Hi all,
Great website! I have had several tanks in the past. But since the 9/11 thing i have been deployed several places. My last takn was a very pretty 30 gal dwarf tank, which was left to my wife's control. It was well planted with driftwood and one male double red apisto. with 3 females. and a pair of dwarf bristlenose plecos. After a couple months of only calling once a month my wife said she cleaned the tank. And from what i gathered she did a 99 percent water change...ACK NOOOOO was my thought from afganistan. Well she said she saw several baby plecos and some white dots in a small flower pot. We all know what happened then. Death too all, even the plants. Well i cam back to the real world to see goldfish in my tank..which i wasnt to happy with. She stated she wanted color. Blah....color those apisto are a real site. Ok anyways now I'm out of the military and have aquired a 55 gal tank, just bought a canister filter and stand and working on the substrate and decor. My thoughta are of sand or agroite(sp) and maybe a piece of plexie(sp) glass with rocks glued for the back wall, so i have caves all the way too the top. Also will or going to try a inline heater.
Now too my thought of selection for Fish. HMmm wife wants color..was thinking Fronts ,maybe 3.... Blue Dolphins also 3....and a couple peacocks . Was thinking maybe a couple yellow lamps but not sure.
Is this possible, i have keep several types of cichlids before amd I'm always making sure before purchase they are going to be ok. If possible

Any suggestions will be gladly taken.
Oh and the Mr. Sonic is because I'm a proud of a Sonic Drive In, here in NC, anyone want to come by and chat let me know

Your Curious Friendly Fish watcher,
Stephen

Hi and welcome back!
The 55 gallon is way too small for the large species such as frontosa or blue dolphin. Aulonocara, Sciaenochromis, Copadichromis, and some less aggressive mbuna are good starting points. With a little homework you should be able to put together an amazing colourful collection of malawis.
Steve

thanks Steve,
But was going to buy small and use the 55 gal as a grow out tank, while i buy a 125 gal

I have kept the frontosa in a 125 gal (group of 6) along with a group of synodontis multi's. And have also had few moorii over the years but never in the same tank as frontosa. Both species are fairly peaceful on their own. I can't coment on the combination of frontosa/moorii as far as compatability goes. I know alot of people mix the species from from the 2 lakes Malawi/Tanganyka with success.

Anyone else?

Steven,
Wow didnt even think about them being from different Lakes, I mean i knew they were but it didnt register. Thanks for the input. I just don't want to go to a mbuma tank. Don't want a whole lot of aggression. Well and i wanted some with different shapes.
Stephen

Hey Mr. Sonic, welcome to ACF!!

From one veteran to another, thank you for protecting our country.

Have kept both C. frontosa and C. moorii, although not together. I do however have a few thoughts on the combo.

Would imagine that they would be fine together until adulthood. At this point I believe that if the C. moorii start spawning, they might be too aggressive for the more laid back C. frontosa. It would all depend though on the individual fish and might end up working out. Just going by how my dominant male C. moorii was.

The apisto tank sounds like it was really cool and glad to see you are back in the hobby.

Crowned,
Hello and thanks... And I didn't mind doing it..I think we all should at some point in time serve in the military to help our country.
And yes I loved my apisto tank...was able to get them from my LPS, which I almost bought but didnt, I;m such a fool.
So it is possible to combine them...hmm maybe until they get bigger which then I will have to move both to a bigger tank. Well that will not be a big problem since we will soon be buying a house here in NC and looking for one with a basement. My wife has ok'ed me on having a fish room. And will be able to keep the haps in the 55 gal for show and my bigger ones for grow. But she likes the Fronts and morii. So for I am husband I there for listen we all know who rules the house. And once I get the fish room will will have my dwarf cichlids back.
Also anyone have any fronts or Blue dolphins let me know.
Stephen

Welcome aboard Stephen!

I keep a few kinds of fronts Thinking of letting one of the colonies go as well...

I am jealous of you, you get to have a Sonic. I keep staring at their commercials longingly ... even looked into what one needed for a franchise, too bad I'm millions short at the moment

Anyway, welcome aboard... glad to have ya.

Hello Heather,
And thanks But I'm not A 100 percent owner yet, just 40 percent but thats not too bad to me.
Maybe in a couple years I can purchase A couple units so I dont have too work as much as I do. And When you speack of a colony How many is that..like 2 or 3 males with 5 or 6 females?
So when I get a colony and have babies how hard is it to find people that want them.. Not sure if I'm ready for that many yet but possible. But if you have fry let me know.
After reading these posts I think I have my wife understanding we cant have both types of fish. But possibly having a couple small fronts in a 55 gal tank will be ok. Just for a grow out tank.
Fish watcher
Stephen