Hey there! Im new to the Forum, and also to cichlids. my husband and I bought our first cichlid about a month and a half ago and loved him so much that we bought more, and moved them from our 20 gallon to a brand new 55 gallon. We will be adding more, so far there are 4 of them in there, a Livingstonii, electric blue and yellow, and an Acei. We like the cichlids from lake Malawi (obviously) and are looking for anyone that has some names of other fish that we can research and add to our tank. nothing tooooo aggressive though, our stonii was stressed a few weeks ago when we had our Kenyi in there with him, so we had to move Kenyi to the 20 gal. I've taken a liking to the convicts, my husband likes the bumblebee and the peacocks. any feedback would be great, thanks guys!!

Hi and welcome to the forum!

a 55 is a decent sized tank that you could have plenty of options with when it comes to africans. the important thing to consider is compatibility amongst breeds.

while i have seen it done, i would try to avoid mixing africans with any sa/ca cichlids and this includes the convicts.

Labeotropheus fuelleborni
Labidochromis sp. "Hongi"
Labidochromis caeruleus (Kakusa)
Melanochromis cyaneorhabdos
Melanochromis johannii
Metriaclima callainos (OB)
Metriaclima lombardoi

are a few that you could look into. while each and all vary in their level of aggression, most of this will be determined by the m/f count and the aquascaping that you may have within your tank.

I hope this helps a bit..

Good luck on your hunt for a new breed.

Ps. you may want a few more acei like 3 perhaps..as the school nicely and with the 4 ft length on your tank they would be fun to watch.

oops sorry did not see that you had moved a Kenyi out of that tank..ok scratch that..reverse that..forget I mentioned the kenyi...lol

Thanks for the input! ive looked into the ones that you've mentioned, i really have to get used to the latin names!! i added a few more tankmates to the aquarium the other day and everything seems to be peaceful.
2 Mainganos
1 Axelrodi (silveryblue body with striking yellow fins, theres a faint striping pattern also) when i looked this one up i got a bunch of pictures that looked nothing like the one i have thats why i gave the discription
1 Elongatus

those are the new guys that joined my yellow lab, electric blue, livingstonii and acei
the tank is really looking nice, but i would like to add another lab, and a red or orange species to make the tank "pop". adding some more acei's wouldnt hurt neither, he is the smallest in the tank right now and has taken a liking to my elongatus for some reason. if anyone knows of a great bright coloured redish african cichlid please let me know! until then im going to keep researching and checking out pics!!

You could look into red zebras, or cherry red zebras. I believe their proper name is Metriaclima Estherae. They're reddish in color and are a pretty peaceful fish (IME at least).

Oh, and you should post some pics of your fish!

yes! i've had my eye on the red zebras! one other thing... while i was browsing through some of this posted pictures here, i can across a gorgeous cichlid i hope someone will be able to tell me what it is... its black and purple striped.. absolutely beautiful fish! i left a comment and havnt had the chance to see if the poster replied. i will check now. im charging my camera now to get some shots of my "babies" i need to get some pics now before they get big and i miss out on all their " baby pictures" LOL

awww... it is a Pseudotropheus demasoni and i hear they are an aggresive fish... shame. i really like him, but i dont want to stress my babies out

Congrats on the new additions!!

Looking forward to the pics

well i took the pics and tried to upload them, but it wouldnt work for me. said exceeded pixel something or other. i dont have time right now to figure it out but i will try to get them up as soon as i can!

my camera takes really crappy pics so until i get used to it and figure the stupid thing out these will have to do. i hope this link works!


http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2192...003&l=e37c1

As far as the Demasoni go, I wouldn't sweat it if you put in just one. I have a 72gal tank w/ a large mixture of fish, convicts, small peacocks, frontosa, acei, small south americans, and you guessed it, one demasoni. In this mixture, with only the front resembling him (in that it's stripped/dark) he is quite peaceful. All of the fish are in the ~1.5-3.5inch range.

As for new fish, I was thinking about your 20gal. Ever thought of trying the shellies from Tang?

never heard of them! i'll look it up though. im not sure what im going to do with that tank yet. i figured i could get a demasoni if he is smaller than the other fish, but then i have to think about my stonii eating him. i actually saw my stonii "play dead" for a little maingano that stowed away with the bigger one that i bought. i tried to get him out but he was too small and quick for me. to say the least Stonii got him during the night, poor little guy...