Help with a new 600L Peacock Tank

[ihatethinkingofnames]

So this topic a bit of a whinge, then some questions towards the end. Feel free to skip the first half.

Anyway, I bought a 6'x2'x2' 600L tank, and while doing so, saw a beautiful All male peacock tank, and decided to go that way. I live in Darwin, which if you know the import laws here, is a bitch to get any fish into/out of the NT without working through LFS. I went into all the LFS in the Darwin region, and they all import only "Assorted Peacock Cichlid," and suggest you go the Aquarium Industries page and order from there. So I approached them, and got this response:

"sorry we cant help, we will not send male only, and there is no decent supply of peacocks in Australia"

So back to the direct import. I have to find a supplier who will ship here, then fill out a form and provide it to NT fisheries with full list of scientific names of the fish I want, numbers and which supplier I will use. They will then possibly approve it. Also the fish needs to be something from this list:

http://ozfishforsale.com.au/forum/index.php/topic,970.0.html

With the list, Aulonocara spp. African Cichlids are legal, and I have begun searching for suppliers. During this process, and very good friend of my parents decided to strip his 150L tank, and give me his fish, which was sorta one of those "don't say no to" requests. Included in his fish were a 30cm Black Ghost Knife and a 32cm Catfish which I haven't manage to identify as of yet. They have both previously lived with an aggressive 15cm peacock, so aggression isnt too much of an issue. My girlfriend also thought she would do me a favour, and grabbed 5 male 5-7cm peacocks from the LFS.

Anyway, so now you know the background, here are some questions:

How many Peacocks can I have in the tank with the BGK and Catfish?

I have 2 Blue Planet EX8 filters running with the tank. Will be enough?

Where is a decent place to source multiple types of male peacocks who will post to the NT?

What is a decent method to build a natural looking cave big enough for a 30cm BGK?

What is the Identity of the Catfish?

Which Peacocks have I got?

Should I include anything else in the tank?

Here are some photos. I haven't finished with the rocks, I sorta just threw them in as I was in a huge rush with the BGK.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/bryandavies/2013-11-13204215.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/bryandavies/2013-08-25224644.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/bryandavies/2013-11-13205115.jpg

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b135/bryandavies/2013-11-15003449.jpg

[CichlidProfessional]

You have a quite abit of room in a 600L tanks, maybe gradually add them, untill you think the tank is full...Have you tried Livefish.com? I THINK they can send fish from anywhere in Australia...Try finding a hollow bog wood, or maybe a large PVC pipe, with wood or gravel siliconed to it (obviously appropriate curing and sterilisation is needed)...Im not too sure about the filters...The catfish looks like a Common Plecostomus...If the Peacocks were purchased as "Display Peacocks", chances are there random hybrids, great colours but not a true species...You could add heaps of other types of cichlids, e.g. Electric Yellows would suit...However in my opinion, with male Peacock displays, you always have one male which is the most aggressive, and will attack the other males constantly, thus they dont show full colour...but thats just my experience...But if you provide heaps of caves and a tank heavily stocked, aggression can minimal...Colour enhancing foods, will also help colour up quicker...Hope that helps Cheers.

[ihatethinkingofnames]

So I got a suggestion list of

Astatotilapia aeneocolor
Astatotilapia latifasciata
Aulonocara jacobfreibergi "Eureka Red"
Aulonocara stuartgranti "Maulana"
Aulonocara stuartgranti "Undu Reef"
Chilotilapia rhoadesii
Copadichromis azureus
Copadichromis borleyi "Kadango"
Cyrtocara moorii (Blue Dolphin) x 4
Julidochromis regani "Zambia"
Melanochromis kaskazini
Metriaclima sp. "Zebra Long Pelvic" Mdoka
Metriaclima zebra "OB morph"
Neolamprologus brichardi "Fulwe Rocks"
Neolamprologus mustax
Petrochromis famula "Orange Fin Kigoma"
Petrochromis famula "Ubwari Blue Dream"
Placidochromis electra
Protomelas taeniolatus "Namalenje"
Sciaenochromis fryeri
Tramitichromis intermedius "Tanzania"
Tropheus annectens "Ikola"
Tropheus brichardi "Bulombora"
Tropheus moorii "Lufubu"

[Joel]

That's quite a list you have there!

