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Stocking help for a 185g all males hap/peacock

Goonie

CCA Members
I am wanting to jump into an all male tank with young light or half color males to begin with I plan on 5-7 cuckoos and a couple bristle nosed plec as tank mates some ideas for cichlids are
Red Top Lawanda
Blue neon
Azureus
White Knight
Star Saphire
Flavescent
Red Empress
Taiwan Reef
Dragon Blood
Intermedius
Yellow Tail Acei
Aulonocara Maleri chipoka
Turkis Peacock

Should I avoid any of these based on temperament all together, are there any others you would recommend, and are there any recommended tank mates? I know I need a slightly larger crowd to keep aggression down I am just kind of stumped on what else would mesh with these. Andy advice is appreciated.
 

lkelly

Members
None of those are wildly out of the same aggression zone, especially in an all male arrangement. Doubtful that all will color up as much as you like.
 

Goonie

CCA Members
That stuff I have lol, I want something I get to invest in, no point in doing it if not, just trying to get an idea of how many haps/peacocks I could mix and match when I need to start switching out bully's. Some of which I will likely move to a tank to start a breeding tank others hopefully I can find some one who needs one if not hell have a bachelor pad for a while.
 

Goonie

CCA Members
I was just discussing them with the wife that may be the direction we go, can't fit a background due toonly having two 20 x 10 openings to work with so we are trying to figure out how to mount one of the huge open back ones to hide at least my heater. Not sure how we will make it work on acrylic, but I'm all ears for ideas. I'm for sure getting some of their larger free standing stuff I think it will go well with my petrified woods.
 

Freakgecko

Members
You can try emailing Universal Rocks since they do custom work. They may be able to design something that goes in smaller chunks to cover the back and fit through the access panels. Acrylic tanks can be an absolute pain for that reason. I wiggled a 5’ stump into my 180 gallon through similar sized panels
 

Goonie

CCA Members
Realistically how much would I be looking to spend on something like that I was hoping to keep the aquascaping under 500. But that may not be possible.
 

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
You could easily double the amount of fish in there and likely still have room. Sometimes you need to make sure you have enough to spread out the aggression, but it depends on the fish, as Reed said, it can be trial and error, but your starting list seems reasonable. Try introducing multiple fish at times, introducing single fish can make them targets.

I think Your Fish Stuff/Aquacarium makes a synthetic decor specifically for covering a heater, but it might not be large enough to cover the size you'd need for that large of a tank, unless you're planning for multiple heaters.

Budget wise really depends on how patient you are, how willing you are to watch craigslist for used stuff, how often you search, etc. It's easy to spend a lot if you get carried away, but generally you'll have to be diligent and patient to catch deals as they pop up, or look for sales on days such as Black Friday/Cyber Monday, etc.
 

Goonie

CCA Members
Any recommendations for additional fish?



You could easily double the amount of fish in there and likely still have room. Sometimes you need to make sure you have enough to spread out the aggression, but it depends on the fish, as Reed said, it can be trial and error, but your starting list seems reasonable. Try introducing multiple fish at times, introducing single fish can make them targets.

I think Your Fish Stuff/Aquacarium makes a synthetic decor specifically for covering a heater, but it might not be large enough to cover the size you'd need for that large of a tank, unless you're planning for multiple heaters.

Budget wise really depends on how patient you are, how willing you are to watch craigslist for used stuff, how often you search, etc. It's easy to spend a lot if you get carried away, but generally you'll have to be diligent and patient to catch deals as they pop up, or look for sales on days such as Black Friday/Cyber Monday, etc.
 

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Any recommendations for additional fish?
Blue ahli, VC-10, maybe a Nimbochromis (Venustus, Livingstoni - though aggression can be higher in these guys, and have to make sure they're not big enough to eat others)

Compressiceps, champ. caeruleus. You could try other peacocks and protomelas (insignis, sulfurhead) but you're more likely to have intra species aggression be an issue, than fish that look different from each other.

I'd suggest searching the forum for all-male tanks, look at youtube videos for other examples, and see what has worked for people. I think Jay of www.cichlidsarespecial.com also has a page with stocking examples and suggestions.
 

DiscusnAfricans

Past President
Sweet thanks a bunch :) as far as crowding to cut agression do the crowds have to be cichlids
They don't have to be, they just have to be something compatible with the water chemistry, and can handle the aggression of the cichlids. Or something fast enough to not take much abuse. Giant danios have been used by some people, as long as there isn't anything big enough to eat them.
 

Goonie

CCA Members
So 6 cuckoo's and some loaches :) I may try to play around with some more of the hybrids. I love the starsaphire which limits me but I'm really wanting about 20 cichlids in that tank.
 
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