Adding new africans and existing africans to 75g.

[John]

Hello. My name is John and I

have a quick question.......I have 3 yellow labs and 3 johannii and have recently purchased a 75g

aquarium and have had it up and running for about a week. (Added Bio- spira to quicken the cycling

process.) I would like to know if I should add the 6 africans and their new tankmates together or

can I add the 6 and add the new ones over a period of a week? I am thinking of getting at least 4

to 6 more yellows, 6 female johannii, I male psuedotropheus sp. Acei and 2 females and 1

Labeotropheus trewavasae, 1 male and two female. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
I

have been in the hobby for the past 30 years and this is my first foray into african

cichlids!! I usually kept south american species and have even succesfully bread

angelfish.
Thank you.
John

[fishmaven]

<!--quoteo

(post=1841:date=Jul 29 2006, 09:41 AM:name=John)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John @

Jul 29 2006, 09:41 AM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1841"><{POST_SNAPBACK}

></a></div><div class='quotemain'>Hello. My name is John and I have a quick

question.......I have 3 yellow labs and 3 johannii and have recently purchased a 75g aquarium and

have had it up and running for about a week. (Added Bio- spira to quicken the cycling process.) I

would like to know if I should add the 6 africans and their new tankmates together or can I add the

6 and add the new ones over a period of a week? I am thinking of getting at least 4 to 6 more

yellows, 6 female johannii, I male psuedotropheus sp. Acei and 2 females and 1 Labeotropheus

trewavasae, 1 male and two female. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.
I have been in the

hobby for the past 30 years and this is my first foray into african cichlids!! I usually

kept south american species and have even succesfully bread angelfish.
Thank you.


John</div>
I'd wait until you have the group and add them

all at the same time otherwise you'll have one bully take over the tank thumping on the current

mob and any additions. I've had better success using more than the proposed number (24) of fish

you've listed. I find they do better when crowded.

Place a mostly flat rock

somewhere horizontally within the tank. They'll share the breeding spot. I'd also provide

plenty of cover for females carrying eggs to elude the males. There hasn't been much response

on a topic I submitted on breeder colonies. I'd recommend using 2 males to 5 females on each of

your colonies to maximize production of fry. Watch the Acei or select one smaller than your other

males. They tend to be more aggressive than the others you've listed.

BTW, although

Bio-spira seems beneficial it's a gamble to rely ONLY on that. If you have a tank with multiple

filters (I'd ALWAYS use more than 1 filter on a 75G tank) use one of those on your new tank

while it's getting settled. The filter you were going to use could be put on the established

tank until the filter is seeded.

When adding a new tank to your fishroom it's best

to put the filter you plan to use on the new tank on an established tank first. I know it's not

what most people do. Most people buy the new tank first, then the accessories. ACA people should

know... you build the lake before you buy the boat. Dan

[JustRon]

I agree with the above

comments. If you cannot do that, just be sure to do a water change BEFORE adding new fish to the

established tank. I also move all of the rocks to new locations when I do add new fish. To me it

seems to throw off the territorial problems I have experienced if I did not move the rocks

around.

[John]

I have already seeded the HOT

filter that I am using by starting it in the 29! (I am using a marineland 350 biowheel and a

rena xp3 canister filter.) What I have decided to do is to add the yellows first and bring the rest

later, in about a week. I have already bought some more terracing rock to add to the structure when

I get my order in next tuesday. The lfs that I purchase told me that I could add the yellows first

but the rest would have to added in bulk so that there are no territory squabbles. So at this time

I have 8 yellows ranging in size from 1 inch to 2 inches. The johannii males will probably be taken

down to 2 and 6 females added , but this will happen with the other 6 if I decide to go with the

Acei. Are there any other africans, malawis that would be suitable than the Acei?

[julian]

<!--quoteo(post=1853:date=Jul

29 2006, 06:46 PM:name=John)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John @ Jul 29 2006, 06:46

PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> (index.php?act=findpost&pid=1853)</div><div

class='quotemain'>I have already seeded the HOT filter that I am using by starting

it in the 29! (I am using a marineland 350 biowheel and a rena xp3 canister filter.) What I

have decided to do is to add the yellows first and bring the rest later, in about a week. I have

already bought some more terracing rock to add to the structure when I get my order in next

tuesday. The lfs that I purchase told me that I could add the yellows first but the rest would have

to added in bulk so that there are no territory squabbles. So at this time I have 8 yellows

ranging in size from 1 inch to 2 inches. The johannii males will probably be taken down to 2 and 6

females added , but this will happen with the other 6 if I decide to go with the Acei. Are there

any other africans, malawis that would be suitable than the Acei?</div><!--

QuoteEEnd-->

Hi John....It is a good idea to mix species with similar temperaments.....I

have some ps. yellow tail acei in my tank as well, and they are getting along with my other

pseudotropheus species, ps. flamebacks, quite well. The important thing is that they have the same

temperaments....go to cichlid-forum.com. That's the place I go to research the temperamets of

the different african species...they have the most african species profiles for quick reference

than most of the other sites.....try to mix mbuna species with each mbuna species containg both

sexes....If there is only 1 male per say of the yellow tail acei, and another species containing a

complete male/female colony of another mbuna type variety...there is a chance that the ps. acei

will get lonely, and may hybridze with the other ps. species. I am talking about the malawi

pseudotropheus flameback and not the lake victorian flameback......there are many species being

called flamebacks......mbuna are very territorial so make sure that you have many territories in

your new tank.......best of luck with your new tank....Julian