POWER77 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Hi everyone, I’m looking at setting up a new tank with male Peacocks / Haps and a few others. Looking at a stocking list of 44 and already have most of the fish as juvies from good quality sources, will be growing them out together in a 240L. I’m looking at buying a 450L this weekend so that will be where they all end up eventually. I have been keeping Africans for about 5 years now but mainly Tangs and Mbuna so any advice on the Haps or Peacocks would be greatly appreciated! Done a fair amount of research but any constructive criticism on the below list is welcome Stocking list: 1 - SUNSHINE PEACOCK 1 - KADANGO 1 - RED EMPRESS 1 - ELECTRIC BLUE 1 - TAIWAN REEF 1 - LEMON JAKE 1 - OTOPHARYNX LITHOBATES 1 - JACOBS FREIBERG 1 - DRAGONS BLOOD 1 - LWANDA 1 - AULONOCARA RUBY RED 10 - BLUE DOLPHINS 10 - DEMASONI 8 - ELECTRIC YELLOWS 5 - GIRAFFES I have everything on the above list except the Giraffe’s, Red Empress, Lithobates and Aulonocara Ruby Red. If anyone has any of these for sale or is keen to swap for Demasoni could you please PM me (any size is fine). Thanks in advance for the help Sam Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Have you tried pupuke aquarium for the peacocks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycoolmc Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 That many fish in a 450 is gonna be pretty crammed especially when the giraffes get big/breeding. I have done similar stockings in a 400, it looks cool but once you get a big tank like 800 plus you realise you really should have done that to begin with as they have room to get away from the aggressive guys:) Also I have found that peacocks are pretty shy when they are mixed with haps/mbuna so get wasted fins/sunken bellys from not getting much food Pretty sure Pupuke aquarium had Ruby Red's when I was there last week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted January 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Have you tried pupuke aquarium for the peacocks? Yeah was there today and got the Dragons blood and Lwanda am going back tomorrow to get the Lemon Jake. That many fish in a 450 is gonna be pretty crammed especially when the giraffes get big/breeding. I have done similar stockings in a 400, it looks cool but once you get a big tank like 800 plus you realise you really should have done that to begin with as they have room to get away from the aggressive guys:) Also I have found that peacocks are pretty shy when they are mixed with haps/mbuna so get wasted fins/sunken bellys from not getting much food Pretty sure Pupuke aquarium had Ruby Red's when I was there last week Hmm yeah I was looking at a 900L thats for sale but its just abit big for me at the moment. Do you think the 450 could be ok for a start? (could always upgrade later on). Do you think adding just one Giraffe male is a better idea then? Yeah I've read alot of people saying that the mix is just luck of the draw most of the time but was thinking the Dems should just focus on each other and Yellows and Dolphins are pretty chilled in my experience. Ok he just had Albino's when I was there today but will ask tomorrow, thanks for the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 I kept a 5ft 360l male hap peacock tank for about 4yrs with limited success. I would agree 40 odd fish in a 450l is pretty crammed. A lot of advice I received recommend 18-20 males in my 5ftr. In my experience it really is luck of the draw regarding stocking. My stock list was similar to yours without the dreeding groups of giraffes and dems. I would def recommend having spare tanks to remove fish as very rarely did everyone get along. Its just a case of removing fish that are trouble makers and replacing them till you get a good balance. All male tanks are a lot of work but well worth it if you can pull it off as they look awesome. If I was to do one again I would def get a 6ft tank at least they need that extra space. Most people say that it takes a couple of years before you can consider an all male tank a success, its well worth the time and effort imo. Not trying to put you off, these are just my opinions having run an all male tank for a while. Look forward to more updates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 Have you given consideration to just having just the peacocks and the smaller haps rather than mixing groups of fish with the individual peacock & haps? Once the fish in the groups start breeding there will be more aggression because mouth brooders with cross breed with anything else. The tank size would be fine if you were keeping just the peacocks & haps, but would recommend really good filtration Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 I agree, any females regardless of species is gonna cause aggression what's the dimension of the 450l? