Finally fish!!!

molliefan09

so i let my tank run a natural cycle and for the past week i have been sitting at 0ppm ammonia, 0ppm nitrites and 10ppm nitrates. My wonderful boyfriend got me a gift certificate to my LFS and i went and got some fish to stock my new 55 gal tank!!! i got 3 auratus cichlid and 3 albino zebras. i have already introduces the auratus to the 55 and the other three are in my QT tank untill the auratus get comfy in their new home.

mollies

Just my opinion here, your auratus should be added to the last of your list, or all at once. They tend to get very agresive. The male will turn black then they take over the tank. They dont get big, 3 to 4 inches is all, but they can own half of a 150 gallon to them selfs. I have 6 of them, 1 male 5 females in a 55, but thats it they were in my other tank but they got to agresive......... Sorry just thoght id let you know. Good choice on fish tho......Do you plan on geting any more to go with them besides the albinos?

molliefan09

yes, i REALLY wanted some yellow labs but they were out of the size i wanted. all the fish i got yesterday are anywhere from 0.5-1.0 inches. i think what ill do is go ahead and add the albinos in today. i still think i may get the labs but im nervous because i wanted to add them first. let me know what you think about this......if i do gt the labs........remove the auratus put them in my QT rearrange the tank add the labs then reintroduce the auratus????? BUt i also like the other blue and cherry zebras.

rrcoolj

As mentioned be careful about auratus. I don't have any personal experience but I have heard horror stories of a male wiping out entire fish tanks fully stocked. They are mean little suckers point blank. That being said, if you want to kep them maybe labs aren't the best tank mates. They are almost complete opposites and keep to themselves. Another thing is they might get along for the longest time but once they hit fishy puberty and males start to get cocky then its armegedon. You can try it with the labs but I highly reccomend you either add more fish or switch out the auratus for something else, leaning toward the second one.

My personal opinion...

molliefan09

yeah.......ive done some thinking and i think i have decided to switch them out....i hate to seem them go because they are beautiful fish but i REALLY want the labs and i dont want to put any fish in harms way

rrcoolj

It will be hard giving them away but there are a TON more fish that will work better. Ypu have alot of fish to choose from.

molliefan09

i know, but i can give them back to the LFS and get something else.........along with the labs i also like the other color varieties of the zebras as well as the rusties.......

rrcoolj

with zebras hibridization is an issue so i would stay away from them. Rusties are a great choice and so are acie if you can find them but there are many others.

molliefan09

thanks for the input!!!

rrcoolj

No problem! There is nothing more entertaining than a fully stocked mbuna tank.