The 55 gallon.

[The Cichlid Keeper]

I assume this is where I post information about my tank and what fish I'm interested in keeping. I currently have a 55 gallon rectangle tank as stated above. I have some experience in keeping a 36 gallon bow front tank that had four African Cichlids- Pearl Cobalt Blue Zebra Cichlid, Maingano, Blue Dragon Blood Peacock Cichlid Male, and Strawberry Peacock Cichlid male, this tank I started out keeping African Cichlids. The Maingano wasn't the best fish to put in that tank. My second African Cichlid tank will be housed in this 55 gallon, and I have 3 Mainganos (all have egg spots and two of them have been chased around to the point of yellowing fins, Help!) and a Jewel Cichlid. I want to know if this is where I can start asking questions on what fish I would like to add in there.

[Slaphppy7]

@Rocksor and all other cichlid keepers here, input would be appreciated

[The Cichlid Keeper]

Now I think I might just go with a good ol' Mbuna tank since I ended up getting two Auratus Cichlids last night. Auratus and Maingano will likely crossbreed, as I saw some behavior that resembled the two species swimming around each other in circles. Anyone want hybrids?

[The Cichlid Keeper]

Other than keeping Mbunas in the tank, Aulonocaras or Haps might be able to fit in the tank as long as they are larger than the Mbunas. For that reason, I think that the Mbuna Cichlids will be too scared to attack something much larger than it, unless they are Demasoni. Any thoughts on Peacocks in the same 55 with Mbunas as long as the Peacocks are way larger than the aggressive fish?

[The Cichlid Keeper]

One more thing I really want to do- Keep a ten inch Oscar in the tank with my African Mbuna Cichlids!! I am totally aware this is a crazy idea. I want to try this out once. If the Oscar grows too big, it will be re-homed.

[The Cichlid Keeper]

I don't think I'll go with the Oscar.

[The Cichlid Keeper]

I should mention that I tried to put a smaller Maingano with the larger one I used to have. That big grump killed the small one in the fifty five being the only Cichlids in the tank.

[The Cichlid Keeper]

So, I now have in my tank: One Jewel/Lifalili Cichlid, Three Mainganos, Two Auratus (Golden), One Electric Yellow Mbuna, One Albino Bristle noes Pleco, One Black Kuhli Loach. All of them are under 2.5 inches and I would like to throw in immediately in this list:
x1 Auratus
x10 small Red Zebra Cichlids, I want to breed these so I want to get one Male and four females
x1 Super Red Top Hongi
x1 Red Top Zebra Cichlid sp. "Nakatenga"
x6 Rusty Cichlids
x5 White-Tailed Acei
x1 Afra Cichlids
x1 Pearl Cobalt Blue Cicale and 4 females, hlid
x1 Elongatus Cichlid (Possibility)
x1 Kennyi Cichlid.

There are twenty eight fish on this list, and I will have about 35 "3" inch fish. This is a little bit more than twenty 6" adults. In that, I wish to do two 35% water changes weekly while having two Emperor Marineland filters on.
I am going to introduce these fish all at the same time when I have enough money and they will be about 2 inches when I buy them all. Are there any flaws in this list? I would like to breed a few of these fish and keep one of some of these species. I want to get two female Acei.

[Boundava]

The kuhli loaches are highly social fish, I know I mentioned that before. They also come from 100% different water parameters; preferring soft acidic waters full of tannins and leaves. Same with the pleco. They hail from softer waters than the cichlids you have and want to get.

If you are looking for something with a serpentine shape you should look into African spiny eels. They don't like a lot of dithering fish, so should be OK with cichlids-so long as they can't be eaten by them. Like I said I am not at all familiar with cichlids other than the fact the majority on your list

I think you have too many large cichlids of different aggression levels for a 55 gallon tank, even with extra filtration this doesn't equal the space and territory the fish need to thrive in your tank. Many of these fish have a size of 5-6". Yes its 38-ish fish but you cannot place so many large fish in a relatively small tank. They will need their space/territory and you stated you wanted some to breed which will just add more stress with aggressive parents and extra bioload. I think you may want to research the list some more and stick with either a few highly aggressive or some schools of medium aggression fish of a smaller size like the red zebras and even the acei.

x1 Auratus according to https://www.aquariumdomain.com/adSoc...ratus-cichlid/[B] these fish are highly aggressive and will take on fish twice their size, "just terrorize similar looking tank mates for fun"
x10 small Red Zebra Cichlids, I want to breed these so I want to get one Male and four females
x1 Super Red Top Hongi 6-7" and highly aggressive[B][B]
x1 Red Top Zebra Cichlid sp. "Nakatenga" 4-5" Harem fish of some aggression
x6 Rusty Cichlids 4" least aggressive mbuna cichlids, which will be bullied by more aggressive tank mates.
x5 White-Tailed Acei 7" peaceful mbuna cichlids that eat algae
x1 Afra Cichlids +/-4" aggressive
x1 Pearl Cobalt Blue Cicale and 4 females, hlida 6' fish of semi-aggressive nature[B][B]
x1 Elongatus Cichlid (Possibility) 5", mildly aggressive but aggressive to conspecies
x1 Kennyi Cichlid. 6" and aggressive

This information is easily researched and you need to ensure that the fish are compatible in other water parameters as well such as temp and pH. Many of these fish are just too big for a 55 gallon, regardless of how small they are when you buy them.


The pleco and kuhli loach should also be rehomed as the tank does not have the parameters they need. Not to mention the tank mates will be too aggressive if not to them, then in general - leaving for some stressed fish.

[Slaphppy7]

Excellent advice above.

Research is key.