what tropical fish should i keep in my juwel rio 125?
by Aquaboy on Friday, February 26th, 2010 | 3 Comments
i was planning on lake malawi cichlids but i now realize this tank is to small
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What are the general water parameters in the tank, specifically hardness and pH? If you were planning Malawis, does that mean your tank has naturally hard water and a high pH? If so you could consider smaller Tanganyika shelldweller Cichlids – they would make for an unusual talking point.
If you have softer water you could still consider Cichlids, just american instead, like Apistogrammas, Rams, maybe Festivums. These are more peaceful than Africans, but should only be kept with similar sized robust fish – I have seen a “peaceful” German Blue Ram wipe out a whole tank and look rather smug with himself!
There are African Rift Lake cichlids that don’t grow that large. Previously I had kept some smaller Malawi cichlids in a 2 foot tank without any problems, but obviously you have more room to play with in a larger tank eg. better rockwork & cave decorations. But definitely there are more choices with tropical fish, you can set up a themed tank with matching background, decor & fish from the same region. Or a planted tank with just a few species of fish to showcase them better against the green & red foliage.
Malawi’s are not a bad choice in a 125 gallon and you certainly can do more then one species. Unless this is 125 liters…? Assuming 125 gallons, with that type of footprint, your aggression factor is going to be very small, however, you would still want to try to keep only one male of the species to limit the possible aggression. Africans can at times be aggressive yes, but it usually takes some intelligence to know how to handle and limit this, thus comes in where experienced cichlid keepers will know, as experience is always more valuable then just reading over things.
Mbuna in a tank like that can also be kept with other Haps or Peacocks that come from the same lake as well, since most of the time, Haps and Peacocks are going to avoid and not dwell in the same area’s that Mbuna will, which is the lower end or substrate. This usually makes them compatible in larger tanks, but not so much in smaller tanks. I’ve been keeping mixes like this in my 75, 100, and 180 with little to no aggression between the types at all. Mostly you are going to just see some skirmishes between Mbuna over space, and this itself is usually going to occur mostly in breeding times at that.
If you really want a striking tank, actually Victorians I have found have just as good, if not even better colors then Malawi’s, and soon should have a much higher value as most of Lake Victoria is under going climate changes which should have the fish from there either on the endangered list, or extinct in their natural habitat. I actually am shifting and selling off almost all of my Malawi’s and have started re-stocking with Madagascar cichlids myself, because the Madagascars are in the same situation as Victorians. Madagascars are very plain and ordinary looking though, so I wouldn’t advice doing this if you are into colored and striking looking Africans. Madagascars though, are usually much harder to find thus giving me a more valuable fish.
There isn’t anything wrong with Malawi’s really, but just keep in mind, if and when they start breeding, the market value of these will be much lower then Victorian’s, some Tangyangikans, and Madagascars, simply because you can get Malawi’s most anywhere. In other words, most Malawi’s are very common in the trade.
Unless this is a 125 liter, not gallon, you have plenty of size. 125 liters, if this is the case, is about 33 gallons, which is enough space to keep a single Malawi species pretty much. If this is the liter case, then you really do not have the options to mix Haps and Peacocks with them as you’ll get too much aggression. But it is enough space to keep one single species. Mbuna are capable of living in a tank like this, simply because too many people put more then one male in there. Mbuna size certainly does not inhibit them growing out in that tank size, as they have been known to even get along well in a 20 long tank. The key here, if this is a 125 liter tank, to get ONLY ONE MALE. That is critical as there isn’t enough space for 2 males to get along. You get 1 male and about 3-4 females of the same species, add in a good amount of rocks, and you’ll have a VERY nice set up going.
I recently sold a small group of my F2 Labidochromis Careleus, (Yellow Labs) to a guy who’s keeping them in a 20, sent him 1 male and 3 females, and I always hear about how well they are doing and how happy the guy is with them. Take your advice from cichlid keepers, and you should be just fine.