100 gallon setup

I've been setting up a 100 gallon over the last few weeks, and now I have a stocking problem, maybe. Anyway, I'll just describe everything and then get your feedback on my final stocklist.

I put in an order through the distributor of a "big box petstore" for these fish:
yellow labs
rusties
yellow tail acei
S. fryeri
C. borleyi redfin

I won an auction on aquabid for ps. elongatus chailosi (7) so they are part of the mix now. I also received the yellow labs and a single rusty. All of this is now in a 30 gallon while I wait. So that's labs, elongatus, and a rusty.

I waited and waited and waited and my other fish never arrived, despite re-ordering a few times. (Don't worry, pay on arrival, so I'm not out anything.)

I'm tired of waiting and sometimes I can get impatient in the "setting up a tank" phase.

So, I just ordered some fish online, but unfortunately could not replicate my original stock at any one place and I didn't want to drown in shipping fees. So here's what I bought:

Fryeri 5 unsexed
Lithobates Red Blaze 2M 3F
Venustus 1M 2F

That would put me at those plus 5 yellow labs and 7 elongatus (plus a lone rusty) as final stocking. (I will try to find more rusty locally)

Basically, how many problems do you guys foresee me having? Be brutal, I'm a big boy.

Hey FedEXguy you will have to watch the chailosi , they can be very mean sometimes . Never had too much trouble out of rusties but it's up to the individual Mbuna on how or if they get along with Haps.

Always fun to start up a new tank. The fish i´m most worried about on your stock list for this tank is the N. venustus. This is a cichlid that becomes to large for a 100 gallon tank. Fully grown venustus need a 6,6 feet footprint around 190gallon tank. Smaller ones also offten have a hard time compiting for food with much faster mbunas, and can also get bullied to deth by aggressiv mbunas like elongatus. I never had the elongatus "chailosi" so I don´t really know how aggressive they are, but maybe someone else on this forum knows? Good luck with your new tank and hope to see some pics soon.

I've heard both ways on the chailosi, so I'm definitely interested to see what happens with them.

My main worry would be the venustus turning mean and at 8 inches and up, starting to think the 3.5 inch chailosi look like striped snacks. Of course, when I get them, they'll be the same size as the chailosi, but taller, so maybe growing up together will temper that.

I do know they will probably be too big for a 5 foot tank, but by that point, I hope to sell/trade them for something more size-appropriate. Visually, they've always been one of my top favorite fish, so I'm looking forward to this opportunity to grow them up.

The Elongatus chailosi are middle of the road when it comes to aggression, at least they have been in my experience.
Here is a not so great photo of a Male I had:

Good start...

Watch for crossing with Fryeri's and Litho's.

rockfish, nice pic. he looks nice and thick.

cichlidman, after the chailosi get bigger I'll be adding some synos to handle any babies.

I think all the fish mentioned will be OK to start with,,keep an eye on them as they get bigger.If the Venustus is a male and gets large, he will cetainly be a real attraction to the tank.
Buy fish in groups so that there are both males and females,I would suggest a minimum of at least 6 of each.
As suggested the S.fryeri and Red top O.lithobates may cross,its the only fish I see that might. Avoiding lone males in the tank should lessen this problem though.
Personally, I would like to see the "Haps" go in first and put some size onto them for about 2 weeks before adding the mbuna,,,working the mbuna around the "Haps",so to speak.
In order to avoid spikes in the Nitrogen cycle,,,keep the fish numbers to about 12 fish (or less) for the first 6 weeks, I would usually advise my own customers to initially start up with no more than 1 fish for every 5 gallons (guppy platy molly), but these cichlids are all great eaters, so they should have almost 10 gallons each. The biggest problems in a new start up system is always the Nitrite part of this cycle (starts around day 21 after the fish went in) which lasts for up to 3 weeks (if the tank is overloaded/fed to much), so I would advise a Nitrite test kit, its a cheap part of the hobby compared to the investment of fish already in the tank.Nitrite cycles can re-occur 5-6 days after a filter cleaning that may have been over done as well.
This start up mode takes at least 36-38 days,so keep the feedings light and do your water changes of at least 1/3 each week, to avoid problems.
Food preferance is really up to you and we all have our favoite foods.

Cheers,Larry

Great advice, Larry.

The Haps came in today, and they are now the only occupants of the 100 gallon. They were bigger than I anticipated. In fact, they are the same size or larger than all but one of my mbuna, and those have been growin-out in a 30 gallon for 2 months.

I shouldn't have to worry about any spikes because I moved the xp3 over to the 100gallon and I'll be moving the HOB over with the mbuna. I'll also be replacing the HOB for another xp3 in a month or two.

I didn't order 6 of each because they are supposed to be sexed. Are they correctly sexed? Who knows, but if they are not, then someone's getting a phone call about rectifying the situation

If I end up with the O.litho and fryeri crossing, and the babies survive the "catfish natural selection" then they shall be tank members for life, haha.

Also, NLS all the way on food, nothing beats it. My lone rusty looked like finned poo when I got him, but now after NLS he looks like gold-plated finned poo!