So I have had my 55 (170 L??) gallon tank up and running for awhile now (well over a month) and so far only have a single Electric Blue "Ahli" cichlid. After searching Google for awhile I have gotten mixed results on what exactly an "Ahli" is.. is it this: Hemichromis bimaculatus or Sciaenochromis fryeri? Mine looks like the latter; Sciaenochromis fryeri but i'm still confused?

I was wondering what fish (cichlids of course) are compatible with an Electric Blue Ahli? And how many should I stock? I really like the look and idea of having a bright blue fish with a bright yellow fish; maybe a Yellow Lab?

Also; what's a good substrate for these guys? I need something sorta sandy almost.... the Ahli likes to bury himself/herself and I don't want it to get hurt.

-edit-
Also forgot to say that I keep my water at 78°F (~25°C) and all my levels (pH, ammo, nitrate, nitrite, etc) are looking great thus far.

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-Lee

Well, the electric blue Ahli is a cichlid... you can find the pictures on google. They are found in Africa...

So you don't HAVE to get sandy substrate, but you can just get normal gravel.

Sand Substrate is not so good to clean since it is very very light, and you don't want to have sand sucked up into the siphon.

Compatibility... they can go with other African Cichlids...

Good luck

Any specifics to not pair with? Should I stick to Malawi cichlids or can I get Lake Tanganyika & Lake Victoria cichlids as well?

A Yellow Lab. or Red Zebra should do just fine; right?

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-Lee

actually, african cichlids are most often kept with sand rather then gravel.
and, sand is very easy to clean.

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why buy, when you can DIY

I will probably pick up sand for my substrate; but what colors bring out the colors in Cichlids?

Dark sand/substrate would be best right?

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-Lee

Your best bet is to do like i did and buy some eco complete african cichlid sand.That is if you want sand i use the eco complete gravel and substrate.Not only does it look nice but it will cycle your tank for you and help keep your P.H around 8.2 like the cichlids need

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Im not sure,But something on this board smells fishy!

Guess what?!

It's the only way we can surely match your cichlid..... By the way, in the second link, the big blue one was a male, and the silvery-brown one in the corner is a female. I have what is the "true" Ahli (i guess that's what you call it....) which is similar to Fryeri, but has faint bars, and reddish mixed with the blue in the pectoral and anal fins. mine is also what is known as the "Ice" variant that has more white in the dorsal which stretches to the mouth.

As for what he can be kept with, make sure he is the dominant fish in the tank, because if he isn't he'll most likely stay out of sight, very shy. do not keep him with larger or equal size Venustus, Kenyi, and other highly aggresive cichlids. More peaceful Mbuna like demasoni and Labidochromis are excellent candidates as tankmates, along with other Haplichromis. Try to get three females to go with your male, so he'll display his best colors.... you can get females on the internet or a fish farm in your area, if your down south.

Pea gravel is just fine for african cichlids, but make sure it is smooth, because they like to move gravel around. My cichlids don't do it much, but when they do, it is under a pile of rocks or just to make a passage way bigger. Pea gravel is also easier to clean, because you can vacuum it, which you cant do with sand. for ease of keeping for the long run, i went with the pea gravel. To maintain the ph and other elements, use Seachem Malawi/victoria Buffer and Seachem rift lake salt. My gravel is the darker natural gravel (about 3/4) and the regular color natural gravel (1/4). check out my Photo gallery<---, and search by amount of views. this tank is the 120 gal. African cichlid Community. Good luck with your fish!

Remember:

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~Daniel

the grass was greener on the other side, but when your a fish.... not good.....
Spanish words of the day!

1. HERPES - Me and my fren ordered pizza. I got mine piece and she got herpes.
2. WHEELCHAIR - We only have one enchalada left, but don't worry, wheelchair.
3. BRIEF - Maria fart in my car and it stinkie so bad I could not brief.

(this is just a joke, no offense intended! enjoy)

You can get the Lake Malawi and Tanganyika cichlids. I'm pretty sure you can get the Lake Victoria Cichlids as well too. As long as they all have a perfect temperment to each other you will be fine.

Yes you can keep a yellow lab and Red Zebra together.

Do you have a planted tank? Cichlids love to stay in a planted tank and they will like to eat the plants too.. but if you have good lighting the plants will grow back

If you have shiny colored cichlids or dark colored cichlids you CAN get dark colored substrate.. but it's better for the light colored cichlids..

Darker colored cichlids show up better on light colored substrate because if you have good lighting the light will reflect off the substrate and then shine onto the cichlids it's not bad for them at all.

Dark Colored Gravel or sand and light colored cichlids with the light turned on will be very good. It makes a good view too

I recently setup an african tank, mostly malawi but i got 3 Tanganyika Frontosa and so far they mix together very nicely...

You should over crowd the fish, im on about 15 right now and i need about 3-5 more to really prevent any crazy aggression.... my list of fish is

4 Yellow labs
1 red zebra
1 albino zebra
1 livingstoni
1 venestus
3 frontosas
2 femestratus
1 compressiceps
1 blue peacock

i know im missing a few, but these guys are good so far, my red zebra is def the king of the tank.


as far as substrate, i went with a crushed coral, i went white with a dark blue backround, i was thinking about using pool filter sand because of the look by the crushed coral keeps my PH up as well as its easy to clean... Pool filter sand looks really natural and the fish will love it but as they get bigger the crushed coral will not hurt them as they dig... as far as the white goes the fish are really bright in my tank, their colors really show, as soon as i put them in i noticed a huge difference from the LFS to my tank...i cleand the hell out of it because when they start digging they will kick up particles and clog the filter, which is the problem with sand not so much crushed coral...