• Tank Size: 6' 125G-180G
• Filtration: 3 Aquaclear 500's possibly adding a wet/dry later down the road if the bioload is too heavy.
• Lighting: undecided
• Heaters: 2 Ebo-Jagers placed on both rear corners of the tank.
• Theme: Predatory Haplochromines from Lake Malawi.
• Stocking List: Dimidiochromis compressiceps(malawi eyebiter) 1M/5F
• Nimbochromis venustus 1M/4F
• Cyrtocara Moorii(blue dolphin) 1M/3F
• Bottom Dwellers: 4-6 Synodontis Multipunctatus or 4-6 Clown loaches. I've been told by experienced A.Cichlid keepers that the clowns will adapt fine to the 7.8-8.2 PH i'll be keeping this tank at.... My only reservations about keeping them is that they wouldnt look natural with this group. I may also add 1 Alpha male Cyphotilapia Frontosa Zaire blue. These fish grow the biggest and i dont have room for an entire colony of them because of the rest of the fish listed so i was thinking of trying just 1. Come to think of it even the Frontosa wouldnt be natural with the Lake Malawi fish because it is from lake Taganyika.

Anyway thats the future setup i'm planning but i may change the stocking list. The only fish that will be on that list for certain are Dimidiochromis and Nimbochromis. I may also skip the Bottom feeders and get another Genus of Haplochromine.

sounds like an awesome set up! one thing... can you post pics with the names? not to be a pain, but i haven't a clue what all the scientific names are. especially since i know that there are a ton of cichlid varieties... then i'd really be able to druel!

Dimidiochromis Compressiceps

Nimbochromis Venustus

Cyrtocara Moorii

Another Hap i like but havent decided on yet

Cyphotilapia Frontosa

Synodontis Multipinctatus I forgot to mention this Catfish is also from lake Tanganyika......read about its funny spawning behavoir in the profile

Clown Loach

Thanks for the pictures, there were a bunch I hadn't heard of.

That tank sounds awesome... the Malawi cichlids tend to be my favorites, although I loooove Frontosas! So that would be my dream cichlid tank! hehe

That article about that catfish is too funny... what an interesting way of breeding!

Whatever you decide on, we need lots of pictures once you start setting it all up, hehe.

I LOVE Cichilids, but never had them. I always had community tanks.

Most Frontosa keepers will have a big tank just for a colony of frontosas. I thought about doing that but i like to have more variety. Its also a pain in the butt to start a colony because when they're small it is impossible to sex them so what most frontosa keepers do is buy more than they eventually plan to keep and weed out the surplus males so that they have something like 2 males and 6-8 females. To do this it would be helpful to have a supplier who will either buy them back or offer store credit for the exracted males that have to be returned.



My next spending project after buying this setup will be to get a good digital camera to show them off someday i hope.

They can be easy to care for if you do your research about compatability, similar water parameters/dietary requirements, and tank size needs. The GF i have in my 29G will someday be moved to a 55G and i was thinking of turning the 29G into a community tropical setup.