Chichlid community tank ....

tyler_medeiros · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 329 Location: Canada

What kind and how many chichlids can e put in about a 90 gallon tank.
any tanks stocks would be nice.
thanks

grnlemonade · Super Senior Member Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 1027

are you looking towards africans or south americans? and if africans, which lake?

tyler_medeiros · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 329 Location: Canada

I was thinking africans but i have no clue about which lake

tyler_medeiros · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 329 Location: Canada

ok i did some research and i like cichlids from lake Malawi and Tanganyika. i think thats the ones. I like Kribs and labithes.(spelling)

t_chelle16 · Moderator Joined: 22 Mar 2004 Posts: 3436

Most of the africans you'll find at LFS's are from Lake Malawi and most are mbuna. Some of the most commonly found species are: Labidochromis caeruleus, Pseudotropheus socolofi, P. acei, Melanochromis auratus, M. cyaneorhabdos, M. chipokae, M. johanni, Maylandia estherae, M. crabro, M. lombardoi, M. greshakei, M. zebra OB mbuna, M. callainos, Labeotropheus fuelleborni, Aulonacara hybrid (OB peacock), Nimbochromis venustus, N. livingstonii. Not all of them make good tankmates but they're a good place to start your research.

Here's some pretty good tank recipes (although I don't agree with the total stocking numbers. For a 90, I'd go with around 30 mbuna.)
http://www.malawimayhem.com/articles_tank_recipes.shtml

-Chelle

tyler_medeiros · Member Joined: 06 Feb 2005 Posts: 329 Location: Canada

thanks chelle.
I took a look at that website and me and my girlfriend picked out some that we liked alot.

hooterhead · Member Joined: 03 Apr 2005 Posts: 86

http://www.cichlidrecipe.com/ is another good one to find different types of africans. i have an mbuna tank that's a 55. usually with mbuna's, you want more space per fish cause they are pretty aggressive. and in that 90 i wouldn't have more than 2 males. maybe 3 if you're feelin' lucky. they are very territorial and will fight to the death to defend it. they like a sandy substrate. aragonite if you go that way. i just have natural gravel in mine and they like it just fine. they need lots of caves and a high ph. holey limestone works good for both. keeps ph high (around 7.8-8.1 is good) and also gives them the caves they need.