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted January 22, 2014 Report Share Posted January 22, 2014 All male tank would be nice. I would say if your 450L is long rectangular tank rather than cube shape you probably can get around with it. But some fish become pretty rare now like Red empress they used to be very popular and lots around. Especially a good line of Red Empress... :facepalm: I've been looking for some good quality and numbers of Red Empress for a while but still hardly to find any good ones. Let me know if you come across some good ones. :bggrn: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted January 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 If I cut the Yellows and Dems down to 1 male each ditch the Giraffes and cut the Dolphins to 5 that leaves me with 18 fish (IF I can get hold of the Ruby Red, Lithobates and Empress). Yeah everything i've read says it takes abit of tweaking to get it right and have plently of space for any trouble makers I agree, any females regardless of species is gonna cause aggression what's the dimension of the 450l? Tanks 1500L X 600H X 500W. Will be running 2x CF1200's to start with and maybe a spare Eheim 2012 i've got lying around to help with water flow. I've been looking for some good quality and numbers of Red Empress for a while but still hardly to find any good ones. Let me know if you come across some good ones. :bggrn: Seems like it's going to be hard to find any at the moment will just have to keep looking, but yeah I will let you know if I manage to find one. Also having trouble tracking down some Lithobates if anyone knows who's breeding them?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigfishhead Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 If I cut the Yellows and Dems down to 1 male each ditch the Giraffes and cut the Dolphins to 5 that leaves me with 18 fish (IF I can get hold of the Ruby Red, Lithobates and Empress). Yeah everything i've read says it takes abit of tweaking to get it right and have plently of space for any trouble makers Tanks 1500L X 600H X 500W. Will be running 2x CF1200's to start with and maybe a spare Eheim 2012 i've got lying around to help with water flow. Seems like it's going to be hard to find any at the moment will just have to keep looking, but yeah I will let you know if I manage to find one. Also having trouble tracking down some Lithobates if anyone knows who's breeding them?? I would suggest to go with 1500 X 50H X 60W instead of 60H X 50W. If you havent made that tank.. More space in Depth than height is important for Malawis.. they dont use much up space anyway mostly stay around bottom area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Pretty sure "likoma" on here was selling lithos on tm a while ago. Your tank is the same length and width as mine. I reckon you would be better off with 1 male dolphin any females in this setup will heighten aggression Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycoolmc Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Pretty sure "likoma" on here was selling lithos on tm a while ago. Your tank is the same length and width as mine. I reckon you would be better off with 1 male dolphin any females in this setup will heighten aggression Yeah Likoma seems to be the only one breeding them at the moment. I had plenty of empress for sale few months back but no one seemed to want them so stopped keeping the fry. Will start breeding them again if you guys are interested in fry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted January 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 I would suggest to go with 1500 X 50H X 60W instead of 60H X 50W. If you havent made that tank.. More space in Depth than height is important for Malawis.. they dont use much up space anyway mostly stay around bottom area. Unfortunately its one I'm looking at on Trademe so has to be 60H X 50W. I will definitely be upgrading in the future so this tank just needs to be big enough to house them for a year or so then will have another use for it. Pretty sure "likoma" on here was selling lithos on tm a while ago. Your tank is the same length and width as mine. I reckon you would be better off with 1 male dolphin any females in this setup will heighten aggression Thanks, PM sent. Just got the Lemon Jake yesterday and have already had to move him to another tank last night because the Lwanda was giving him a hard time. I think its because of the similar colouring as he doesn't bother the dragons blood or dolphins at all and seemed to be a pretty chilled fish until I added the Lemon Jake. What do you guys think my best option is, could try take the Lwanda back and see if I can swap for a smaller one that may be less dominant, or stick with him and try swap the Lemon Jake for another fish that's not so similar looking. Its worth mentioning that the Lwanda is probably 2cm bigger. I would really like to have both together in the same tank as they're awesome looking fish. But would hate to stick with this Lwanda and find out he picks on others later on (may be a case of this one just being abit of a bully). Has anyone else had any experience mixing the two?