Tropical Fish Keeping banner

Stocking my new 75 gallon questions. Please help!.!. :-)

2K views 5 replies 3 participants last post by  CapeCodClownfish 
#1 ·
After about a year of research, I'm finally ready to set up my first cichlid display tank.
My little circle of life will exist inside a 75 gallon wavefront aquarium with dual canister filters and single hang on the back getup.. The lighting will be pretty standard with a simple fluorescent. I plan to do weekly water changes keeping the water buffered as close to 8.4 as I can get it. I plan to make my own buffer from a mix of marine aquarium salt, Epsom salts and bicarbonate.

I plan to build a rock wall and pile of rock on top of a bed of crushed coral sand with hundreds of hiding spots and lovebird getaways, including a few broken ceramic pots.
Now is where the real research came in. What to stock this puddle with? I had no idea about cichlids a year ago. They are mind blowing! Long story short, here's the stocking list I have come up with. Each species will have a 'pod' of 5 fish. These pods will be made up of 1 male and 4 females. I have tried to make this list of cichlids as compatible as biologically possible. I'm wondering what people who have kept cichlids for years think of this combination..

- Labidochromis Caeruleus

- Idotropheus Sprengerae

- Pseudotropheus Saulosi

- Cynotilapia Afra

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Thank you in advance..

:)
Posted via Mobile Device
 
See less See more
#6 ·
Sorry Vincenzo, I'm new to cichlids and honestly don't know the "trade" names of anything.. I know that the Labidichromus I'm looking at is called : Lions Den, Electric yellow, yellow labs... It's too complicated for me to try to keep track of. To be perfectly honest, I find it MUCH easier to figure out what is compatible by using scientific names. It's easy to see which species can make hybrids and should not be kept together. Basically, I am trying to keep things as simple as possible in my mind. For me scientific names say too much about the animal not to know it, the trade name means approximately zippo....
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#3 · (Edited)
Yellow labs, Rusty, Saulosi, afra - These are the common names.

Nothing wrong with that mix except the Saulosi tend to do better in a species only tank and being nearly the same color as the labs see them as a threat sometimes and show aggression.

Instead perhaps of the saulosi, look at psedutropheus acei. You have nearly the same setup that I have in my 75g tank and all my fish get along with no aggression.

No need to buffer the tank, they will be happy in a pH of around 7.8 which is where my tank is, never buffered at all. Instead of crushed coral, although nothing wrong with using that at all, perhaps look at quikcrete play sand from home depot. A 50lb bag is around $5-8.

Stocking ratio is absolutely perfect although not always possible to achieve from a fish store. It takes someone with good knowledge of cichlids to be able to tell male and females and they are not always separated. Would you consider ordering fish online? If so I will PM you a link to an excellent seller / breeder in the states who will almost certainly be able to sell you males and females.

Add some BN plecos or synodontis Multipunctus as bottom feeders, about 3-5 and it will be perfect. Filtration is a not a problem either, cannot go wrong with over filtering a cichlid tank, I have a Rena XP4 and Fluval FX5 on my 75g as well as a 15g wet/dry sump filter.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Skeletor18
#4 ·
Yellow labs, Rusty, Saulosi, afra.

Nothing wrong with that mix except the Saulosi tend to do better in a species only tank and being nearly the same color as the labs see them as a threat sometimes and show aggression.

Instead perhaps of the saulosi, look at psedutropheus acei. You have nearly the same setup that I have in my 75g tank and all my fish get along with no aggression.



Thanks for the tip. It was actually a coin flip between saulosi and acei, so i might as well go with acei. My filtration wil be 2 Rena XP2s and an aquclear 70.
As for buffering, my tap comes out at 7.2, so I think I'm going to need to buffer, or use coral sand.. ?
Posted via Mobile Device
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top