# Help setting up a 90 gal cichlid tank



## wondermonkey (Mar 6, 2010)

Hello all, 
I am looking for some advice on setting up a 90 gal cichlid tank. 
Currently the tank is planted and stocked with the usual assortment of tropical fish, but I am looking for a new challenge so I thought I’d try some cichlids. It is being disassembled this weekend.
I’ve never done cichlids before so I have no preference for which lake the fish come from as of yet, Hence I am having some trouble figuring out how to stock it. There are just too many options and different opinions out there!!!
The only preferences I have are that the fish get no larger than 5”-6” (the wife does not like large fish staring at her) and they are not terribly aggressive. This is a show tank so I’m not looking to breed fish, I just want good colour and interesting behaviour.
Here is what I was thinking of stocking the tank with:
-	Neolamprologous Brichardi
-	Yellow labs
- Some sort of Julidochromis
-	And possibly some Demonsi (min. 10 of these I have been told)

Would these all get along decently in my tank? What kind of numbers for each fish would people suggest? 

I am open to any other stocking suggestions anyone else might have. If you have fry you’re looking to sell I’d also be interested in chatting!
Thanks for your help!

steve


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## Y2KGT (Jul 20, 2009)

Hi,
If you're switching to cichlids I highly recommend you bookmark one of the best cichlid websites out there which is Cichlid-Forum and read as much as you can.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/index.php

If you're looking for a quick answer to your question I'd recommend you read the article below which is a cookie cutter recipe for a 75 gallon tank which is very similar to your 90 gallon setup.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/cookie_cutter_75g.php

If you're looking for a less aggressive setup I would say stay away from mbuna however if you also don't want your fish to breed then you'll want only males. An all male Malawi Peacock and Hap tank is an amazing site however they will still try to breed with each other and that will lead to fighting and eventually deaths.

From my experience I would recommend a group of Labidochromis caeruleus (yellow labs) and a small group of Placidochromis sp. "Phenochilus Tanzania". You'll get that blue and yellow look that most people find beautiful.
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=1218
http://www.cichlid-forum.com/profiles/species.php?id=713

I also recommend you only feed a top quality food such as New Life Spectrum Thera A in order to avoid Malawi Bloat.
--
Paul


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## littleolme (Feb 21, 2012)

You may find that many people will tell you to stick to one lake or the other. While this is sometimes viewed as rather "purist", some of the fish just aren't that compatible. While I wouldn't say that you have to stay exclusively with one lake or the other, make sure you do your research on dietary and environmental requirements as well as temperment and behaviour. For example, a pair of spawning Brichardi will become extremely territorial and may kill your other fish as they try to take over the tank. They are also carnivores, which won't work overly well with Malawi mbunas, many of which are vegetarian.

With the size tank you have and your desire for lots of personality with good colouration, I'd recommend either going for an all male peacock or mixed hap/peacock tank (10-12 4-6" fish) or an mbuna mix, keeping to a max of 3-4 species with a 1:4 M:F ratio (depending on the species, demasoni are recommended to be 1:12ish m:f). Either way, I agree with Y2KGT ... spend some time reading through cichlid-forums and make an educated choice. As a side note, Placidochromis sp. ''Phenochilus Tanzania'' grows into an awfully big fish for a 4' tank.


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## 1oscar (Apr 14, 2010)

start our with the smaller mbuna species the add a few peacocks to the mix check out the profile section on cichlid-forum for info on the various species..all the best with the tank..also look at the tank of the month section on the forum for aquascape ideas


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## 1oscar (Apr 14, 2010)

littleolme said:


> You may find that many people will tell you to stick to one lake or the other. While this is sometimes viewed as rather "purist", some of the fish just aren't that compatible. While I wouldn't say that you have to stay exclusively with one lake or the other, make sure you do your research on dietary and environmental requirements as well as temperment and behaviour. For example, a pair of spawning Brichardi will become extremely territorial and may kill your other fish as they try to take over the tank. They are also carnivores, which won't work overly well with Malawi mbunas, many of which are vegetarian.
> 
> With the size tank you have and your desire for lots of personality with good colouration, I'd recommend either going for an all male peacock or mixed hap/peacock tank (10-12 4-6" fish) or an mbuna mix, keeping to a max of 3-4 species with a 1:4 M:F ratio (depending on the species, demasoni are recommended to be 1:12ish m:f). Either way, I agree with Y2KGT ... spend some time reading through cichlid-forums and make an educated choice. As a side note, Placidochromis sp. ''Phenochilus Tanzania'' grows into an awfully big fish for a 4' tank.


to many females and another tank will be needed for the population growth lol


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## Explorer guy (Sep 12, 2011)

I have a 120 with an assortment of africans. I have roughly 40 fish in my tank mixed with malawi and tang. and I have never experienced an aggression issue in over a year. My fish are now breeding (which is fine with me!) and currently have around 20 fry (from what I can see!) that have grown to a half inch in size now... mostly blue dolphins and yellow labs. I have plenty of rocks and wood and artificial plants to give plenty of hiding places, which cichlids like. They say a trick to avoid aggression is to have a well-stocked tank so they basically lose each other in a crowd to reduce fighting. I've not had an issue since I went to my 120 over a year ago. I've seen that live plants and cichlids don't usually fair well- they are distructive to plants. With my artificials, I may have a floater once every 3 months- but I have a good deep base of substrate so they are anchored deep. Only when the fish do their digging routine wil one occassionally get loose, or my 10" pleco knocks it out. I've had great luck with my mix. Appearance wise my tank looks very amazon- as it too is a show tank in my condo. In regards to your concern of fish getting too large/your wife's dislike of large fish looking at her..... keep in mind you can always sell larger fish back- I've done this at Big Al's- they usually give me half the retail price of the fish on an in-store credit. I had a bunch of larger oscars a while back, and I made about $50 from them. It'a all about trial and error with this hobby! Sometimes something works for someone and doesn't work for the next guy. You have a good sized tank that gives you a little more flexibility... in the end...it just costs money anyway!!!


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## des (Jul 30, 2011)

You received some very good advice so far with regards to fish selection and where to go to get more information.

To touch on the actual tank aquascape, cichlids in general love sand and rocks. Go on YT and watch some videos of cichlids in their natural habitat to get an idea. Start with this:






At the end of the day, you will be spending most of the time in front of your tank so you can add the decorations that you like. I personally like to try a mimic their natural environment.

Good luck, ask questions, and keep us updated with your progress and choices.

David


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