Show Us The Different Species of African Rift Lake Cichlids..

[badisbadis101]

I redid my 55 Gallon recently, as a semi biotope (Only non Malawi fish are 2 common plecos), as well as added a black background. I am very happy with the way it looks now, so i though i might as well share

(BTW, the first picture is the tank after adding sand, and the second picture is of the fish while i was redoing the tank. They got a vacation to the good old cooler for a couple days)

 

[Red Devil]

very beautiful fish and you did a great job with set up...i know how the sand makes the water cloudy, took me awhile to totally clear it up...nice rocks

 

[zennzzo]

I like how the sand has undulations...must not be alot of current in there, or the sand would flattten out...very nice effect...

 

[badisbadis101]

I like how the sand has undulations...must not be alot of current in there, or the sand would flattten out...very nice effect...

There is quite a bit of current coming from the power filter outflow, it is just that now that there is sand, ALL of my fish dig, even the babies, so the tank never stays flat for long

Liz - thanks for the compliments And yes, the water took a Loooong time to clear up. I redid it on tuesday, and it finally got clear yesterday

 

[badisbadis101]

thanks again It has cleared up completely now, so it looks a bit better, but i havent gotten any more pictures. The large rocks were kinda scary to put in the tank, as i was always afraid i would drop one. Luckily, i didnt

And in case anyone was wondering, here is the stocklist. All the fish were bred by me, except for the plecos. Their parents were either returned to the store or put out to my pond for the summer. Anyway, here it is:
2x Common Plecostomus
7x Yellow Lab
17x Orange Zebra Cichlid
1x Melanochromis chipokae
I understand that is too many fish, but they are all young now, and the stock shall be thinned out when they get bigger.

 

[mike dunagan]

Hay i just got a flameback like this one but he wouldn't stop chasing my earth eater , so i put him in his own tank. what can i do.

Create a new thread about it. You will get more traffic about your problem. Include stock list, tank size, and pic of tank if you can.

 

[Red Devil]

thanks again It has cleared up completely now, so it looks a bit better, but i havent gotten any more pictures. The large rocks were kinda scary to put in the tank, as i was always afraid i would drop one. Luckily, i didnt

And in case anyone was wondering, here is the stocklist. All the fish were bred by me, except for the plecos. Their parents were either returned to the store or put out to my pond for the summer. Anyway, here it is:
2x Common Plecostomus
7x Yellow Lab
17x Orange Zebra Cichlid
1x Melanochromis chipokae
I understand that is too many fish, but they are all young now, and the stock shall be thinned out when they get bigger.

It may end up being too many..but africans are actually better in a more crowded invironment with in reason.. but theres less aggression when their are more of them.. but also that will depend on the ratio of males to females... my 55 gal is definitly at the peak in numbers of fish... i have no problems with any of them long term.. 2.5 years together now and always a few surviving babies add to numbers... but i do very frequent water changes and feed well.... and have lots of hide out and nooks and crannies so now one gets chased to death,.. so time will tell for you and then you can make the ajustments as you see fit..

 

[Red Devil]

adding a few more pics..get your pics up everybody...we enjoy looking...

 

[mike dunagan]

A sneak peek of what is to come... check out my INDY DIY GUYS to find out more!

 

[badisbadis101]

It may end up being too many..but africans are actually better in a more crowded invironment with in reason.. but theres less aggression when their are more of them.. but also that will depend on the ratio of males to females... my 55 gal is definitly at the peak in numbers of fish... i have no problems with any of them long term.. 2.5 years together now and always a few surviving babies add to numbers... but i do very frequent water changes and feed well.... and have lots of hide out and nooks and crannies so now one gets chased to death,.. so time will tell for you and then you can make the ajustments as you see fit..

Yeah, my tank has always been overstocked, even if i get rid of most of them, because they breed so rapidly. I have some adults in my pond right now who will return to this tank for the winter - 1x Female bumblebee, 2x Yellow Labs (Pair) and 3x Orange Zebras. I am pretty sure that with these guys, and the ones already in there, it would be fully stocked, correct? I would also like to add a Male bumblebee and a couple female chipokaes, so some of the orange zebras and yellow labs will probably have to go, i would think. But thanks for the advice


Back on topic, you guys' tanks and fish look great What is your stocklist on your 55, liz?