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted January 23, 2014 Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 You can mix luwanda and lemon jake together but lemon jakes are very laid back and don't create problems. You just need the luwanda to be smaller. Another issue is that you should not introduce just one fish on its own. you should try and introduce 3/4 and turn off the lights etc to ease the new fish in. What size tank are they in at the moment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted January 23, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2014 Ok thanks rcon, will try swap for a smaller fish. Yeah didn't introduce it properly, was thinking I might get away with it because the fish are small and thought it was a better option than the juvie Dems tank or mixed Mbuna. They're in a 240L for now (120l x 40h x 50w). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 My lwanda was a tyrant he had 3 peacocks backed into different corners of my tank and he wasnt the biggest. This was what frustrated me the most about all male tanks, I could never get the peacocks to settle I always had to remove 1 and then another would take over. Biggest prob I found with all male tanks was finding diff fish to add to the mix we dont have a lot to choose from and if you need to pull a few as rcon said its best to introduce a group as a single new comer will be picked on 1st, this can be hard with the small variety we have. When you upgrade ya tank in a year or so go for a 6x2x2 so you wont have to worry about anything gettin to big for ya tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted January 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yeah seems like I can do alot of research and will take on all your advice but will come down to trial and error. Going to try add in Chilumba and Azureus and maybe Giraffes or Livingstonii once they are in a bigger tank. Picking up the tank tomorrow so should have it set up soon, will post pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yeah thats it really you wont know till ya try. Looking forward to seeing it setup and running good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Alright, so been getting together as many fish as I could over the last month. Some on my list and some that weren't. Now have the following in various sizes and numbers, but this is the revised list: x1 Aulonocara haensbaenschi x1 Pseudotropheus aurora x1 Aulonocara jacobfreibergi x1 Sciaenochromis fryeri x1 Copadichromis borleyi x1 Aulonocara "Stuartgranti maleri" Orange x1 Labidochromis caeruleus x1 Aulonocara Nyassae 'cobue' x1 Cyrtocara moorii x1 Pseudotropheus demasoni x1 Aulonocara sp. "Dragon’s Blood" x1 Aulonocara sp. "Lwanda" x1 Aulonocara jacobfreibergi (Undu Reef) "Lemon Jake" x1 Dimidiochromis compressiceps x1 Aulonocara baenschi OR Aulonocara sp. "Stuartgranti maleri" (Sold as sunshine but not sure if baenschi or maleri). x1 Neolamprologus brichardi x1 Protomelas sp. "Steveni taiwan" x1 Metriaclima greshakei Still need: x1 Protomelas taeniolatus (Red empress) x1 Aulonocara stuartgranti (Chilumba) x1 Copadichromis azureus x1 Otopharynx Lithobates x1 Aulonocara (Rubescens) This leaves me with 23 fish, will most likely end up cutting the D comp and probably a few others but should be a good base to start with. If I need to add more will try boosting numbers with yellows and dolphins. Here's some pics of about half the above growing out in a 240L, some of the smaller ones in another 240L and a few warming the 450L while the others try catch up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Looking good :f77: Really like the dragon bloods. He is going to be a stunner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted February 24, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Yeah awesome fish, one of yours? Got him from Ron. Am really happy with the lot I've got together, only one I'm really worried about is the D comp. So think I will try breeding the ones I've got and grow them out to add the nicest juvie male at a later stage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rcon021 Posted February 24, 2014 Report Share Posted February 24, 2014 Yup he is one of mine He is small so the colour should get even better with age on the correct food - NLS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted February 25, 2014 Report Share Posted February 25, 2014 Nice stock list and nice looking fish. I would be careful bout adding the empress with the Taiwan as they are both the same genus and the fryeri and azureus could clash. Can't wait to see this tank up and running. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
POWER77 Posted February 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2014 Stopped in to see Ron after work today and got a Aulonocara ethelwynnae to add to the list. Got home and thought it was about time to make the move to the 450L. so spent the afternoon moving the fronts, D comp and rocks to replace with the Malawi's. Heres a few pics of the new look. Had 20 fish in there… thought it was missing something so couldn't help myself and ended up adding 20 juvie dems aswel. Aulonocara ethelwynnae Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nudge Posted February 25, 2014 Report Share Posted February 25, 2014 Wow tank looks awesome nice job! Mate pretty sure thats not an ethylwynnae. I had 1and they are blue and green yours seems to have a lot of red? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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