I have only kept a few of these species before...

If it were me I would probably stick to fish of the same lake - but that's just personal preference. Some may suggest that it's not ideal to keep fish from different lakes as the water conditions vary but I don't think it is a problem as they are quite similar anyway. However, I would probably leave the tropheus out as they are fairly strict herbivores. Tropheus are best kept in larger colonies also.

I'm not sure of the temperament of some of those fish but I would think you would be likely to come across a fair bit of aggression by mixing so many species. I would suggest adding plenty of rocks and caves etc to help moderate aggression.

How many of each were you proposing?

The tank is looking great. The aquascaping is awesome.

I think that would look good as an all peacock species tank. Most peacocks are fairly tame and that amount of open swimming space would probably be ideal. Maybe some other peacock keepers can chime in with their suggestions?

I agree that the catfish looks like a common plecostomus.

Cheers

Joel

[ihatethinkingofnames]

First of all, I'd like to give a shout out to Labyrinth Aquarium. Andrew has been the only person I have found to really help out a novice. Anyway this is the list he provided, with most being only 1 male fish. Remember, there is a massive ball around his neck about the NT legal fish, and those were the varieties he suggested might be possible to get in, and what he had in stock.

I do have a concern that the Mbuna would probably be too aggressive to be in the tank, which is why I raised it here. Anyway, I'm about to re-scape the tank with at least twice as many rocks and hide a bunch of PVC pipes for caves. I've got bunch of 40mm, 90mm and a couple 150mm sections for the Ghost Knife and the Pleco. Hopefully they can claim the areas and be happy. Andrew has also mentioned the majority of fish will be 3cm or so, so will all grow up together. The BGK probably wont eat them, as I keep him fairly well fed, and he hasn't bothered with the Platies as of yet.

But if anyone has any concerns with those fish, I really like to know now. It could be a little difficult to move any of the fish on if they go crazy. NT law also prohibits anyone from selling fish without an expensive license.

[rosco]

I would drop the driftwood unless your water is really hard. Your water will tend to spike and it can be difficult to keep the hardness up for this kind of tank. Believe it or not i have tried over the past 10 years. I would also drop the trophs. Andrew is good value.

Cheers

Rosco

[Joel]

I probably wouldn't be too worried about those mbuna species.

I have kept the "Zebra Long Pelvic" Mdoka and a few other metriaclima species and found them to be fairly peaceful.

Have also kept a few species of Melanochromis. They can be aggressive but have found it seems to be conspecific only... and with one fish or even multiple fish with plenty of space in your tank you won't have any issues.

Andrew certainly knows his fish and no doubt knows the compatability/suitability of the fish in your list.

I would still not recommend the tropheus for the reasons pointed out above. I would also suggest that if you are a novice it is not wise to keep these a this stage as they can be quite difficult to keep even for the most experienced keepers.

An expensive license to sell a fish sounds like a step in the wrong direction to me. I don't know the whole story but I would think that most people who don't have the heart to cull their fish would simply release them into waterways... No doubt there are probably hefty fines if caught doing so.

Cheers

Joel

[undercoverbrother]

Nice list, I highly recommend sourcing your fish from Labyrinth Aquarium, you won't be disappointed.

[Ducksta]

I was in Andrews store (again) yesterday and would gaurantee anything you order through him will be exceptional quality.
Cannot recommend it enough.

[ihatethinkingofnames]

On further examination, it has been discovered that the list is not completely to NT regs, and will have to be redone. However, due to the comments here, I am happy to leave it to Andrew to finalize the list.

Thank you for your time.

[Yowie]

How did you go stocking your tank? I am also waiting on a permit to bring in some WC frontosa and would be interested to know weather you had any joy with your import.