Pseudotropheus saulosi in a 4' long shallow tank ?

[hazmat]

Hi guys,

Long time lurker here, especially the nutrition and diseases section. I'm looking to stock Pseudotropheus saulosi in a shallow tank measuring 48"x15"x12" or 48"x18"x12"(LxBxH). This would be my first time keeping African cichlids, my prior experiences were with Geophagus tapajos and discus fish.

I'm thinking of a species only tank and I can forego stocking male saulosi too, if it meant that I could go ahead with the build. An Eheim 2217 will take care of the filtration duties. I would like to know if this setup is doable with P.saulosi. I'm also open to other african cichlid suggestions for a shallow tank, albeit with a catch, the fish should be bright yellow. Looking forward to your inputs with this, thanks.

 

[DJRansome]

Absolutely doable, although saulosi are reported to be hard to come by ATM. Shoot for 3m:9f in the smaller tank for a single species. Because the tank has the 48" length, you could even do 2 species in the smaller tank and 3 species in the larger tank with 1m:4f of each. Cover well.

 

[hazmat]

Absolutely doable, although saulosi are reported to be hard to come by ATM. Shoot for 3m:9f in the smaller tank for a single species. Because the tank has the 48" length, you could even do 2 species in the smaller tank and 3 species in the larger tank with 1m:4f of each. Cover well.

Mate, very pleased to know that P.saulosi is doable, shame about the availability though. Will check with some local fish stores and report back. Could you give me some alternate stocking recommendations too ? Appreciate your help with this.

 

[DJRansome]

Really any mbuna that is good for a 55G is good for your 48x12 tank and any mbuna that is good for a 75G is good for your 48x18 tank. I usually do one less species in the shallower tank than I would otherwise.

Yellow labs, rusties for the 48x12. Cynotilapia.

Acei and others for the 48x18.

 

[phreeflow]

Leleupi

 

[hazmat]

Really any mbuna that is good for a 55G is good for your 48x12 tank and any mbuna that is good for a 75G is good for your 48x18 tank. I usually do one less species in the shallower tank than I would otherwise.

Yellow labs, rusties for the 48x12. Cynotilapia.

Acei and others for the 48x18.

Thanks for the recommendations, rusties look interesting. Will update on any new development.

Leleupi

I definitely saw them at my LFS, will take another look at them, thanks.

 

[coltiger1975]

These are one of my favourite mbuna, absolutely loved them. I only kept them in a species tank, quite comfortable in a 55 gallon. Originally 4 male and 9 females. This went down to just the 3 males. The fourth one was picked on I rehomed him to a friend that still has him. I found they bred real easy and always seemed to always have fry on the go. I was always able to find homes for them. Great fish

 

[hazmat]

It has been a while since my last post. Well, life happened, hence the delay with things. I've decided to get a 4' x 1.5' x 1' shallow tank (roughly 45 US gallons) and it should be home in a few days. I'm thinking of a hardscape heavy layout with river rocks and the tank will be filtered by an Eheim 2217.

As for the stocking, I have given up on my original plan of going with C.saulosi. Like DJRansome had mentioned in an earlier post, they have been very hard to find.

This leads me to yellow labs, which I find to be equally beautiful. This fish is available in my LFS and they are about 2.5". How many fish should I get, if it were a species only tank ? If I were to add another species, what should the stocking look like without overcrowding ? Yellow tail acei & P.socolofi are the other fishes that are readily available. I would love to hear your inputs about this, thanks.

 

[DJRansome]

Dave has the saulosi, I would still go with them. Socolofi a little on the aggressive side for a limited tank size.

 

[hazmat]

Dave has the saulosi, I would still go with them. Socolofi a little on the aggressive side for a limited tank size.

Mate, I'm not from the US and I could only find 3 C.saulosi in total with a popular online retailer here in India. A few fish stores that I had checked with in my home state don't have them. I will call some more retailers and try to source them. But, if this search for C.saulosi ends in vain, I would like to go with Yellow labs as they are readily available.

1) What should be the stocking were I to do only Yellow labs ?
2) What should be the stocking if I could do another species, say P.acei or rusties with the yellow labs ?

Tank size (LXBXH) - 4'x1.5'x1' - 45 US gallons
Filtration - 1 x Eheim 2217

Appreciate your help with this.