ones will give you a better biotype. I'm not one for the "50 fish in a glas box" approach personlay. But that is a personal choice you need to make. I try to stick with the natualized approach to my tanks. It adds a bit of fun for me.

I read last night that Peacoks are called "Utaka"  as opposed to Mbuna and they live in more open water between the reefs full of mbuna.  I also saw a picture of 'Nimbochromis livingstoni' and thout about the tank your trying to set up. Its listed as a preditory Utaka or peacock that east smaller fish. I am going to look it up on the net right now to learn about it myslef. It was really cool looking!

[artw]

FYI re Africans.
Do yourself a favour and buy WILD or G1 fish. At least you'll know where they came from and what they are exactly.
Only buy from reputable breeders. (ie ppl in this club). or the CRLCA.
Unless it came from Jody at Innes Als I wouldn't trust anything in a store.

[pegasus]

So true Art!
I'd go with G1/G2 fish as a beginner as they are least affected by unsuitable water parrameter and parrasites. The peacock group is already so much hybridized that it's getting hard to get true specimens. ....
What do you think of my red saulusi? To me it's like my Blue JackDempsey.

Jody did a 6 month stage in Malawi right?

[Mettle]

I'm not sure I feel comfortable buying fish from BA Innes after my last time in there...  :?

[kennyman]

I found a mailorder cichlid place based in Ontario if your looking for that kind of thing.

http://www.aquariumcents.com/index.htm

My P.e 'Bee' came from Superpet Merrivale I think. They were supodely f1 shiped in from E. Europe. Like I said they were $29 ea there, but I bought at "buy 2 get one free". Still that's about 3x the pice from this Cent$ place.

[darkdep]

Mettle:  Just out of curiousity, do you not have the option of simply ordering in stock (for yourself) from SuperPet's suppliers?

[Mettle]

No. I don't do the ordering and don't have a say in what gets ordered in...

[Mettle]

I think I really like peacocks. Would it be possible to do a variety of peacocks together? They're quite cool looking. Better than a lot of mbuna I think.