# Stocking a 40 gallon with cichlids



## Fat Man (Nov 2, 2006)

What kind of chilids are you thinking of, there are a lot of different kinds.

I had one male and two female Apistogramma steindachneri in a 40 gallon it worked fine. Now through breeding and attrition I have four males, territorial squabbles are minimal. I added an electric blue ram and it turned out to be way to aggressive for my apistos.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Kribs, Rams and Apistos are some of the best dwarf cichlids for planted tanks IMO. Firemouths also would work.

I probably wouldn't keep more than one pair in this setup with this hardscape layout.


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

I was really leaning more towards mbuna or maybe some kinds of tangs.


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## KevinC (May 24, 2004)

For mbuna, get the cleaning crew in first - let them get established before introducing any cichlids. Demasonii or something similar-sized might work in a group of 15. For only a 40-gallon I'd say stick with one small species if you hope for reproduction and minimal fighting losses, otherwise consider an all-males tank maybe?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Tangs need extremely hard water- I doubt very much that you could keep Otos in that water and Cories are pretty iffy as well.

Some of the smaller Synodontis sp. would be a better choice for scavengers.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

If you want a real tang tank skip the otos and cory cats. The water is just too hard. Strangly enough. A slow drip usually works fine for clown loaches and albino bushynose plecos.


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

Ok cool. I had no idea about tangs needing such high KH requirements. I still have to get some crushed coral to put in the filter to help since the rocks really haven't buffered up the water as much as expected(it tests at 7 degrees KH now). But if I have to raise the KH so high it eliminates having other fish I'll stick with other species :icon_smil 

I'm really not looking to get any breeding to happen and am hoping to stay off as much fighting as possible. What I was thinking of was maybe 3 or 4 different species kept in groups of 3(you can rightfully smack my hand if this is bad).Would that be an awful thing to do? What would be some pairings that would work? I do want demasonii, I thought about yellow labs, and bumblebees as well, or maybe acei. I could see going with a solid group of demasonii, but really would like to have a little variety in there. When it was planted I did the whole one large school of one species of fish thing, so I'd like to change it up this time around if I can. Thanks for all your replies guys.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

I use straight tap for tanganika here in NJ and I've been quick successful. Get the ph to about 8 and I wouldn't really too much about hardness.


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## KevinC (May 24, 2004)

Anthony said:


> I'm really not looking to get any breeding to happen and am hoping to stay off as much fighting as possible. What I was thinking of was maybe 3 or 4 different species kept in groups of 3(you can rightfully smack my hand if this is bad).Would that be an awful thing to do? What would be some pairings that would work? I do want demasonii, I thought about yellow labs, and bumblebees as well, or maybe acei. I could see going with a solid group of demasonii, but really would like to have a little variety in there. When it was planted I did the whole one large school of one species of fish thing, so I'd like to change it up this time around if I can. Thanks for all your replies guys.


You really need a bigger tank to go that way - you will get reproduction if there are trios. All-males would be the safest way to go if you want to mix species in a 40. Labs get to 4-5" so 3 of them with one other trio of similar size sounds like a crowd.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

What?!?! 6 fish in 40g??? I'm afraid I must respectfully disagree. African cichlids are nasty and territorial by nature if you put 2 males and 4 femals in a 40g tank it simply will not work. You will have one adult male kill the other and take his females. They way to properly keep african cichlids is to crowd them. In a 55g tank I would say that about 20 adult fish is perfect. Assuming filtration and water quality stays on the money.


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

I did take care when placing the rocks to make as many places as possible for the fish to claim as there own. I also made some of the rocks come straight towards the front glass to help divert line of site where possible as well. Filtration shouldn't be a problem as I have an XP2 an XP1 and a UV sterilizer on this tank. I'm thinking the all males route is seeming to be the best option, while keping an eye on the adult size of the fish.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

All males will not work. Wayyyyyy too much aggression. Get both males and females and find a shop that will take some tank raised africans off your hands. 

Your filtration seems good though and I think that with bi weekly water changes you will be fine.


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

So then 1 male to 2 to 3 females?


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

Yes trios or quads are better.


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## CichlidFL. (Oct 13, 2009)

for catfish synodotus (sp?) work well, and they scavenge!


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

Yeah the more I read up on keeping a tank suited for cichlids the more general concensus I get that synodotus would be a better pick for a scavenger then cories. And although I haven't kept them in years since I found the wonderful oto, I've read that the aggressiveness of a chinese algae eater would be suiting for a suckermouth cat in a cichlid tank. Have I read wrong?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

A CAE would get too big for this tank- those suckers can get 12". Personally I won't ever own another one of those- I lost entirely too many fish to their murderous ways back when I was in my early fishkeeping days.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

I'm going albino bushynose with my vote.


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## Anthony (Jan 11, 2005)

So of all of what I read on the web about stocking I've decided to slightly overstock and go the way of harems. I picked up a trio of Blue Mainganos, a trio of Red Zebras, a trio of Red Top Hongi's (I didn't realize until I got home and released them that they accidentally gave me two males one female:icon_evil:icon_evil:icon_evil), one Red Fin Caudopunk, and a synodontis eupterus. I'm aware of some of the troubles people have had with red zebras, and know that breeding may become an issue with the trios. I even think I might want to put another trio in there to even out aggression further. As any of the fish start to really outgrow the tank I'm going to sell them back to the lfs for credit to get a younger one. Any suggestions, gripes with my choices, warnings, or concerns are welcome. Thanks.


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

Can we get an update on how this went? Im considering something similar and trying to do some research. Thanks.


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## robxc80 (Aug 4, 2009)

you're going to want to stay away from the zebra's. they get to about 6 inches are very territoria. the Syno Eupterus also gets really large and i've seen them 8 inches or so when grown.

i used to keep a 40 gallon with malawi cichlids and i stocked them heavily to reduce aggression. demasoni's and yellow labs work well together since the labs, although placid, outgrow the demasoni's. I would go with a group of 6 demasoni's and a small group or trio of yellow labs.

the caudopunctatus will eventually succumb to the aggression from your malawi cichlids. if you like him, you can get a small group, add a few shell dwellers, and then cap the tank off with one alto calvus/compressiceps or 2 neo. gracillis which are the more placid species in the brichardi complex.

good luck


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